Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I have to admit, I’m kind of disappointed in the smaller, narrower, more straightforward hold item selection here, but I understand the logic behind it. The stuff they DON’T have yet, like like other Choice Items, or the Toxic Orb, or the Loaded Dice, are pretty advanced and/or situational hold items, and having the whole suite available (maybe except for the Gems besides Normal) would be overwhelming to someone new to this, which, considering the game’s been out for less than a week, is a large portion of its player base.
Don’t you doubt for a second that I miss hold items like the Air Balloon, Lagging Tail, Utility Umbrella, or Assault Vest, and I hope to see them again one day, but I think the majority of people currently playing Pokémon Champions wouldn’t know what to do with them. I’m also one of the few people using items like Blunder Policy, Custap Berry, Sticky Barb, and Luminous Moss.
00:00 - Battle #1
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: kakaquiles
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Poindexter (Overqwil), Mabel (Clefable), Bjorn (Lycanroc) (Midday), Kane (Mr. Rime)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Farigiraf, Eelektross, Conkeldurr, Sylveon
This was an odd decision, to Mega Evolve their Eelektross, which gives it a sizable increase in Speed (from 50 to 80). It’s normally a good thing, but they activated Trick Room with Farigiraf, which notably means Mabel (Clefable) goes ahead of it. (Overqwil’s Speed constant is 85, meaning it is still faster than either of them, meaning, in turn, Poindexter is still expected to go last in this Trick Room scheme.)
I get the feeling my opponent, with their initially evasive play style that got less evasive as the match went on, was seeking out the mission to finish three Ranked matches without allowing any Pokémon to faint, and they thought I would be such an opponent.
My opponent’s name is likely based on chilaquiles, a type of Mexican breakfast, but with the chili (“chile”) replaced with “kaka.”
04:30 - Battle #2
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: ISCO
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (Legends: Z-A)
My Pokémon: Poindexter (Overqwil), Bjorn (Lycanroc) (Midday), Vincenzo (Sceptile), Kane (Mr. Rime)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Archaludon, Gengar, Metagross, Garchomp
Three of my opponent’s Pokémon have base stat totals of 600: Archaludon, Metagross, and Garchomp. Gengar, on the other hand, has a total of 500 but is fearsome on its own without Flutter Mane around (and, getting a Mega Evolution, fights evenly with Dragapult nowadays).
Here is also the first instance of this video of an opposing Pokémon being left at 1% HP, meaning I was so close to a knockout. In this case, it was a Freeze-Dry attack from Kane (Mr. Rime) nearly KOing Mega Garchomp, but not quite, giving it the turn needed to use Scale Shot and overpower everything I had.
08:44 - Battle #3
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: OMAME
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Friend (X & Y)
My Pokémon: Kane (Mr. Rime), Mabel (Clefable), Vincenzo (Sceptile), Poindexter (Overqwil)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Staraptor, Farigiraf, Golurk, Archaludon
Mabel (Clefable) was trained with Mega Staraptor in mind, but whom Mega Staraptor is partnered with will greatly affect how well that will work. I did correctly guess Staraptor was turning up right at the start, and Unaware means the Defense and Sp. Defense boosts from Close Combat mean nothing to it, but the partner may prove troublesome and may be there specifically to fight Mega Staraptor counters.
Of course, this was not a normal Staraptor build in the least, but a counter-variant, less commonly seen, which simply uses Final Gambit to deal damage equal to its total HP. Instead, Golurk is the one Mega Evolving on their side, and again, a strong, super-effective attack leaves their Mega Evolution at 1% HP remaining. AND their Farigiraf woud up at 1% HP remaining too!
14:12 - Battle #4
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: BiNon
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (Red, Blue, Green, & Yellow)
My Pokémon: Kane (Mr. Rime), Poindexter (Overqwil), Vincenzo (Sceptile), Ferdinand (Tauros) (Kantonian)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Politoed, Swampert, Archaludon, Basculegion (Male)
Rain-based strategies around Mega Swampert wer what this team was built for—they were in vogue at the beginning of the season, and so I had stuff like Poindexter (Overqwil) having Siwft Swim to help counter that. Mega Swampert stuff has become less common though, moving back to the usual rain for Archaludon, Basculegion, Pelipper alone, and such. Except for Pelipper, all the usual rain suspects are here.
Archaludon is actually faster than Mr. Rime but seems to take a lot of damag from Icy Wind; the move is necessary to slow down Archaludon enough to get hit first by Freeze-Dry the following turn.
