September 10.
Jubilife Pokémon Theme Park.
After fierce qualifiers and the round of 32, the final sixteen contestants had been decided.
Had Li Wei rigged the draw?
He really hadn't.
The sixteen contestants, Li Wei included, had already been guaranteed places in the final sixteen. They had simply played friendly matches against the other sixteen.
There had essentially been no chance of an upset.
The only one who had suffered an upset
was Lt. Surge, who had been knocked out by Dawn.
Of course, anyone with eyes knew that Lt. Surge had gone easy on her because she was Li Wei's disciple.
If Lt. Surge had really used his main team,
Dawn would have had a very hard time winning.
After evolving into Dragonair, her Pokémon had turned the tables on the Magnemite Lt. Surge had only recently begun raising.
The two Pokémon were roughly evenly matched, so winning still showed how much Dawn's command skills had improved.
At the start of her journey, Dawn had needed Ash and Brock beside her to help her even give commands.
That was partly because Li Wei had never taught Dawn how to battle. All the foundations he had laid for her were those of a Pokémon Breeder.
Although they knew Lt. Surge had gone easy on her,
that didn't stop Akin and Li Wei from laughing at him.
And they laughed very loudly.
Lt. Surge, Little Cup Top 32 finisher, step forward!
Lt. Surge snapped angrily, "You call this the Little Cup?!"
Lt. Surge insisted they take a look at the names on the roster.
If they left Dawn out,
they could call it the Master League without any trouble.
The three least famous contestants were
Akin, Silver, and Ash.
But Lt. Surge, who knew all too well how strong those three