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Pokemon Fan Presents the Alola Pokémon League

Dream Lad

Banned
Sorry, there are so many active threads right now. Could somebody please let me know all the confirmed match-ups for the knockout rounds?
 

Red and Blue

Well-Known Member
Sorry, there are so many active threads right now. Could somebody please let me know all the confirmed match-ups for the knockout rounds?
1. Ash vs. Faba
2. Hau vs. Oak
3. Guzma vs. Ilima
4. Mallow vs. Lana
5. Sophocles vs. Mina.
6. Jessie vs. James.

And one of the top 8 matches will be Ash vs. Hau


Those are the confirmed match ups so far
 

Red and Blue

Well-Known Member
Personally I think the top 8 could be

1. Ash
2. Hau
3. Guzma
4. Jessie
5. Sophocles
6. Lana
7. Kiawe
8. Gladion.

With the matches being

Ash vs. Hau
Guzma vs. Sophocles
Gladion vs. Jessie
Lana vs. Kiawe
 
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Red and Blue

Well-Known Member
Since Hiroki makes the top 16 based on the second preview looks like he could be Kiawe's opponent.

Leaving Gladion and Lillie to fight each other
 

ShadowForce720

Well-Known Member
So let's look at Top 8. My guesses in parentheses.

Ash, Hau, Guzma, Gladion

Jessie or (James)
(Lana) or Mallow
(Sophocles) or Mina
(Kiawe) or Lillie

The most dramatic path for Ash would be to face Hau, Guzma, and Gladion in the quarter, semis and finals. As relieving it would be for Ash to face Guzma in the finals where the moral narrative favours him, Gladion must be the final billing, or there's less tension.

I would wager Guzma faces Kiawe in the quarterfinals, since Kiawe is the #4 or #5 on that list for strength, equal to Hau. That would give Guzma credibility as a threat. Lana is the worst opponent for Gladion, as Primarina destroys most of his team.

So the matchups...

Ash v. Hau
Guzma v. Kiawe
Gladion v. James
Sophocles v. Lana

Semis

Ash v. Guzma
Gladion v. Lana

Not gonna lie, that's a decent progression but quite predictable. I'd rather see Mallow go from zero to Tobias with Shaymin Sky and shake things up. I feel like the most tense tournaments need some unstoppable monster, be it Darkrai, Throh, Dragonite or Mega Charizard X.

Short of Ash getting Naganadel, we don't have any potential for that here...unless Guzma pulls a Genesect or Mega out of his arse.

Well to be fair it would be tense just in a different way if Ash vs Guzma was the finals instead of the semi-finals, because it would show how close Guzma got to accomplishing his goal, I mean because if you really think about it the thing about Ash vs Guzma in the semi-finals is that even if Ash were to lose against Guzma there, there would be one more match where some one could theoretically stop Guzma as he wouldn't have won the league yet.

However if Ash vs Guzma is the finals then it means that Ash can't afford to lose as it would mean that Guzma would win the league. I mean sure people are suggesting Ash vs Gladion be the finals, but let's be honest if Ash vs Gladion was the finals then regardless of whether Ash beats Gladion or Gladion beats Ash, it doesn't result in an outcome that would destroy the league. Where if you actually think about it, it makes more sense for Ash vs Guzma to be the final match as like I said before if Ash doesn't stop him there then Guzma would win the league.
 

Doppelgänger

Superancient Member
Ash cannot lose to Guzma because Ash holds the moral authority over him. I would imagine Guzma's adapted anime story will involve the mentality that Z-Moves make trainers powerful, rather than the truth that the powerful obtain Z-Moves. Tension would be added by Guzma taunting Ash to not use a Z-Move in their battle, to show Guzma that his philosophy is wrong. Using a Z-Move to win doesn't challenge his beliefs at all.

With that pretense, Ash's only credible threat is Gladion. XY showed that Ash does not always triumph over rivals, even those he's never beaten.
 

