November 2, 7 p.m.
Hammerlocke, Hammerlocke Stadium.
"There he is!"
"Our final competitor in the top 32 is the Masked Royal!"
Deafening cheers erupted throughout the stadium.
Indeed, the Masked Royal had a following all around the world.
Normally, competitions like this required contestants to enter under their real names.
Given the Masked Royal's unique circumstances, the Master League organizers had decided to let him compete anonymously.
Even Lance, Leon, Lucian, and the others who had helped bring the Master League into being didn't know his true identity.
Only a handful of people, including Li Wei and Cynthia, knew that the Masked Royal was Professor Kukui from the Alola Region.
Professor Kukui had been lucky this year, facing Erika, against whom he had a favorable matchup, in the round of 64.
He had sent out Incineroar, Braviary, and Alolan Ninetales, completely countering Erika's lineup and successfully advancing.
In this year's Master League,
although Alain was no longer its dark horse, a new one had emerged.
And that was-Roland!
Roland had also made it into the top 32, and judging by her strength, she had a good chance of reaching the top 16.
But Roland hadn't come to this Master League to win the championship. Her target was her older sister-Cynthia!
Roland had come to defeat Cynthia.
Because of that, Roland had kept things secret before the Master League. Rather than staying with them, she had checked into a hotel arranged by the organizers.
The hotels provided by the organizers were actually quite good.
Both the Budew Hotel and the Lendurroser Hotel were dedicated battle hotels, with facilities for training and battling inside.
Steven and Wallace frequently used their in-house battle facilities for practice matches.
Roland hadn't suddenly decided to defeat Cynthia, either. She had been planning it for a long