[Spoilers] Alolan League!

I want to see Sophocles Vikavolt against Guzma's Golisopod.

I want to see Ash battling with Gladion and Gladin wins and takes down Ash on the league conference!

We got more info about the league since someone last posted here. Here are all of the confirmed first round matchups:

Ash vs. Faba
Guzma vs. Ilima
Hau vs. Principal Oak
Lana vs. Mallow
Sophocles vs. Mina
Jessie vs. James

The other two matchups in the first round are currently unknown. Also, it is confirmed that Ash and Hau will battle in the second round, so it is confirmed that they will win their respective first round matchups.

JESSIE VS JAMES im soooo glad that this is the first round for them bless. Also excited to see Lana vs Mallow.

Kiawe, Acerola, Lillie, and Gladion are the remaining four trainers in the Top 16 as confirmed by today's episode.

its an alright top 16. i don't like some matchups but I guess I can live with it. I also like the pre-lims, quick and easy. i wonder what would happen if that's the mechanics throughout the whole tournament?

I mean..of course they're gonna have all the main cast up there in the top sixteen i guess lmao..not surprised about this list as much as it might be a disappointment that some didnt make it

Ash, Hau, Guzma, and Lana all advanced to the second round. In the next episode, we will see who the remaining trainers in the second round are.

okay well 99% of me knew Ilima would lose to Guzma but wah, I wanted to see more of my boy. love Guzma a lot anyway and am excited to see how his advancement will affect later battles, and how he will impact certain characters! looks at Kukui and Hala

Ultimately, I think it's going to end with Guzma vs Ash in the finals. I know that Gladion is seen as his rival, but from his character's position he doesn't really belong in that league. Isn't his goal now to find his father? I mean he did find Zoroark, unless he only wants to get stronger but I still have a hard time seeing that purpose. In my eyes Guzme definitely has a better purpose to get into the finals. He wants to destroy the league (And I'll eat my own words and say that does make him the villain) and take the moment away from Kukui, he even wants to defeat him.

I don't even know how to feel about Hau at this point.

The second round matchups are officially Ash vs. Hau, Gladion vs. James, Kiawe vs. Sophocles, and Guzma vs. Lana.

My predictions:
Ash wins
Gladion wins
Kiawe wins
Guzma wins

Third round matchups
Gladion? vs Ash
Kiawe? vs Guzma

Not gonna lie that battle between Kiawe and Acerola was hilarious

Honestly I would love to see Lana beat Guzma but I think the latter is surrounded by more plot armor than the former so alas.

That would be something, but yeah, I think Guzma will take the win here. ;v;

At this point I wonder if Satoshi will fight Guzma next round or the finals? Hmmm.

Gladion has just defeated James, making him the first trainer confirmed to advance to the semifinals.

Man I love James and his bonds with his Pokémon. He is such a kind and caring trainer. We all expected him to lose but that was a nice battle, and seeing him do the Z-Move pose is always awesome! You did your best baby boi❤

Excited to see Hau battle Ash too, animation seems like it'll be pretty fluid for that battle. Looking forward to next week.

I am curious to see how Ash vs. Hau will fair -- I think Rowlet will win somehow, but we'll see! I think it will be animated pretty well too.

Two new episode titles have been revealed. Sophocles has been confirmed to lose to Kiawe, who will face Gladion in the semifinals. The other matchup will most likely be Ash vs. Guzma.

Really?

If that's the case then I'll be really disappointed...

I'm like 90+% sure that ash will face kukui (im sorry, royal mask). I'm still waiting for surprises though. there are no upset wins yet so far, right? I think the closest upset win was that jessie and james matchup.

I hope there are no facepalms happening for me for this hau matchup