Two days later,
This year’s Galar Star Tournament round of 64—the knockout stage—officially began.
“Hello everyone, welcome to the Galar region.”
Chairman Rose, dressed in a tailored suit, stood at the center of the Motostoke Stadium.
Under the watch of 100,000 live spectators and at least eight-digit viewers online,
He spoke passionately: “Now, please enjoy the lighting of the tournament’s sacred flame by our Galar region’s strongest trainer—Leon!”
The special effects smoke cleared.
Leon appeared, his feet spread wide in a horse stance, head tilted to the right, left hand raised high in a peace sign, striking his signature celebratory pose.
“Leon!
Leon!!
Leon!!!”
The roar from the live audience was loud enough to pierce through the stadium’s ceiling.
“His popularity is even crazier than Kalos’s Champion Diantha.”
Serena, sitting with Noah and Marnie, marveled.
That’s right—since they’d be traveling together from now on, Marnie had joined them.
Meanwhile, Piers, who was in the players’ lounge preparing to enter, watched the scene with a face full of resentment.
“He is currently the only Champion in the League who can go toe-to-toe with Lance.”
Noah said matter-of-factly.
Although Diantha had the added advantage of being a movie star,
She could only compete with Cynthia and Wallace in popularity.
Against Lance and Leon—both peak Champion-level—she couldn’t compare at all.
In the Pokémon World, no matter what other advantages you had,
In the end, raw strength mattered most.
Lance had a terrible temper, yet he still had tons of devoted fans.
“Charizard!
Dynamax!”
With Leon’s shout and raised hand,
His Charizard swelled to an incredible height of over thirty meters,
Drawing gasps from both the live and online audience.
Even MetalGreymon, at three stories tall, looked like a child in comparison.
“This is Galar’s Dynamax!
First time seeing it live!”
Serena said excitedly.
“Not very practical, but the visual impact is definitely off the charts.”
Noah commented calmly.
“What do you mean?”
Sonia, sitting behind Noah, asked curiously.
Noah glanced back—trying hard not to let his eyes get drawn to the white curves peeking out from her sweater’s neckline—and answered:
“A Dynamaxed Pokémon can only use three moves before reverting to its normal form.
And it has to be in a specific location.
Compared to Kalos’s Mega Evolution, Alola’s Z-Moves, and Paldea’s Terastalization—what advantage does it really have?”
It wasn’t just Sonia—
Serena and Marnie, sitting nearby, were also stunned when they heard this analysis.
Upon reflection, it was true.
Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and Terastalization could all be used anytime, anywhere.
But Dynamax couldn’t.
It could only be used in Galar.
And only in specific environments.
For example, Marnie’s hometown Spikemuth couldn’t use Dynamax at all.
While they were chatting, Leon’s Gigantamax Charizard unleashed G-Max Wildfire, lighting the sacred flame for this year’s Galar Star Tournament.
Hmm…
how to put it?
The Indigo Conference used Ho-Oh’s flame.
The Silver Conference used Moltres’s flame.
But the Galar Star Tournament used only Charizard’s flame.
That felt a bit less impressive.
Noah was already thinking about which Digimon’s flame he’d use for the sacred fire when Alola’s first-ever League Conference opened.
After the flame was lit, Rose raised his hand again and announced:
“Now, let’s welcome the excellent trainers who have advanced to this year’s Galar Star Tournament’s knockout stage—and of course, the pride of our Galar League—our Gym Leaders!”
Sixty-four contestants entered the arena from four separate tunnels.
The most eye-catching were naturally Galar’s own Gym Leaders: Raihan, Melony, Bea, and others.
“There aren’t just eight of them?”
Serena noticed something.
Unlike other regions, the Galar League didn’t have exactly eight Gym Leaders.
Sonia explained thoughtfully:
“Currently, the Galar League has a total of ten Gym Leaders.
Chairman Rose is a big proponent of Pokémon battles—I heard he plans to add a few more next year.”
“They still can’t get four Elite Four members though.”
Noah added.
Hearing this, Sonia immediately pouted.
‘This guy’s mouth was so sharp!’
Among the ten Gym Leaders,
The most popular was Raihan—the only Champion-level trainer besides Leon.
After all, strength spoke for itself.
Second was the dark-skinned beauty Nessa.
Every time she waved, it triggered a tsunami of cheers from her male fans.
Her popularity and strength were inversely proportional.
The 64 contestants lined up.
The big screen above the stands rapidly shuffled and displayed the match-ups.
None of the ten Galar Gym Leaders were pitted against each other in the first round.
Instead, they all faced unknown trainers whose names Noah didn’t recognize.
Noah suspected the draw was rigged.
After all, why would you throw out your aces right at the start?
But at least this ensured all Gym Leaders would make it past the first round…
right?
Three hours later.
The 100,000 live spectators at the Motostoke Stadium fell into dead silence.
They quietly watched as the Gigantamax Drednaw lay on its back in the center of the field,
Fell heavily, and reverted from its Dynamax form on its own.
Even the commentator froze for several seconds before stammering:
“D-Drednaw is down!
With that, Gym Leader Nessa’s last Pokémon is unable to battle!
She is eliminated from this year’s Galar Star Tournament!”
Both the live audience and the online community erupted in chaos.
Even Noah—a Transmigrator sitting in the stands—was stunned for a moment.
‘What the hell?
This wasn’t the plot I remembered.’