Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I fell behind schedule when making this one, as I had overlooked the fact that this would be the same weekend as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Grand Challenge 2026-V (which is scheduled for about two weeks from now—Pokémon Day will have come and gone by then, so I’ll hold off on the descriptions as I’m sure there will be Pokémon-related things to say by then), and I was pretty busy over the weekend with my own tasks. So if this description looks incomplete, this is why.
I came in with Toxtricity (this one is Low-Key; the one in Scarlet and Violet’s Spidops Team is Amped), Aurorus, and Staraptor.
00:02 - Match #1
Stage: Wild Zone 3
Music: Rogue Mega Evolution
Aurorus was a Pokémon I wasn’t sure what to do with, as for three and a half generations, Ancient Power was the best special Rock-type attack it could learn (Aurorus cannnot learn Power Gem, even though the ice crystals on its sides sure look like gemstones, and Generation IX gave gemless guys like Magcardo Power Gem), but the Mega Dimensions DLC added Meteor Beam to its moveset. I know from my previous experiences with Chimecho that this is a pretty useful move on Legends: Z-A, though this being my first match with this trio, I hadn’t yet fully understood what to do with any of these three yet. Then again, if my opponents were also Rank Z coming in with a brand new team, then neither would they.
04:05 - Match #2
Stage: Vert Sector 6
Music: The Sewers
This match advanced me by three ranks, exctly the three ranks needed to get all three of Hoenn’s first-partner Pokémon’s Mega Stones all at once. Too many Legendary Pokémon though! We had Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza all together in this match. Did you know Mega Blaziken was originally event-exclusive too? It was the other way around though: the Blazikenite was available in Pokémon X and Y, but the Torchic line could only be obtained via an event (or transferrring from an earlier Pokémon game) until Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire.
08:07 - Match #3
Stage: Wild Zone 3
Music: Zygarde (50% Forme)
The game had decided at least one match every session should have this song, it seems, and this one’s that one. With three Pokémon to pick instead of six, I cannot have answers to everything, and it seems Porygon-Z packing Thunderbolt is one of them—perhaps it was best not to bother with going for type-effectiveness. I could see the other two were struggling even worse though.
12:07 - Match #4
Stage: Quasartico, Inc.
Music: Team MZ Showdown
When a match takes place at Quasartico, Inc., I pay attention to who starts next to me because I get a good idea of what theyr’e going to do based on their Pokémon’s type matchup against mine. I begin with Toxtricity this season, and with that player starting with Garchomp, no doubt they’d come towards me. It is kind of funny, though, to see Gardevoir, a Psychic-type, fainting to a Poison-type move because of the Fairy-type added in later (though I had been doing that from the first match). Mega Gardevoir hits really hard though! (All three of my opponents had the default profile picture?)
16:01 - Match #5
Stage: Wild Zone 3
Music: Successor Korrina
I wasn’t sure about keeping Boomburst on Toxtricity, but it comes out pretty fast and has a wide, radial range, so it looks like I can count on it. I wonder why the camera cut after I first attacked Zygarde though. That was disorienting. Also, good to know that I finally have something that can get rid of those pesky Baxcalibur. They’re quite resilient.
19:58 - Match #6
Stage: Wild Zone 3
Music: Mega Rayquaza
It took quite a while to get started here. I was wondering what was going on and if we’d ever get unstuck—it seems the poor red player got disconnected, reducing it to a 3-player match. There also seems to be at least one of these every session, and I seem to do better when at least one player is gone. Not good for the person who got disconnected though! Almost as bad for the green player, who failed to score a point until the last few seconds of this match. How bad must it feel to place the same as someone who didn’t even get to play? (Interesting to see someone using Dedenne, and that Aurorus's Meteor Beam was strong enough to topple Primal Groudon.)
24:26 - Match #7
Stage: Quasartico, Inc.
Music: Trainer
This time, I was the one who got shut out. Don’t think this is some killer trio that nobody had seen yet; I will freely admit that what I was doing was experimental, and I had no idea how good or bad it would be. The person using Mewtwo, in particular, was very good at sneaking an attack in and getting rid of me while my attention was on someone else. That was also the first Garchomp who could withstand Aurorus's Freeze-Dry. Usually, it can take even super-effective hits comfortably (this one has a Weakness Policy and was trained for that), so it was kind of annoying to see one that could get by on a sliver of health and then one-hit KO Aurorus with Earthquake.
