Pokémon Champions - Hyper Critical - Sep 21 26

NOTE: I apologize if the video is of lower quality or something else has gone wrong. YouTube has been stuck on this video's "Checking" status for a long time, ever since I finished the upload. If you have any insight into why YouTube is doing this or if it's a known issue, please let me know. This was perhaps my luckiest season yet, as this was the video that took me to Master Ball Tier for double battling—as you can see, this ended on a 10-win streak, the first time I’ve gotten a double-digit streak. I wonder what goes through opponents’ heads when they see an all non-meta team, then find out that this team has gone on a win streak and see that they’ve become part of that streak. 00:00 - Battle #1 Type: Double Battle Opponent: ホムラ (Homura) Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Trainer (HeartGold & SoulSilver) My Pokémon: Rigel (Manectric), Rosalyn (Roserade), Mac (Mudsdale), Abner (Absol) Opponent’s Pokémon: Rillaboom, Politoed, Gengar, Archaludon This is a Perish Song team. That much is evident seeing Politoed and Gengar on the same team. That’s why I brought along Abner (Absol) this time, because he gains the Ghost-type when he Mega Evolves (starting in Regulation M-C, at least), meaning he cannot be prevented from switching out. Not the most conventional use of Mega Absol Z (I don’t think there are any conventional uses for this Mega Evolution yet), but it worjed here. 03:52 - Battle #2 Type: Double Battle Opponent: Flori Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Lysandre (X & Y) My Pokémon: Mac (Mudsdale), Lamar (Aurorus), Paolo (Quaquaval), Rigel (Manectric) Opponent’s Pokémon: Rillaboom, Salamence, Garchomp, Sylveon I don’t fully understand the logic of switching out Salamence for Garchomp when I had Lamar (Aurorus) out, as surely they would’ve expected an Ice-type attack to come their way? Unless they were certain Rillaboom’s attack would knock him out. Aurorus may be fragile, but that’s because the species has a lot of weaknesses—but physical damage is lessened whenever it’s snowing, so Rillaboom’s one-hit knockout options are pretty limited. I hope they didn’t just dismiss me out of hand because my team is entirely non-meta…the “5-Win Streak!” indicator at the introduction screen should show that I didn’t simply cobble up all of my favorites, especially since they themselves had a win streak. 07:10 - Battle #3 Type: Double Battle Opponent: Luman Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Ivor My Pokémon: Mac (Mudsdale), Abner (Absol), Rosalyn (Roserade), Paolo (Quaquaval) Opponent’s Pokémon: Blastoise, Indeedee (Female), Kingambit, ? Sorry about omitting parts of Team Preview. I started my recording too late. You will get to see the full battle though, even if it’s pretty short. Mega Absol, as a Dark-type, puts incredible pressure on Indeedee. We’ve seen it with Farigiraf in the past, and Mega Alakazam, gaining popularity right now, outruns all Dark-types except for Mega Absol Z. Did not expect to one-hit KO Mega Blastoise though! I ought to remember that Rosalyn (Roserade) can do that. 09:56 - Battle #4 Type: Double Battle Opponent: (withheld) Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Trainer (Let’s Go! Pikachu & Eevee) My Pokémon: Mac (Mudsdale), Paolo (Quaquaval), Lamar (Aurorus), Rigel (Manectric) Opponent’s Pokémon: Rillaboom, Gholdengo, Excadrill, Tyranitar I thought they were going to start with Excadrill and Tyranitar, so I chose the duo best suited to fight them. But I got back on the right foot anyway, as Rillaboom wasted its turn to use Fake Out on a Pokémon with Inner Focus (probably expected Stamina), allowing Paolo (Quaquaval) to land a super-effective hit that also removed the Grassy Terrain. Excadrill and Tyranitar did turn up later, but luckily, I still had these two out. 13:07 - Battle #5 Type: Double Battle Opponent: キバナ (Kibana) Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Gym Leader (X & Y) My Pokémon: Mac (Mudsdale), Rigel (Manectric), Lamar (Aurorus), Paolo (Quaquaval) Opponent’s Pokémon: Gardevoir, Indeedee (Female), Garchomp, Sneasler Here’s a fifth battle because they were pretty short, and the one that put me in Master Ball Tier for double battling this season. I’ll have to work on the single battle ones later; it might take me some time. Isn’t it a bit reckless to knock out your own Indeedee to get an Earthquake in? That was the Pokémon I was most concerned about in Team Preview, as I didn’t pick Abner (Absol), the one Pokémon on this team with a strong super-effective move against her. But my opponent eliminated Indeedee for me. Is this another case of someone thinking Aurorus falls to a slight breeze?