ShadowForce720

Well-Known Member
Ash cannot lose to Guzma because Ash holds the moral authority over him. I would imagine Guzma's adapted anime story will involve the mentality that Z-Moves make trainers powerful, rather than the truth that the powerful obtain Z-Moves. Tension would be added by Guzma taunting Ash to not use a Z-Move in their battle, to show Guzma that his philosophy is wrong. Using a Z-Move to win doesn't challenge his beliefs at all.

With that pretense, Ash's only credible threat is Gladion. XY showed that Ash does not always triumph over rivals, even those he's never beaten.

Yes, but what I'm saying is that if Ash vs Guzma is in the semi-final then even if Ash loses to Guzma there will still be one more chance for someone to stop Guzma in the league, which wouldn't be the case Ash vs Guzma is in the finals.

Where Gladion on the other hand even if Ash loses to Gladion there is no danger of Gladion destroying the league if he wins. Plus what better way to show how threatening Guzma was by having him get so close to winning the league and the only reason he doesn't was because he lost to Ash in the finals.

Because let's be honest if Ash is fighting Gladion in the finals then he is not going to be as worried or as pressured to win the match because Gladion isn't going to destroy the league if he wins, where if Ash is facing Guzma in the finals then he is going to be more stress out because he will know that if he loses to Guzma there that it would mean that Guzma would win the league.

Right now Ash's main goal isn't to beat Gladion, it's to beat Guzma so that he can ensure that Guzma doesn't win the league. Sure Ash holds the moral authority over Guzma but the problem with that match being the semi-finals and Gladion being the finals is that it would mean that there is effectively a safety net there to where Ash will know that if he doesn't beat Guzma in the semi-finals it doesn't automatically mean that Guzma would win because Guzma would then have to beat Gladion in the finals.

Where as if Ash vs Guzma is in the finals then there won't be that safety net.
 
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ShadowForce720

Well-Known Member
There's no narrative reason for Gladion to beat or even face Guzma. Guzma is Kukui's rival and the two aren't connected at all. There's nothing to be gained by the two battling aside from a good Pokemon battle.

Gladion, Guzma have their own subplots with Ash, and there's the meta subplot of Ash losing in the Pokemon League. Ash losing to Guzma while Gladion winning would be utterly unsatisfying and pointless, especially if Ash is dropped in the semis.

Beating Guzma isn't Ash's "goal", unlike beating Paul in Sinnoh. His goal is to win and have fun, as he's reiterated many, many times before Guzma showed up.

did you not watch episode 128 or something because it's pretty clear that Ash is intending to knocked Guzma out of the league, so yes Ash's main goal right now is to beat Guzma, episode 128 made that pretty clear, it doesn't matter if originally that wasn't his goal, the point is that in episode 128 he made that his goal. Also no matter how you try to argue it, it doesn't matter how strong Gladion and Silvally are at this point because they can't cause Ash as much stress in finals as Guzma can because Ash doesn't have to worry about Gladion destroying the league if he wins.


Yes, there is no narrative reason for Gladion to beat Guzma, however the same is true when it comes to Gladion vs Kukui/Masked Royal as Gladion has no narrative reason to face Masked Royal other then oh hey it just happens to be the reward for beating the league and it would be a good battle. Where it makes more sense for the final match to be Ash vs Guzma because both have a narrative reason to fight Kukui/Masked Royal, and on top of that it would generate more stress and pressure on Ash because then he knows that if he loses to Guzma there that Guzma will win the league as there is no safety net.


While in the case of the semi-finals even if there no narrative reason for Gladion to fight or face Guzma in the league there is still the point that it would be essentially a safety net because Ash would know that if he loses to Guzma in the semi-finals that Guzma would still have to beat Gladion in the finals. Also there would be a narrative reason for Gladion and Guzma to face each other and that would be if they plan on having Guzma take out Gladion before facing Ash in the finals to further emphasize Guzma as a threat and further show how strong his Golisopod is by having it defeat Gladion and his Silvally.
 

