Hearthome City.
This is a city where Pokémon and humans live in harmony, and for many consecutive years, it has been voted the most livable city in the Sinnoh region.
On his way to meet Cynthia, Li Wei could personally feel how livable this city was.
The roads were flat, and he encountered many young mothers with small children, with baby strollers visible everywhere.
Hearthome City has a Ghost-type Gym, and the Gym Leader is Melisa.
However, Li Wei did not plan to challenge the Gym; it was currently closed anyway.
He headed straight for Hearthome City's Super Contest Hall.
The battle between Cynthia and Mikuri was about to take place there.
Super Contest Hall.
Even standing outside, he could hear the thunderous cheers from inside.
"Melisa! Melisa!"
Before Cynthia and Mikuri's battle,
it was the battle between Melisa and Brock, the rock-hard man from the Kanto region, tougher than steel.
The Master League offered generous prize money, and Brock chose to participate for the money, as he had a large family to support.
"Anyway, Jiro has grown up and is more than capable of holding down the Pewter Gym."
These were Brock's exact words in the group chat.
Li Wei, wearing black sunglasses, dialed Cynthia's number, "I'm at the venue, but I can't get in at the entrance."
"I'm putting on makeup. Just wait at the entrance, a staff member will come to find you."
Hearing the staff member ask if there was a photo of Li Wei, Cynthia pondered for a moment,
"A photo? I don't think so. I'm sorry to trouble you, but he should be very easy to recognize. He'll be the first person you see in the crowd."
Soon, a staff member handed Li Wei a gilded black card.
"You must be Mr. Li Wei?"
"Yes."
Li Wei took the gilded black card.
This was Cynthia's exclusive card, allowing access to all venues and battle facilities in various regions, including the Battle Frontier.
But in reality, Cynthia could just use her reputation.
This card was practically useless to her.
The staff member couldn't help but mumble, "He really is easy to recognize."
Li Wei looked puzzled, "What?"
The staff member, wearing a hat, smiled, "Champion Hirona said you'd be the first person seen in the crowd."
Li Wei scratched his head, "That's an exaggeration."
The staff member glanced at Li Wei, then at Cynthia's exclusive card, "Not really an exaggeration."
"Thank you for your trouble."
The staff member adjusted his hat, "Please follow me."
The staff member led Li Wei through the VIP passage to an exclusive private room.
This was an exclusive private room for Elite and Champion, offering a panoramic view of the entire arena.
The area here was not that spacious,
it couldn't fit a Metagross with a diameter of over two meters, or an Arcanine and a Dragapult over three meters long.
So Li Wei only let Drakloak and Lucario out.
Cheers and shouts from the audience came from both sides.
Since Hearthome City was Melisa's home ground, her cheers far outweighed Brock's.
But this did not affect the squinty-eyed man with an iron will.
At this moment, as Brock threw a Poké Ball, the atmosphere in the arena reached a new climax.
"Come on out, Tyranitar!"
Trainers familiar with Rock-type Pokémon know that their biggest characteristic is often missing attacks.
But this still did not hinder Tyranitar's power.
Brock's Tyranitar was exceptionally well-trained; the Tyranitar, over three meters tall, roared, stirring up a sky full of sand in the arena.
This was Tyranitar's ability, Sand Stream, which changes the weather to a sandstorm upon entry.
In a sandstorm, Tyranitar's Special Defense would increase by 1.5 times, greatly enhancing its survivability.
Moreover, Brock's Tyranitar was even larger, and its stamina would be even deeper.
Brock's opponent was Melisa, dressed in a gorgeous purple gown with deep purple hair.
And her starting Pokémon was Mismagius.
"Stone Edge!"
With a heavy stomp from Tyranitar, sharp rocks shot up from the ground.
Is a move that relies so much on luck really good?
Especially with Brock's dark face, he didn't look like someone blessed with good fortune at all.
Sure enough, A-Jin and the others were also complaining in the group chat.
"Mystical Fire!"
The Fire-type Mystical Fire was not very effective against Tyranitar, but it could lower the opponent's Special Defense.
Therefore, Li Wei guessed that Melisa's next move might be Magical Leaf, or perhaps Energy Ball.
Mismagius, with its absolute speed advantage, hit Tyranitar with Mystical Fire first, the scorching flames causing Tyranitar to look pained.
But Mismagius also failed to dodge Tyranitar's Stone Edge, and the Mismagius floating in mid-air was sent flying backward.
While the battle between Brock and Melisa was intense, a female voice from the adjacent private room caught Li Wei's attention.
"Who are you?"
The VIP section was not completely enclosed; it was simply separated by railings.
Li Wei recognized her at a glance, as her attire was quite unique.
Light purple hair, a "wing-style" swept-back hairstyle extending from a light blue helmet,
a blue flight suit outlining her tall figure, with a pure white inner suit, and a pair of blue boots.
Her first impression was one of slight arrogance.
It was Winona, the Gym Leader from Fortree City in the Hoenn region.
This was a true Flying-type Gym Leader.
Why would she be here?
Like Li Wei, Winona was also a little puzzled.
This was an exclusive private room for Elite, Champion, and their relatives, but she didn't recognize Li Wei.
Because of the World Gym Leader Tournament and Type Expert Tournament, Winona had an impression of Gym Leaders from various regions, and Li Wei was definitely not a Gym Leader.
But what puzzled Winona was that she felt a strange sensation from Li Wei.
What Li Wei didn't realize was that his current state was actually very eye-catching.
Because Drakloak's head was resting on his head,
forming a stacked state of Li Wei, Drakloak, and Dreepy.
Drakloak had always liked to rest its head on his head, and Li Wei had long been used to it.
Li Wei explained, "Li Wei, invited by Cynthia."
Cynthia?
Winona frowned slightly.
Calling Cynthia by her first name,
and Cynthia even invited him to watch the match?
As Mikuri's girlfriend, Winona had not met Cynthia for the first time.
Cynthia had only invited two good friends to watch the match: Kaluni and Caitlin.
Cynthia was a fan of Kaluni's movies, and they met and became good friends because of that.
Suddenly, Winona felt that Li Wei's name sounded a little familiar, but she couldn't recall why.
Looking at Lucario and Drakloak, Winona nodded slightly towards Li Wei:
"I am Winona, the Gym Leader of Fortree Gym."
At this moment, Li Wei finally remembered why Winona was here.
This was Mikuri's girlfriend!
Although they had broken up once, they had long since reconciled.
Tap, tap, tap—
The sound of high heels approached...