"You were amazing, Miss Nessa!"
"If she wins her next battle against Mr. Gordie, Miss Nessa will qualify for the Champion Cup!"
"Making the Champion Cup in her very first year-are we about to see the Galar League's second Raihan?"
The spectators in the stands enthusiastically discussed the match that had just ended, giving Nessa's unexpected victory overwhelmingly high praise.
After all, before the match began, hardly anyone would have favored the young Gym Leader.
In fact, many spectators had thought that, faced with both an enormous gap in battling experience and a type disadvantage, Nessa would have done well simply to avoid another crushing defeat like her previous match.
Yet this sudden, spectacular victory heralded the triumphant return of Hulbury's Black Pearl.
Having defeated her greatest opponent, her next goal was naturally-
Qualifying for the Champion Cup!
Even if she still had some way to go before she could defeat that monstrously powerful Champion, one thing was clear: Nessa would surely become a pillar of the League in the future!
"I won..."
Only after returning to the lounge through the competitors' tunnel did Nessa feel as though she had awakened from a dream. She instinctively patted her cheeks to pull herself together.
The battle hadn't lasted very long, but she had remained completely on edge throughout it, not even noticing the beads of warm sweat that had appeared at her temples.
Before the match, she had expected an incredibly difficult battle, just like before.
But it had actually been surprisingly easy?
The feeling of victory was wonderful to Nessa.
Thunderous applause, jubilant cheers-the greatest glory a Gym Leader could experience was this-
All the effort she had put in thus far had not been wasted. It had finally become a beautiful, stirring melody of victory.
There could be no