WaterShuriken

"I..I..Iron Tail, Pikachu."
Not knowing how many Pokémon are to be used in each round is really messing up quite a few predictions as some of the competitor's teams are so limited.

The Top 16 consists of 1 vs 1 matches so that's okay. But if the Top 8 has 2 vs 2 matches then I can't see James or Lillie moving on since they only have 1 Pokémon on hand.

From what we know of the Top 8 is that Ash is facing Hau and that the match-ups are randomized because if they weren't Ash would have faced Guzma instead of Hau and Hau would face either Lana or Mallow.

So, assuming the Top 8 will be 2 vs 2 matches this is how I can see the league going.

Top 16 - 1 vs 1

Ash
vs Faba (Meltan vs Hypno)
Ilima vs Guzma (Smeargle vs Golisopod)
Hau vs Samson (Raichu vs Vulpix)
Mallow vs Lana (Tsareena vs Primarina)
Sophocles vs Mina (Vikavolt vs Ribombee)
Jessie vs James (Mimikyu vs Mareani)
Kiawe vs Hiroki (Marowak vs Mudbray)
Lillie vs Gladion (Vulpix vs Umbreon)

Meltan could show off its 4th move, Thundershock and while fail to perform the Z-Move, it still wins.

Guzma will demolish Ilima to prove he's a real threat.

Hau vs Samson... I just want to see Vulpix battle even if it loses.

I want Mallow to pull of the Z-Move but Primarina barely tanks it to unleash her own move.

The same with Sophocles and Mina. I wanna see Twinkle Tackle but then have Vikavolt beat it with his move.

Jessie got the Contests and Showcases, let James get the Pokémon League, especially since he was so fired up to face Masked Royal. I can see Mareani beating Mimikyu with Knock Off and then evolving upon winning the match.

Kiawe vs Hiroki will probably be a quick match to prove he can beat Ground types.

Gladion vs Lillie will show some of Lillie's smart tactics but fail due to her inexperience.

Top 8 - 2 vs 2

Ash
vs Hau (Torracat, Rowlet vs Raichu, Decidueye)
Lana vs Sophocles (Primarina, Eevee vs Vikavolt, Togedemaru)
James vs Guzma (Meowth, Toxapex vs Pinsir, Masquerain)
Kiawe vs Gladion (Turtonator, Charizard vs Zoroark, Silvally)

I don't want another Pikachu vs Raichu fight. Torracat should get a win here since Pikachu will be used for the battle royal. Maybe Torrcat wins with Inferno Overdrive and Ash can't rely on Bloom Doom to save Rowlet last minute so he has to go hard on the Feather Dance strat.

I was gonna have Lana vs Kiawe but I feel like Gladion taking about Kiawe would be the equivalent of the Paul vs Barry, Cameron vs Bianca, Tierno vs Sawyer matches.

I want Lana to train while Ash is training Rowlet. So during this match, Lana reveals she was training with Sandy to learn Dig. That's how she beats Sophocles and Togedemaru after Primarina and Vikavolt take each other out.

For Guzma's second match I want him to take out James. This will fuel TR even more to cheer for Ash in the finals. Since James only has his recently evolved Toxapex, Meowth decides to help him after being motivated by James and Toxapex's determination.

For Kiawe vs Gladion, I want Gladion to fully use Zoroark's Illusion so that Ash can think up of a strategy ahead of time. I can see Gladion using a Water Memory to counter Kiawe's fire types.

Then the Top 4 can be 3 vs 3.

Lana vs Guzma
(Lapras, Vaporeon, Primarina vs Masquerain, Scizor, Golisopod)

If Kiawe can use his Ride Pokémon, so can Lana. We know it at least knows Ice Beam. Plus she had Lapras before Popplio same as Kiawe and Charizard and Tortunator.

Water vs Bug is pretty even. I can also see Lana buying a Water Stone from a shop on the island. We already had Vaporeon hinted at us. Guzma's secret weapon would be a Toxicroak with Dry Skin that absorbs Vaporeon's Hydro Vortex and due to its typing, defeats Lapras AND Primarina as well.

