Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It’s that time again, the Monthly Challenge Series, this time for July 2026. As usual, the rules are for the format going on at the time, Regulation M-B, done with single battles. Me, I’m still waiting for them to have more gimmick challenges, but I presume they’ll stick with these standard format events until the World Championships. I do wonder what the purpose of selecting single battling would be for these events though, as VGCs are always double battles.
00:00 - Battle #1
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: ぺんぎん (Penguin)
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Castilla (Bastiodon), Laverne (Dragalge), Leonardo (Pyroar)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Ceruledge, Gengar, Skeledirge
An all-Ghost team—I still need to keep up my guard around them, of course, as they most certainly had devised ways to deal with Pokémon who otherwise would have advantages against Ghost-types.
Also, whenever Gengar turns up, I can’t be sure if it’s going for the attack or stalling with Perish Song. So when Castilla (Bastiodon) is there, I just leave her there even when Leonardo (Pyroar) is around, even though the latter would be immune to Shadow Ball. It’s the least risky decision to make.
03:39 - Battle #2
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: まーびー (Maabii)
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Castilla (Bastiodon), Fletcher (Decidueye) (Hisuian), Leonardo (Pyroar)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Ceruledge, Gengar, Swampert
Not an all-Ghost team…but still begins with Ceruledge and Gengar. Must have been some coincidence, or it’s a pretty common pair of opening Pokémon for single battles.
This time, Ceruledge doesn’t have a Focus Sash—I take it it’s on Gengar, to enable it to better use Destiny Bond. Mega Pyroar’s kind of fragile, so a status move might not make sense on it, but giving me a turn to set up Sunny Day gave me the opportunity I needed to fight Mega Swampert.
For the record, Destiny Bond cannot be used on consecutive turns. This was a new rule for Destiny Bond in Generation VII.
06:29 - Battle #3
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: Master M
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Castilla (Bastiodon), Fletcher (Decidueye) (Hisuian), Leonardo (Pyroar)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Greninja, Venusaur, Snorlax
This was a tricky battle because I found out they will switch in and out a lot—and while Fletcher (Hisuian Decidueye) can handily take on Snorlax but not Venusaur, for Leonardo (Pyroar), it’s the other way around. I had to get the favorable matchup to happen without losing either of them.
11:04 - Battle #4
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: CoCo
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Socrates (Slowking) (Galarian), Leonardo (Pyroar), Castilla (Bastiodon)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Ninetales (Alolan), Dragalge, Corviknight
This is a gradual, defensive trio that puts up damage reduction or healing moves and Abilities, and so this battle took the longest of any of the ones I played for July 2026’s Monthly Global Series. Alolan Ninetales sets up Aurora Veil, Dragalge Mega Evolves for even higher Sp. Defense and has Regenrator, and Corviknight uses the iron Defense strategy. It is risky to put Mega Pyroar in front of it, because if Corviknight is still standing after a Flamethrower, Mega Pyroar will be knocked out with a suppr-effective, super-strong Body Press.
16:41 - Battle #5
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: やまふだ (Yamafuda)
Battle Court: Battle Court
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Castilla (Bastiodon), Leonardo (Pyroar), Juno (Beartic)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Garchomp, Aggron, Blaziken
This is the rare, less than 5%, Garchomp with a Focus Sash rather than a Choice Scarf, Life Orb, or White Herb (for Intimidate). And as of this match, I’ll have selected all six of the Pokémon on this team, though I think Laverne (Dragalge) never showed up.
And with this, I was 16,881st out of about 620,000 participants—not enough to put me in the top 5%, but definitely within the top 10%. I think that’s good enough for a team made up entirely of non-meta Pokémon.
It’s that time again, the Monthly Challenge Series, this time for July 2026. As usual, the rules are for the format going on at the time, Regulation M-B, done with single battles. Me, I’m still waiting for them to have more gimmick challenges, but I presume they’ll stick with these standard format events until the World Championships. I do wonder what the purpose of selecting single battling would be for these events though, as VGCs are always double battles.
00:00 - Battle #1
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: ぺんぎん (Penguin)
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Castilla (Bastiodon), Laverne (Dragalge), Leonardo (Pyroar)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Ceruledge, Gengar, Skeledirge
An all-Ghost team—I still need to keep up my guard around them, of course, as they most certainly had devised ways to deal with Pokémon who otherwise would have advantages against Ghost-types.
Also, whenever Gengar turns up, I can’t be sure if it’s going for the attack or stalling with Perish Song. So when Castilla (Bastiodon) is there, I just leave her there even when Leonardo (Pyroar) is around, even though the latter would be immune to Shadow Ball. It’s the least risky decision to make.
03:39 - Battle #2
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: まーびー (Maabii)
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Castilla (Bastiodon), Fletcher (Decidueye) (Hisuian), Leonardo (Pyroar)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Ceruledge, Gengar, Swampert
Not an all-Ghost team…but still begins with Ceruledge and Gengar. Must have been some coincidence, or it’s a pretty common pair of opening Pokémon for single battles.
This time, Ceruledge doesn’t have a Focus Sash—I take it it’s on Gengar, to enable it to better use Destiny Bond. Mega Pyroar’s kind of fragile, so a status move might not make sense on it, but giving me a turn to set up Sunny Day gave me the opportunity I needed to fight Mega Swampert.
For the record, Destiny Bond cannot be used on consecutive turns. This was a new rule for Destiny Bond in Generation VII.
06:29 - Battle #3
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: Master M
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Castilla (Bastiodon), Fletcher (Decidueye) (Hisuian), Leonardo (Pyroar)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Greninja, Venusaur, Snorlax
This was a tricky battle because I found out they will switch in and out a lot—and while Fletcher (Hisuian Decidueye) can handily take on Snorlax but not Venusaur, for Leonardo (Pyroar), it’s the other way around. I had to get the favorable matchup to happen without losing either of them.
11:04 - Battle #4
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: CoCo
Battle Court: Battle Arena
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Socrates (Slowking) (Galarian), Leonardo (Pyroar), Castilla (Bastiodon)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Ninetales (Alolan), Dragalge, Corviknight
This is a gradual, defensive trio that puts up damage reduction or healing moves and Abilities, and so this battle took the longest of any of the ones I played for July 2026’s Monthly Global Series. Alolan Ninetales sets up Aurora Veil, Dragalge Mega Evolves for even higher Sp. Defense and has Regenrator, and Corviknight uses the iron Defense strategy. It is risky to put Mega Pyroar in front of it, because if Corviknight is still standing after a Flamethrower, Mega Pyroar will be knocked out with a suppr-effective, super-strong Body Press.
16:41 - Battle #5
Type: Single Battle
Opponent: やまふだ (Yamafuda)
Battle Court: Battle Court
Music: Battle Arena
My Pokémon: Castilla (Bastiodon), Leonardo (Pyroar), Juno (Beartic)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Garchomp, Aggron, Blaziken
This is the rare, less than 5%, Garchomp with a Focus Sash rather than a Choice Scarf, Life Orb, or White Herb (for Intimidate). And as of this match, I’ll have selected all six of the Pokémon on this team, though I think Laverne (Dragalge) never showed up.
And with this, I was 16,881st out of about 620,000 participants—not enough to put me in the top 5%, but definitely within the top 10%. I think that’s good enough for a team made up entirely of non-meta Pokémon.
