November 18.
The fierce round of sixteen in the Master League
finally came to a close.
Facing Wallace, who had decisively beaten her to reach the final eight last year, Lorelei got her revenge twice.
In their group, Cynthia went undefeated in all six matches, advancing in first place, while Lorelei finished second.
Hoenn Champion Wallace, one of last year's quarterfinalists, was eliminated in the round of sixteen.
In Group B, dubbed the group of death, Leon and Steven advanced together.
Raihan, another of last year's quarterfinalists and hailed as Galar's strongest Gym Leader, also fell in the round of sixteen.
Steven pushed Leon to the very end twice, but Gigantamax Charizard still narrowly clinched victory.
Still, had luck favored Steven just a little more, victory would not have been out of reach.
Just imagine if Flash Cannon had lowered his opponent's Special Defense, while Meteor Mash had raised his own Attack...
Both matches ended with a score of 6-5. Steven had nearly driven Leon into a corner.
So although Steven advanced as the second seed, he was practically no different from a first seed.
In fact, none of the first seeds except Leon particularly wanted to face Steven in their opening match.
Group C held relatively little suspense, with Lance and Bruno advancing successfully.
Diantha and Norman advanced together from Group D.
Norman's Slaking, having overcome its Truant Ability, displayed tremendous strength and even put Diantha at a disadvantage for a time.
In the end, however, Diantha upheld her honor as Champion, defeating Norman twice.
With that, the final eight of the second Master League had been decided.
Next, the first-place finishers would draw opponents from the second-place finishers for a single-elimination Knockout Round.
Among the second-place finishers, Steven looked very threatening, while facing Lorelei or Bruno looked like