Ash vs Gladion
(Torracat, Pikachu, Lycanroc vs Zoroark, Silvally, Lycanroc)

Ash's strategy for fishing out Zoroark's Illusion could probably be having Torracat tank one of two hits and have it use Revenge to deal super effective damage and weaken it so Illusion wears off.

Then Pikachu draws with Silvally to leave the Lycanroc duel the boys love to much but this time our Lycanroc wins.

The final match SHOULD be a 6 vs 6. It's only logical. I can see Ash calling Prof. Oak for a reserve or maybe Ash somehow gets Poipole back like he did with Goodra when the full battle came up.

Finals 6 vs 6
Ash vs Guzma
Rowlet, Torracat, Pikachu, Noctowl, Lycanroc, Meltan

Pinsir, Masquerain, Toxicroak, Scizor, Ariados, Golisopod

Rowlet vs Pinsir : Rowlet beats it with Brave Bird but is heavily damaged and gets recalled.

Torracat vs Scizor : Torracat gets hit with a U-turn and Masquerain comes out.

Torracat vs Masquerain : Masquerain uses Rain Dance and Bubblebeam to heavily damage Torracat. Torracat gets recalled and so does Masquerain.

Pikachu v. Ariados : Electro Web vs Spider Web collision. Pikachu beats Ariados and gets recalled.

Torracat vs Scizor : Torracat still heavily damaged by Masquerain's surprise Water-type moves draws with Scizor after a Bullet Punch Flame Charge collision.

Brief Break.
Ash has 5 Pokémon
Guzma has 3 Pokémon

Rowlet vs Toxicroak : Toxicroak makes quick work of Rowlet.

Noctowl vs Toxicroak : Ash's secret weapon was his Noctowl which can use Psychic-type move as they are extemely effective against Toxicroak. Noctowl wins but gets Poisoned during the fight.

Noctowl vs Masquerain : Masquerain KO's Noctowl with a surprise Ice Beam.

Lycanroc vs Masquerain : Lycanroc wins with an Accelrock but not before another Rain Dance is pulled off.

Lycanroc vs Golisopod : Golisopod takes an Accelrock but OHKO's Lycanroc with Liquidation under the rain.

Pikachu vs Golisopod : Ash attempts to finish it with a Gigavolt Havoc but gets hit with a surprise Drill Run after shooting the move off. Guzma got inspired to teach Golisopod Drill Run after seeing the Steel-type Corkscrew Crash used by Pikachu earlier.

Meltan vs Golisopod : Down to his last Pokémon after being outplayed by Guzma in the second half, Meltan maximises its defense with Harden and barely tanks a Drill Run. It then summons the Meltan army and they all fuse together to evolve into Melmetal. Melmetal faces off with Golisopod with a newly learned Thunder Punch. A few collisions happen and then Melmetal overpowers Golisopod and beats it.

Ash becomes the Alola League champion.
 
Not knowing how many Pokémon are to be used in each round is really messing up quite a few predictions as some of the competitor's teams are so limited.

The Top 16 consists of 1 vs 1 matches so that's okay. But if the Top 8 has 2 vs 2 matches then I can't see James or Lillie moving on since they only have 1 Pokémon on hand.

From what we know of the Top 8 is that Ash is facing Hau and that the match-ups are randomized because if they weren't Ash would have faced Guzma instead of Hau and Hau would face either Lana or Mallow.

So, assuming the Top 8 will be 2 vs 2 matches this is how I can see the league going.

Top 16 - 1 vs 1

Ash
vs Faba (Meltan vs Hypno)
Ilima vs Guzma (Smeargle vs Golisopod)
Hau vs Samson (Raichu vs Vulpix)
Mallow vs Lana (Tsareena vs Primarina)
Sophocles vs Mina (Vikavolt vs Ribombee)
Jessie vs James (Mimikyu vs Mareani)
Kiawe vs Hiroki (Marowak vs Mudbray)
Lillie vs Gladion (Vulpix vs Umbreon)

Meltan could show off its 4th move, Thundershock and while fail to perform the Z-Move, it still wins.