I fell behind schedule when making this one, as I had overlooked the fact that this would be the same weekend as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Grand Challenge 2026-V (which is scheduled for about two weeks from now—Pokémon Day will have come and gone by then, so I’ll hold off on the descriptions as I’m sure there will be Pokémon-related things to say by then), and I was pretty busy over the weekend with my own tasks. So if this description looks incomplete, this is why.
I came in with Toxtricity (this one is Low-Key; the one in Scarlet and Violet’s Spidops Team is Amped), Aurorus, and Staraptor.
00:02 - Match #1
Stage: Wild Zone 3
Music: Rogue Mega Evolution
Aurorus was a Pokémon I wasn’t sure what to do with, as for three and a half generations, Ancient Power was the best special Rock-type attack it could learn (Aurorus cannnot learn Power Gem, even though the ice crystals on its sides sure look like gemstones, and Generation IX gave gemless guys like Magcardo Power Gem), but the Mega Dimensions DLC added Meteor Beam to its moveset. I know from my previous experiences with Chimecho that this is a pretty useful move on Legends: Z-A, though this being my first match with this trio, I hadn’t yet fully understood what to do with any of these three yet. Then again, if my opponents were also Rank Z coming in with a brand new team, then neither would they.
04:05 - Match #2
Stage: Vert Sector 6
Music: The Sewers
This match advanced me by three ranks, exctly the three ranks needed to get all three of Hoenn’s first-partner Pokémon’s Mega Stones all at once. Too many Legendary Pokémon though! We had Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza all together in this match. Did you know Mega Blaziken was originally event-exclusive too? It was the other way around though: the Blazikenite was available in Pokémon X and Y, but the Torchic line could only be obtained via an event (or transferrring from an earlier Pokémon game) until Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire.
08:07 - Match #3
Stage: Wild Zone 3
Music: Zygarde (50% Forme)
The game had decided at least one match every session should have this song, it seems, and this one’s that one. With three Pokémon to pick instead of six, I cannot have answers to everything, and it seems Porygon-Z packing Thunderbolt is one of them—perhaps it was best not to bother with going for type-effectiveness. I could see the other two were struggling even worse though.
12:07 - Match #4
Stage: Quasartico, Inc.
Music: Team MZ Showdown
When a match takes place at Quasartico, Inc., I pay attention to who starts next to me because I get a good idea of what theyr’e going to do based on their Pokémon’s type matchup against mine. I begin with Toxtricity this season, and with that player starting with Garchomp, no doubt they’d come towards me. It is kind of funny, though, to see Gardevoir, a Psychic-type, fainting to a Poison-type move because of the Fairy-type added in later (though I had been doing that from the first match). Mega Gardevoir hits really hard though! (All three of my opponents had the default profile picture?)
16:01 - Match #5
Stage: Wild Zone 3
Music: Successor Korrina
I wasn’t sure about keeping Boomburst on Toxtricity, but it comes out pretty fast and has a wide, radial range, so it looks like I can count on it. I wonder why the camera cut after I first attacked Zygarde though. That was disorienting. Also, good to know that I finally have something that can get rid of those pesky Baxcalibur. They’re quite resilient.
19:58 - Match #6
Stage: Wild Zone 3
Music: Mega Rayquaza
It took quite a while to get started here. I was wondering what was going on and if we’d ever get unstuck—it seems the poor red player got disconnected, reducing it to a 3-player match. There also seems to be at least one of these every session, and I seem to do better when at least one player is gone. Not good for the person who got disconnected though! Almost as bad for the green player, who failed to score a point until the last few seconds of this match. How bad must it feel to place the same as someone who didn’t even get to play? (Interesting to see someone using Dedenne, and that Aurorus's Meteor Beam was strong enough to topple Primal Groudon.)
24:26 - Match #7
Stage: Quasartico, Inc.
Music: Trainer
This time, I was the one who got shut out. Don’t think this is some killer trio that nobody had seen yet; I will freely admit that what I was doing was experimental, and I had no idea how good or bad it would be. The person using Mewtwo, in particular, was very good at sneaking an attack in and getting rid of me while my attention was on someone else. That was also the first Garchomp who could withstand Aurorus's Freeze-Dry. Usually, it can take even super-effective hits comfortably (this one has a Weakness Policy and was trained for that), so it was kind of annoying to see one that could get by on a sliver of health and then one-hit KO Aurorus with Earthquake.
