December 3, Lily of the Valley Island.
The Knockout Round of the Lily of the Valley Conference officially began that day.
The field would be narrowed from sixty-four to thirty-two by the end of the day.
Li Wei and Ash were in different groups. Palmer's son Barry was also in Li Wei's group.
But Li Wei didn't know him well, so he hadn't gone over to say hello.
"There it is! Barry has successfully advanced to the top thirty-two!"
Barry's Empoleon defeated his opponent's Nosepass to claim victory.
After the preceding matches, it was almost time for Li Wei's battle against Yuna.
"Li Wei! Li Wei! Li Wei!"
The main venue of the Lily of the Valley Conference had practically become Li Wei's home turf.
Yuna's mouth twitched. Taking down just one Pokémon would count as a success!
Yuna had a very realistic understanding of his own strength.
Some of his Badges had come from Gym Leaders taking pity on him, and he had practically picked up the Lighthouse Badge for free. Making it into the Main Event was already good enough.
Defeating a Gym Leader wasn't the only way to obtain a Badge. Earning their recognition was another option.
For instance, a challenger might fail their first Gym challenge.
But if they showed a completely different side of themselves and corrected their shortcomings during their second challenge, they might earn the Gym Leader's recognition.
"Here we go! Who do you think Li Wei will send out?"
"Metagross? Lucario?"
"My guess is Zeraora!"
"It's already been five whole minutes since I last heard about Li Wei beating Elite Four member Lorelei!"
"Seriously, this guy is way too overpowered for a Pokémon League tournament!"
"He should be competing in the Master League instead!"
"Actually, he really is planning to enter next