Guzma will demolish Ilima to prove he's a real threat.

Hau vs Samson... I just want to see Vulpix battle even if it loses.

I want Mallow to pull of the Z-Move but Primarina barely tanks it to unleash her own move.

The same with Sophocles and Mina. I wanna see Twinkle Tackle but then have Vikavolt beat it with his move.

Jessie got the Contests and Showcases, let James get the Pokémon League, especially since he was so fired up to face Masked Royal. I can see Mareani beating Mimikyu with Knock Off and then evolving upon winning the match.

Kiawe vs Hiroki will probably be a quick match to prove he can beat Ground types.

Gladion vs Lillie will show some of Lillie's smart tactics but fail due to her inexperience.

Top 8 - 2 vs 2

Ash
vs Hau (Torracat, Rowlet vs Raichu, Decidueye)
Lana vs Sophocles (Primarina, Eevee vs Vikavolt, Togedemaru)
James vs Guzma (Meowth, Toxapex vs Pinsir, Masquerain)
Kiawe vs Gladion (Turtonator, Charizard vs Zoroark, Silvally)

I don't want another Pikachu vs Raichu fight. Torracat should get a win here since Pikachu will be used for the battle royal. Maybe Torrcat wins with Inferno Overdrive and Ash can't rely on Bloom Doom to save Rowlet last minute so he has to go hard on the Feather Dance strat.

I was gonna have Lana vs Kiawe but I feel like Gladion taking about Kiawe would be the equivalent of the Paul vs Barry, Cameron vs Bianca, Tierno vs Sawyer matches.

I want Lana to train while Ash is training Rowlet. So during this match, Lana reveals she was training with Sandy to learn Dig. That's how she beats Sophocles and Togedemaru after Primarina and Vikavolt take each other out.

For Guzma's second match I want him to take out James. This will fuel TR even more to cheer for Ash in the finals. Since James only has his recently evolved Toxapex, Meowth decides to help him after being motivated by James and Toxapex's determination.

For Kiawe vs Gladion, I want Gladion to fully use Zoroark's Illusion so that Ash can think up of a strategy ahead of time. I can see Gladion using a Water Memory to counter Kiawe's fire types.

Then the Top 4 can be 3 vs 3.

Lana vs Guzma
(Lapras, Vaporeon, Primarina vs Masquerain, Scizor, Golisopod)

If Kiawe can use his Ride Pokémon, so can Lana. We know it at least knows Ice Beam. Plus she had Lapras before Popplio same as Kiawe and Charizard and Tortunator.

Water vs Bug is pretty even. I can also see Lana buying a Water Stone from a shop on the island. We already had Vaporeon hinted at us. Guzma's secret weapon would be a Toxicroak with Dry Skin that absorbs Vaporeon's Hydro Vortex and due to its typing, defeats Lapras AND Primarina as well.

Ash vs Gladion
(Torracat, Pikachu, Lycanroc vs Zoroark, Silvally, Lycanroc)

Ash's strategy for fishing out Zoroark's Illusion could probably be having Torracat tank one of two hits and have it use Revenge to deal super effective damage and weaken it so Illusion wears off.

Then Pikachu draws with Silvally to leave the Lycanroc duel the boys love to much but this time our Lycanroc wins.

The final match SHOULD be a 6 vs 6. It's only logical. I can see Ash calling Prof. Oak for a reserve or maybe Ash somehow gets Poipole back like he did with Goodra when the full battle came up.

Finals 6 vs 6
Ash vs Guzma
Rowlet, Torracat, Pikachu, Noctowl, Lycanroc, Meltan

Pinsir, Masquerain, Toxicroak, Scizor, Ariados, Golisopod

Rowlet vs Pinsir : Rowlet beats it with Brave Bird but is heavily damaged and gets recalled.

Torracat vs Scizor : Torracat gets hit with a U-turn and Masquerain comes out.