I have to admit, I’m kind of disappointed in the smaller, narrower, more straightforward hold item selection here, but I understand the logic behind it. The stuff they DON’T have yet, like like other Choice Items, or the Toxic Orb, or the Loaded Dice, are pretty advanced and/or situational hold items, and having the whole suite available (maybe except for the Gems besides Normal) would be overwhelming to someone new to this, which, considering the game’s been out for less than a week, is a large portion of its player base.
Don’t you doubt for a second that I miss hold items like the Air Balloon, Lagging Tail, Utility Umbrella, or Assault Vest, and I hope to see them again one day, but I think the majority of people currently playing Pokémon Champions wouldn’t know what to do with them. I’m also one of the few people using items like Blunder Policy, Custap Berry, Sticky Barb, and Luminous Moss.
00:00 - Battle #1
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: kakaquiles
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Poindexter (Overqwil), Mabel (Clefable), Bjorn (Lycanroc) (Midday), Kane (Mr. Rime)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Farigiraf, Eelektross, Conkeldurr, Sylveon
This was an odd decision, to Mega Evolve their Eelektross, which gives it a sizable increase in Speed (from 50 to 80). It’s normally a good thing, but they activated Trick Room with Farigiraf, which notably means Mabel (Clefable) goes ahead of it. (Overqwil’s Speed constant is 85, meaning it is still faster than either of them, meaning, in turn, Poindexter is still expected to go last in this Trick Room scheme.)
I get the feeling my opponent, with their initially evasive play style that got less evasive as the match went on, was seeking out the mission to finish three Ranked matches without allowing any Pokémon to faint, and they thought I would be such an opponent.
My opponent’s name is likely based on chilaquiles, a type of Mexican breakfast, but with the chili (“chile”) replaced with “kaka.”
04:30 - Battle #2
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: ISCO
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (Legends: Z-A)
My Pokémon: Poindexter (Overqwil), Bjorn (Lycanroc) (Midday), Vincenzo (Sceptile), Kane (Mr. Rime)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Archaludon, Gengar, Metagross, Garchomp
Three of my opponent’s Pokémon have base stat totals of 600: Archaludon, Metagross, and Garchomp. Gengar, on the other hand, has a total of 500 but is fearsome on its own without Flutter Mane around (and, getting a Mega Evolution, fights evenly with Dragapult nowadays).
Here is also the first instance of this video of an opposing Pokémon being left at 1% HP, meaning I was so close to a knockout. In this case, it was a Freeze-Dry attack from Kane (Mr. Rime) nearly KOing Mega Garchomp, but not quite, giving it the turn needed to use Scale Shot and overpower everything I had.
08:44 - Battle #3
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: OMAME
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Friend (X & Y)
My Pokémon: Kane (Mr. Rime), Mabel (Clefable), Vincenzo (Sceptile), Poindexter (Overqwil)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Staraptor, Farigiraf, Golurk, Archaludon
Mabel (Clefable) was trained with Mega Staraptor in mind, but whom Mega Staraptor is partnered with will greatly affect how well that will work. I did correctly guess Staraptor was turning up right at the start, and Unaware means the Defense and Sp. Defense boosts from Close Combat mean nothing to it, but the partner may prove troublesome and may be there specifically to fight Mega Staraptor counters.
Of course, this was not a normal Staraptor build in the least, but a counter-variant, less commonly seen, which simply uses Final Gambit to deal damage equal to its total HP. Instead, Golurk is the one Mega Evolving on their side, and again, a strong, super-effective attack leaves their Mega Evolution at 1% HP remaining. AND their Farigiraf woud up at 1% HP remaining too!
14:12 - Battle #4
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: BiNon
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (Red, Blue, Green, & Yellow)
My Pokémon: Kane (Mr. Rime), Poindexter (Overqwil), Vincenzo (Sceptile), Ferdinand (Tauros) (Kantonian)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Politoed, Swampert, Archaludon, Basculegion (Male)
Rain-based strategies around Mega Swampert wer what this team was built for—they were in vogue at the beginning of the season, and so I had stuff like Poindexter (Overqwil) having Siwft Swim to help counter that. Mega Swampert stuff has become less common though, moving back to the usual rain for Archaludon, Basculegion, Pelipper alone, and such. Except for Pelipper, all the usual rain suspects are here.
Archaludon is actually faster than Mr. Rime but seems to take a lot of damag from Icy Wind; the move is necessary to slow down Archaludon enough to get hit first by Freeze-Dry the following turn.
