Lake Valor, Lakeside Battle Arena.
Buneary and Cyndaquil's performance ended smoothly, the icy Poké Ball glittering in the air as ice crystals continued to fall.
Dawn was certain to pass the first round of judging!
And as far as Li Wei was concerned,
Dawn was number one.
Though Zoey's and Nando's performances had offered a few impressive touches and merits in Li Wei's eyes,
they truly weren't as good as Dawn's.
That went doubly for Ursula, who had used evolution as a clever shortcut.
In Li Wei's book, even if Ursula advanced, she would do so with a relatively low ranking.
With Dawn's performance over, all 108 contestants had finished performing.
Through her artistry of fire and ice, Dawn had brought the first stage of judging to a splendid close.
"A huge success!"
In the private viewing box, Ash, Shiyin, and Brock, along with Pikachu, Shaymin, and the others, were celebrating enthusiastically.
Although the results had yet to be announced, Dawn was practically guaranteed to advance, provided there was no shady business.
Since Li Wei wasn't authorized to score the performances, he took no part whatsoever in the scoring by the three Nurse Joys, Contesta, Sukizo, and Fantina.
While they assigned their scores, Li Wei simply sat at the judges' table and waited quietly.
A short while later, when the six judges reappeared, Bai'an's face appeared on the big screen as well.
"We will now announce the results of the first round of judging!"
"After a fiercely competitive judging round, the following 32 contestants have passed the first round and will advance to the second!"
Thirty-two? That many?
Li Wei hadn't looked into the Grand Festival in detail.
He had thought even sixteen contestants would be a lot.
To think there were actually thirty-two. There was nothing to worry about,