Lake Valor, Lakeside Battle Arena.
The light from the explosion faded, revealing Gabite and Flareon sprawled on the ground, both unable to battle.
Ursula's battle points had dropped all the way to zero.
Dawn hadn't even needed five minutes to defeat Ursula!
After becoming Li Wei's student,
and receiving battle training from Cynthia, Lorelei, and the others, Dawn had grown far stronger than before!
"Awooo!!!"
"Melo~~"
In the private viewing room, Arcanine, Lucario, and the others were all delighted for Dawn.
Li Wei nodded slightly. Dawn's performance had exceeded his expectations.
Li Wei had taught Dawn next to nothing about battling. Most of what she knew came from traveling with Ash and learning through observation.
She had also watched Cynthia, Red, Blue, and the others battle at the recent Water Balloon Music Festival.
It was a crushing defeat for Ursula!
"Gabite and Flareon are both unable to battle, so the contestant advancing to the next round is-Dawn!"
Lily announced the result at the top of her voice.
"Wonderful! We won!"
Dawn ran over happily and hugged Mamoswine and Galarian Rapidash.
The two Pokémon nuzzled her affectionately, celebrating a victory earned through their teamwork.
Lilycove City's Nurse Joy smiled. "Such an intense match right from the start. How exciting."
Fantina was so moved that she rose and spun around again. "Simply unbelievable!"
Ursula recalled her defeated Gabite and Flareon.
"As Li Wei's student, you're supposed to win. I won't lose next time. Good luck."
Dawn gave a helpless smile. She was beginning to understand what Blue had meant.
Blue had once spoken with Dawn while he was giving Ash special training.
He had said those words after Dawn suffered a string of losses in Pokémon Contests.
"As Li Wei's student, you'll naturally attract more attention and higher expectations than anyone else...