The soul penetrates Xiaozhi and destroys Gou Hao at the beginning

"Sneasel, Kairos, Blue, Black-eyed Crocodile, Vulture Girl, and Jawed Chicken Mother Bug are incapacitated!"

"You did a great job just now, Ibu."

"Buyi!"

Just as Ilima crouched down to praise Ibrahimovic, a beautiful, cold laugh came from Bu'er.

"You idiot, I heard you were a championship contender? You just beat these guys, don't get too cocky."

The Flame Queen Lizard unleashed a Mud Wave.

Faced with this sudden attack, Ilima reacted very quickly, immediately issuing instructions.

"Eevee, use Quick Attack to dodge!"

With the help of Quick Attack, Eevee was incredibly fast and managed to dodge most of the Sludge Wave's attacks.

But this move seemed to have been anticipated by Boolemeier; she smiled smugly and shouted,

"Flame Queen Lizard, unleash your Dragon Claw!"

The Safi'jiiva raised its claws, which had turned green due to the condensation of Dragon-type energy, and swung them to send Eevee flying.

"Kill it, Flame Queen Lizard, unleash Dragon Pulse."

"Eevee, dodge and then use Swift."

Eevee leaped up to dodge the Dragon Pulse, but its right hind leg was grazed by it. Despite the pain, it still managed to unleash a Swift Strike, which hit and knocked down the beautiful Satyr.

"The Flame Queen Lizard has lost its ability to fight!"

"We were defeated, but it doesn't matter, we've already achieved our goal."

Although Boole was eliminated, she was still very proud because she had gotten what she wanted.

During the banquet last night when the rules were announced, Bulmali studied all the contestants and analyzed that, apart from Ash, Guzma's biggest obstacle to winning the championship was Ilima.

That's why she took the initiative to challenge Elima in today's qualifiers, all to clear away any obstacles for her boss (the person she secretly admires) to win the championship.

As for why she didn't seek out Ash, it's because Bulma was very self-aware and knew that even if she did, she wouldn't be able to win.

Even though he might not be able to beat Ilima, if he could injure Ilima's Pokémon, then Ilima wouldn't be able to play in tomorrow's Round of 16.

If this happens to be Ilima's ace Pokémon, then it's a huge win, a significant weakening for Ilima, since he can't use his strongest Pokémon.

"Ibrahimovic, are you really alright?" Ilima asked, crouching down with great concern.

"Buyi!"

Ibrahimovic shook his head to indicate that he was fine and that Ilima shouldn't worry.

“Bulli’s elimination in the preliminary rounds means we’re very close to the moment when the 16 finalists will be determined,” Shi Kuang said.

With Bulb's beautiful elimination, the number of remaining contestants displayed on the big screen has now decreased to 20, indicating that the competition is nearing its end.

At the same time, with a loud thud, a staff-tailed armored dragon fell to the ground.

"The Kommo-o-Tai has lost its ability to fight!"

The Alola pseudo-legendary was defeated by Guzma and his Scizor.

"Is this all there is to the Alola League's first tournament?" Guzma scoffed.

At this moment, the number of remaining contestants displayed on the big screen has decreased to 17, and only one more person needs to be eliminated!

"The competition has gradually progressed to a contest between the strongest players," Shi Kuang said excitedly.

"Go, Blazing Turtle Beast, Super Ultimate Blazing Blast!!!"

At that moment, Kiawe unleashed its Z-Move, and the massive fireball from Turtonator struck Metagross head-on, proving highly effective and knocking it to the ground.

Another pseudo-legendary has been eliminated.

"Metamorphosis is incapacitated!"

With the elimination of this last pseudo-god, the number of remaining players displayed on the big screen stopped at 16!

With this, the top 16 teams for the Alola League Manalo Conference have been determined!

"The match is over! The preliminary rounds are now over!" Shi Kuang exclaimed excitedly.

"Thank you so much, Blazemon."

"Explosive flames!"

"Bai Gungun, you've worked very hard."

"six!"

"Shami, well done."

"Semy!"

"Keep up the good work, Nagisa."

"Eevee!"

“You’re amazing, Togodemar.”

"Togo!"

"Well done, Blazing Roaring Tiger."

“Blazing flame!”

"Pikachu!"

"Buy, buey!"

"Ash, we'll be meeting in the playoffs soon," Hau said, patting Ash on the shoulder as he walked over.

"Of course, let's cheer each other on," Ash said with a smile.

After saying that, Ash glanced around the arena and noticed that all his friends had stayed behind.

However, at a glance, everyone was a familiar face. Apart from Ash himself, there was no one among the remaining 15 of the top 16 who Ash didn't know.

However, to Xiao Zhi's surprise and dissatisfaction, one person also remained in the top 16 list – the fishing celebrity.

This cunning old fox must have hidden himself away as soon as the battle started, otherwise how would he have gotten the strength to advance to the top 16?

Allowing someone like this to advance to the top 16 really lowers the standard of the Alola League Manalo Conference.

After dinner, the contestants who advanced all gathered at the Pokémon Center.

During the tournament, Nurse Joy from all four islands will be at the Pokémon Center in Manaro Stadium to treat the Pokémon of the participants.

The contestants didn't come here to treat the Pokémon; those that needed treatment had already finished that afternoon.

Everyone is gathered here because the group stage draw for the Round of 16 will be announced here.

Soon, the large screen in the Pokémon Center lobby lit up, and Shi Kuang's figure appeared in front of the camera.

He reached for the microphone, cleared his throat, and began to speak.

"Sorry to have kept everyone waiting for so long."

First, here is the list of the top 16 players who have advanced to the Alola League Manalo Tournament playoffs. They are:

Xiao Zhi,

Grazio player,

Kachi,

Guzma,

Ilima athlete,

Water Lily contestant,

Harbin-Uzbekistan athletes,

Jasmine,

Oki,

Mamane,

Lillie,

Máo,

Pikachu,

Oro Oro player,

DJ Leo, a contestant.

Fishing celebrity,

Next, we will present the matchups for the first leg of the knockout stage of the finals, which is the round of 16.

The first match: Ash vs. Pikachu!

The second match is between player Ilima and player Guzma!

The third match: Hau vs. Oki!