Torracat vs Masquerain : Masquerain uses Rain Dance and Bubblebeam to heavily damage Torracat. Torracat gets recalled and so does Masquerain.

Pikachu v. Ariados : Electro Web vs Spider Web collision. Pikachu beats Ariados and gets recalled.

Torracat vs Scizor : Torracat still heavily damaged by Masquerain's surprise Water-type moves draws with Scizor after a Bullet Punch Flame Charge collision.

Brief Break.
Ash has 5 Pokémon
Guzma has 3 Pokémon

Rowlet vs Toxicroak : Toxicroak makes quick work of Rowlet.

Noctowl vs Toxicroak : Ash's secret weapon was his Noctowl which can use Psychic-type move as they are extemely effective against Toxicroak. Noctowl wins but gets Poisoned during the fight.

Noctowl vs Masquerain : Masquerain KO's Noctowl with a surprise Ice Beam.

Lycanroc vs Masquerain : Lycanroc wins with an Accelrock but not before another Rain Dance is pulled off.

Lycanroc vs Golisopod : Golisopod takes an Accelrock but OHKO's Lycanroc with Liquidation under the rain.

Pikachu vs Golisopod : Ash attempts to finish it with a Gigavolt Havoc but gets hit with a surprise Drill Run after shooting the move off. Guzma got inspired to teach Golisopod Drill Run after seeing the Steel-type Corkscrew Crash used by Pikachu earlier.

Meltan vs Golisopod : Down to his last Pokémon after being outplayed by Guzma in the second half, Meltan maximises its defense with Harden and barely tanks a Drill Run. It then summons the Meltan army and they all fuse together to evolve into Melmetal. Melmetal faces off with Golisopod with a newly learned Thunder Punch. A few collisions happen and then Melmetal overpowers Golisopod and beats it.

Ash becomes the Alola League champion.
I still think it only makes sense for Ash to call upon one of his top guns for a final. Not something like Noctowl.
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
I still think it only makes sense for Ash to call upon one of his top guns for a final. Not something like Noctowl.

I agree. I don't think he'll call back one of his reserved Pokemon to begin with, but even assuming that he does bring one back to fill up his team, I think it'd make more sense for him to use Lizardon or Jukain or something stronger that would actually give him an advantage.
 

Akkipeddi

All set to be a nice guy
I know this will piss people off, but I had to laugh when I saw how they were hyping up the different characters. Seeing 'next challenger' and all that hype for characters especially like Mallow, Sophocles, Lillie, Acerola, Samson Oak and Mina felt super unfitting.
 

Zoruagible

Lover of underrated characters
Lillie battling Gladion, as it should be.

At least Kiawe's gonna outlast her! :D
And the 'main' Pokegirl will go down in the same round as Mallow, nice. That's satisfactory news at least.
 

JC317

Well-Known Member
They're clearly having fun with this.

I love how everyone has these fancy titles. I'd kind of like to see a translation just to see what they ar

Say no more!

Kiawe: Hot-Blooded Volcano
Sophocles: Fighting Programmer Boy
Lillie: Blooming Ice Flower of Alola
Lana: Sharp-Tongued Mermaid
Mallow: Magnificent Battle Chef
Hau: Riding on His Grandfather's Coattails (Literally: To Speak with Seven Lights) (Thanks TheWanderingMist)
Acerola: Idol of the Spiritual World
Mina: Wandering Battle Artist
Ilima: Lovely Normal Prince
Guzma: Emperor of Destruction
Faba: Alola's King of Inventions
Jessie: Battlefield Actress
James: White Hole Soldier
Principal Oak: Man of a Thousand Poke-Faces
Gladion: Young Noble of the Pale Blue Moon
Ash: Full-Powered Challenger
 
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nuzamaki90

Well-Known Member
Can’t be sure but did that video say the rounds will be 1v1? I really hope not. I hope it’s just the Top 16. I want Ash and Gladion’s battle to be at least a 3v3.
 
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