Manalo Stadium.
The fierce preliminaries soon came to an end.
Ash, Kiawe, Lillie, Sophocles, and the others all advanced to the top 32 without any surprises, entering the official knockout rounds.
Meanwhile, Guzma, Ilima, Acerola, Hapu, Kahili, and the others also advanced with ease.
Tomorrow, the round of 32 would officially begin.
"Congratulations! You all made it into the top 32."
Li Wei applauded lightly in encouragement.
In such a fierce free-for-all, staying out of trouble and surviving until only sixteen competitors remained was no easy feat.
That was especially true for Sophocles, Mallow, Lana, and Lillie, who had no foundation in battling before this.
Lillie had read extensively about Pokémon abilities and memorized type matchups, but it was all theoretical knowledge.
It was already quite an achievement for Lillie and the others to make it through.
This Alola League tournament
was definitely much fiercer than it would originally have been.
The upcoming round of 32 and then the round of 16
were both one-on-one battles, so they would go quickly.
The first match of the round of 32
featured Ash, who was considered one of the favorites to win.
Ash certainly had enough prestige to headline the opening match.
And his opponent was-Faba.
Despite being a researcher, Faba had a fairly capable Alakazam and Hypno.
"Ash is the champion of both the Unova and Kalos League tournaments, and he has also completed the Island Challenge..."
"Faba appears to specialize in Psychic-type Pokémon!"
Li Wei had only served as a referee temporarily during the Battle Royal preliminaries. After that, he would only return to provide commentary for the finals.
If he commentated on every match... the attention on the Alola League would end up shifting to Li Wei instead.
"This will be a one-on-one battle. The first side to