The Gym Ranking Tournament was an exchange competition between Gyms. Naturally, the Gym Leaders themselves were its focus and participants.
Now that the appetizer was over, it was time for the main course.
Under the rules, the Gym Leaders' matchups followed the earlier draw. Points were still awarded, but unlike the elite class matches, each Gym Leader's battle followed a single-elimination format!
In other words, there were no negative points!
The winner advanced! The loser was eliminated outright!
In the first round, the quarterfinals, a win earned one point. A semifinal win earned two points, and winning the final earned three!
Anyone hoping to score big and secure a high ranking had to rely entirely on their strength!
Whoever made it all the way to the end would earn six points in total!
Those would then be added to the points from the earlier matches to determine the final score.
The rankings would be based on those totals.
This was a competition in which Gym Leaders seized points through their own strength!
It was also the most crucial part of the tournament!
Meanwhile, the Gym Leaders' matches would no longer use the earlier double battle format, but standard Pokémon battle rules.
They would battle three-on-three!
The results of the earlier draw were as follows:
Shalour Gym versus Lumiose Gym!
Rock Solid Gym versus Coumarine Gym!
Wulfric's Gym versus Laverre Gym!
Anistar Gym versus Santalune Gym!
Thus, the first match of the opening round featured Korrina, the Shalour Gym Leader, and Mr. Matsumiya, the Lumiose Gym Leader!
At that moment, the atmosphere in the arena was even more tense than before!
With a smile of long-awaited anticipation, Korrina stepped into her command area. Across from her, Mr. Matsumiya was already in position.
"I finally get to battle!"
Korrina said, her smile