Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
As you can see by the date marked on this video title, I have just about caught up! I played few matches per day, to fulfill the daily missions, because I was achieving quite the backlog of Pokémon Champions footage prior. I should be able to go back to the usual Monday through Friday block on alternating full weeks of the month from here on out, provided my backlog over a non-Champions week doesn’t grow too big.
Thse videos spanned from May 17th to May 21st, for the record.
00:00 - Battle #1
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Wander
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Gym Court
My Pokémon: Mac (Mudsdale), Rigel (Manectric), Lamar (Aurorus), Paolo (Quaquaval)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Giant Enemy (Crabominable), Angry Juice (Sinistcha), Bill (Incineroar), Archie (Archaludon)
This is the first time in Pokémon Champions that I encountered Mega Crabominable (though I have seen Mega Crabominable in use in Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s PvP Battle Club matche), and contrary to what people say, they did not use Trick Room at all. Me, I brought in Lamar (Aurorus) for Archaludon, Sinistcha, and mainly Pelipper (as many people open with Pelipper, so I pick Lamar as my 3rd or 4th Pokémon to switch into them and cancel out the rain with snow). I picked the wrong Pokémon this time around though, as not only did Pelipper never turn up, but Lamar’s Snow Warning boosted Crabominable’s physical resilience, ensuring I didn’t have much able to bring it down.
It also didn’t help that I forgot that the turn starting at 4:14 was Bill’s (Incineroar’s) first full turn after switching back in and thus could use Fake Out.
My opponent’s Crabominable’s nickname of “Giant Enemy” refers to the memetic “giant enemy crab” during an E3 presentation for the PlayStation 3. "Bill" refers to Bill D. Cat, a cartoon character whom Incineroar vaguely resembles. I don’t know if Sinistcha’s nickname of “Angry Juice" refers to anything, but “Archie” for Archaludon is undoubtedly a simple play on words.
05:35 - Battle #2
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Ian
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (X & Y)
My Pokémon: Mac (Mudsdale), Rigel (Manectric), Paolo (Quaquaval), Rosalyn (Roserade)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Fire Queen (Delphox), Basculegion (Male), Clefable, Kingambit
Delphox was one of those Pokémon that got a lot more popular competitively due to its Mega Evolution, though you might not have seen much of it in Pokémon Champions. It gets the relatively mundane Ability of Levitate, but it’s a handy one as Delphox is otherwise weak to Ground, and it got stat boosts exactly where it needed them. Me, I momentarily forgot about Levitate or that people would rather Mega Evolve Delphox immediately (meaning Magician wouldn’t be too useful), so I lost a valuable turn using High Horsepower at this one.
Another important factor: Mega Manctric’s Speed is a base 135, outrunning Mega Delphox by exactly one point (Mega Delphox’s being 134).
09:05 - Battle #3
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: De’Anthony
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (Black & White)
My Pokémon: Paolo (Quaquaval), Lamar (Aurorus), Abner (Absol), Mac (Mudsdale)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Gardevoir, Whimsicott, Garchomp, Rotom (Heat)
I didn’t expect a double Fairy start—that’s quite the field that Paolo (Quaquaval) has to stare down. Getting out Abner (Absol) was a no-go too.
Yes, I was counting the Tailwind turns. Tailwind always ends after 4 turns, and using Detect and Protect on the same turn was exactly what I needed to re-seize speed control of the match. I didn’t think that attack would knock out Rotom though!
13:30 - Battle #4
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Jali
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (Red & Blue)
My Pokémon: Abner (Absol), Paolo (Quaquaval), Mac (Mudsdale), Rosalyn (Roserade)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Farigiraf, Drampa, Camerupt, Slowking (Johtonian)
As of when this video goes live, this was the most recent match I played with the Aurorus Team, meaning I am pretty much all caught up.
It may have been a super-effective hit, but I was also pretty surprised to see Farigiraf unable to withstand that same attack from Abner (Absol). When he Mega Evolves, his Attack goes up to base 150, and now I can see what the intent behind Mega Absol’s stats are! (Mega Absol Z will also be a menace, I’m sure of it, with stat distribution from a dozen years of experience and being given the Dark/Ghost type combination).
Because Farigiraf went down immediately, my opponent was unable to get their Trick Room strategy started, meaning they were basically playing with a lot of slow Pokémon.
I did not expect Focus Sash from Camerupt though. With this being a Trick Room team, I would’ve expected a Cameruptite as its hold item, considering its Speed goes down while getting huge defense and Sp. Attack stats, making it perfect under Trick Room.
Also, my selections were pretty straightforward for this one. I was expecting to get countered, but maybe I was overthinking things.
