The soul penetrates Xiaozhi and destroys Gou Hao at the beginning

The sniper tree owl desperately used its leaf blades to defend itself, but the blades it fired were instantly absorbed upon touching the edge of the darkness, turning into faint specks of light that disappeared in an instant.

All the ghostly hands simultaneously unleashed their claws, and countless beams of shadowy energy converged into a thick, purplish-black pillar of light, crashing straight into the Sniper Tree Owl.

Even though it is a Ghost-type Pokémon, Decidueye is still unavoidable in this dark world created by the Z-force of Ghost-type Pokémon. Being hit head-on by this move is extremely effective.

This was the intense resentment that Rowlet summoned through the Z-Force, which descended upon Decidueye with all its might.

Another violent explosion rang out, and the purplish-black beam of light that had struck the Sniper Tree Owl exploded with a deafening roar, blasting the owl ten meters away. It crashed heavily into the walls surrounding the battlefield before collapsing to the ground with a thud, already half-dead.

The dark world vanished, and the figures of the Sniper Tree Owl and the Wood Owl reappeared before everyone's eyes.

"Decidueye is unable to battle, Rowlet wins, so the winner is Ash from Pallet Town," Merdan announced.

"Well done, Rowlet!"

"Boooooo~!"

"Pikachu!"

"Buy, buey!"

"That's amazing! Ash defeated Hau with overwhelming strength, becoming the second player to advance to the top eight in this tournament."

Let's give a warm round of applause and cheers to these two players who have given us such a wonderful match.

"Come back, Sniper Tree Owl, thank you for your hard work."

Amidst enthusiastic applause and cheers from the audience, Hau retracted the Decidueye, then walked up to Ash, extended his hand, and said with a smile,

"Congratulations, Ash."

"Thank you, Hau, the sniper tree owl is really amazing."

After saying that, Ash also reached out and shook hands with Hau.

“Yes, let’s fight again next time,” Hau said.

"Okay."

In the stands, Ash's friends cheered and celebrated his victory.

"Congratulations on making it to the semifinals, Ash!" Lillie said.

"A brilliant battle," Shui Lian said.

"Thank you for your hard work, Ash," Mallow said.

Unlike the girls' celebration, Kachi stood up with a fierce fighting spirit and said to Mamane beside him,

"Next it's our turn."

“Yes, let’s both give it our all,” Mamane said.

Meanwhile, Ash's Meltan, who was also watching from the sidelines, was greatly encouraged after seeing Rowlet win.

It ran to the top of a nearby building and quickly turned the screws on its head, making a crisp sound, as if it were summoning something.

Meanwhile, in the players' tunnel, Hau walked off the field dejectedly. When he looked up, he was surprised to find that his grandfather, Hala, was already waiting for him at the end of the tunnel.

"Grandpa! Ash and Rowlet are really amazing!" Hau said with a forced smile.

Hala sighed, patted Hau on the shoulder, and said,

"Hau, you did a great job."

Upon hearing this, Hawu could no longer hold back and threw himself into Hala's arms, bursting into tears that soaked Hala's clothes.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Mamane and Kachi were already facing off.

Ash rushed back to the stands after finishing the previous match and reunited with Lillie and the other two girls.

The Pokémon that Mamane sent out was naturally his strongest Pokémon, Vikadounon, while Kiawe seemed to want to avoid making Mamane lose too badly, so in order to hold back, he sent out Charizard.

Because it would be more advantageous to send out Marowak or Torterra.

Whether it's the Fire/Dragon type Turtlemon or the Fire/Ghost type Alolan Marowak,

Both of these Pokémon are resistant to both Electric and Bug types, completely shutting down Vikadounon's dual STAB moves.

Among them, the Alola Mara Mara is four times more resistant to insects.

Both of these Pokémon also have their own Fire-type moves that can effectively counter Vikadounon.

Charizard also has Fire-type moves to fight Vikadounon, since Flying-type moves are twice as effective against Vikadounon. However, Flying-type moves are also weak to Vikadounon's STAB Electric-type moves.

Mamane didn't know in advance which Pokémon Kiawe would send out.

But Kachi knew who Mamane would be meeting.

Because Toggotmar only has Vikadounon available, and he doesn't have any other Pokémon, his strength is weaker than Vikadounon.

Furthermore, both of Mamane's Pokémon are weak to Fire, but unfortunately they run into Kiawe, who is good at using Fire-type Pokémon. No matter which one they send out, they will be hit by Fire-type attacks. It can only be said that Mamane is really having a tough time.

Therefore, the combination of Vikavolt and Kiawe's Charizard is the best possible outcome for Mamane.

If Kiawe's Alolan Marowak had the Lightning Rod ability, it would completely shut down those two Pokémon in Mawmane. Unfortunately, it doesn't have that ability.

Alolan Marowak has four times the resistance to Bug and two times the resistance to Steel. If it also has the Lightning Rod ability, it can become immune to Electric-type moves.

However, it doesn't matter. Charizard still has an advantage over Vikadounon, and it's also much faster, giving it the initiative. One Flamethrower can easily kill a Vikadounon.

Kachi has an overwhelming advantage.

Back to the present.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next match will be the third game of the second round of the Alola League Manaro Tournament, which is also the quarterfinals. The two players facing off are Kaki and Mamane."

They were in the same class at the Pokémon School and were both students of Professor Kukui, one of the founders of the Alola League. It could be said that they were both well aware of each other's true strength.

"What kind of battle will this be?" Shi Kuang asked.

"Kachi, I used to think that no matter how hard I tried, I could never beat you. After all, your grandfather was the king of the island, and you were the first among us to get the Z-Bracelet."

Later, I gradually came to appreciate the fun of battling.

So I started thinking, one day, I will definitely beat you.

"So today, I will not lose," Mamane said.

“Great! I couldn’t be happier,” Kachi said with a smile.

"Now, let the match begin," announced Hala, the referee for the match.

"Here we go, Charizard, use Flamethrower!"

"To win, Vajra Bug, move to the left."

The Charizard spewed flames from its mouth, but the Vikadounon nimbly dodged them.

"Charizard, unleash your Flame Punch attack like this."

"Just as expected, the stag beetle burrows in and uses its silk-spinning technique."