Only Cynthia and the Pokémon actually fought, but she never fought alone. With so many people supporting me, so many people around me believing in me, I can go anywhere. That was what I thought.
With her resolve firm once more, Shirona headed for the Indigo Plateau, with Kaim walking beside her.
All the contestants gathered in a room for the opening ceremony meeting. Every trainer assembled there was well known. Starting with Gary, whom they had met earlier, the strongest trainers from every region had come together. Among them was a boy wearing a red cap.
After the meeting ended and everyone dispersed, a dark-skinned girl ran up to Cynthia.
"Miss Cynthia!"
"Alice! How have you been?"
"She's been doing well!"
The girl with the radiant smile was Alice, the current Champion of the Isshu Region and a Dragon-type specialist. I had met her when I visited Caitlin's villa in the summer, and from then on, she had taken a liking to Cynthia there.
"It's me! I've really been looking forward to today! I'm so happy I was invited to such an amazing tournament!"
"Hehe, yes. So am I."
Iris's tone alone revealed how much she had been looking forward to this day. Iris was a girl who was always full of energy and looked happy, but her voice betrayed an anticipation you would not ordinarily hear.
"I trained hard for this tournament! I'm going to give this challenge everything I've got!"
"Me too. Since I've been invited to such a wonderful place, I want to put on my best performance."
"Yes! And! I want to pick up where we left off that time!"
Alice was probably referring to my earlier visit to Shallow Wave Town, when Cynthia's Garchomp had battled Alice's Onono. Back then, we had taken