As you can see by the date marked on this video title, I have just about caught up! I played few matches per day, to fulfill the daily missions, because I was achieving quite the backlog of Pokémon Champions footage prior. I should be able to go back to the usual Monday through Friday block on alternating full weeks of the month from here on out, provided my backlog over a non-Champions week doesn’t grow too big.
Thse videos spanned from May 17th to May 21st, for the record.
00:00 - Battle #1
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Wander
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Gym Court
My Pokémon: Mac (Mudsdale), Rigel (Manectric), Lamar (Aurorus), Paolo (Quaquaval)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Giant Enemy (Crabominable), Angry Juice (Sinistcha), Bill (Incineroar), Archie (Archaludon)
This is the first time in Pokémon Champions that I encountered Mega Crabominable (though I have seen Mega Crabominable in use in Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s PvP Battle Club matche), and contrary to what people say, they did not use Trick Room at all. Me, I brought in Lamar (Aurorus) for Archaludon, Sinistcha, and mainly Pelipper (as many people open with Pelipper, so I pick Lamar as my 3rd or 4th Pokémon to switch into them and cancel out the rain with snow). I picked the wrong Pokémon this time around though, as not only did Pelipper never turn up, but Lamar’s Snow Warning boosted Crabominable’s physical resilience, ensuring I didn’t have much able to bring it down.
It also didn’t help that I forgot that the turn starting at 4:14 was Bill’s (Incineroar’s) first full turn after switching back in and thus could use Fake Out.
My opponent’s Crabominable’s nickname of “Giant Enemy” refers to the memetic “giant enemy crab” during an E3 presentation for the PlayStation 3. "Bill" refers to Bill D. Cat, a cartoon character whom Incineroar vaguely resembles. I don’t know if Sinistcha’s nickname of “Angry Juice" refers to anything, but “Archie” for Archaludon is undoubtedly a simple play on words.
05:35 - Battle #2
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Ian
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (X & Y)
My Pokémon: Mac (Mudsdale), Rigel (Manectric), Paolo (Quaquaval), Rosalyn (Roserade)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Fire Queen (Delphox), Basculegion (Male), Clefable, Kingambit
Delphox was one of those Pokémon that got a lot more popular competitively due to its Mega Evolution, though you might not have seen much of it in Pokémon Champions. It gets the relatively mundane Ability of Levitate, but it’s a handy one as Delphox is otherwise weak to Ground, and it got stat boosts exactly where it needed them. Me, I momentarily forgot about Levitate or that people would rather Mega Evolve Delphox immediately (meaning Magician wouldn’t be too useful), so I lost a valuable turn using High Horsepower at this one.
Another important factor: Mega Manctric’s Speed is a base 135, outrunning Mega Delphox by exactly one point (Mega Delphox’s being 134).
09:05 - Battle #3
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: De’Anthony
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (Black & White)
My Pokémon: Paolo (Quaquaval), Lamar (Aurorus), Abner (Absol), Mac (Mudsdale)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Gardevoir, Whimsicott, Garchomp, Rotom (Heat)
I didn’t expect a double Fairy start—that’s quite the field that Paolo (Quaquaval) has to stare down. Getting out Abner (Absol) was a no-go too.
Yes, I was counting the Tailwind turns. Tailwind always ends after 4 turns, and using Detect and Protect on the same turn was exactly what I needed to re-seize speed control of the match. I didn’t think that attack would knock out Rotom though!
13:30 - Battle #4
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Jali
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Trainer (Red & Blue)
My Pokémon: Abner (Absol), Paolo (Quaquaval), Mac (Mudsdale), Rosalyn (Roserade)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Farigiraf, Drampa, Camerupt, Slowking (Johtonian)
As of when this video goes live, this was the most recent match I played with the Aurorus Team, meaning I am pretty much all caught up.
It may have been a super-effective hit, but I was also pretty surprised to see Farigiraf unable to withstand that same attack from Abner (Absol). When he Mega Evolves, his Attack goes up to base 150, and now I can see what the intent behind Mega Absol’s stats are! (Mega Absol Z will also be a menace, I’m sure of it, with stat distribution from a dozen years of experience and being given the Dark/Ghost type combination).
Because Farigiraf went down immediately, my opponent was unable to get their Trick Room strategy started, meaning they were basically playing with a lot of slow Pokémon.
I did not expect Focus Sash from Camerupt though. With this being a Trick Room team, I would’ve expected a Cameruptite as its hold item, considering its Speed goes down while getting huge defense and Sp. Attack stats, making it perfect under Trick Room.
Also, my selections were pretty straightforward for this one. I was expecting to get countered, but maybe I was overthinking things.
