Friday, March 7.
Levincia, Paldea.
Today, crowds packed the futuristic Levincia Arena, not far from the Levincia Gym.
The opening ceremony for the League Calendar year 225 Electric-type Experts Tournament officially began today.
Granted, it was an annual event, and counting the Multitype Experts Tournament, there were nineteen categories in total.
But it was still a [minor]-tier international event under the Pokémon World Championships, and Iono, the Levincia Ambassador, was participating.
The people of Levincia were brimming with enthusiasm for this tournament.
As a "Host's Relative," Xia Chi had been assigned a VIP courtside seat with an excellent view by Iono herself.
The bad news was that if the battlefield's protective energy barrier malfunctioned, the spectators in these seats would probably find themselves starring in Final Destination.
Still, there had been no such incident so far, and the courtside seats remained packed at every match.
The qualifying round that whittled four teams down to two had finished days earlier. The eliminated regions were Johto and Alola.
The former had no official Electric-type Gym, while the latter... didn't even have the concept of Gyms.
In short, the tournament opened with the quarterfinals.
Pokémon battles at the Gym Leader level were far more intense.
So although there were only three rounds, the entire tournament stretched over seven days.
That meant the competitors and their Pokémon received two days to rest and recover after each match.
The organizers knew how to draw an audience, making the opening match a marquee showdown.
Iono vs. Elesa!
The former was the Levincia Gym Leader, the hometown competitor, and a world-renowned streamer.
The latter was the Nimbasa Gym Leader and a World-Famous Supermodel.
Nimbasa Gym's shining beauty-Elesa.
More importantly, both were indisputably beautiful. Even in the entertainment industry, their looks would rank among the very best.
Strictly