The Pokémon GO World Championships in London are a little under two months away. If the North American Championships are any indication, it is going to be a breathtaking show.

 

The finale of the Western Hemisphere’s qualification tournaments got underway in the heart of Buckeye country; Columbus, Ohio. 127 battlers were registered for the tournament, the highest number seen at any event thus far. And yet even with such a wide and talented roster of battlers set to dot I’s, light cannons, rock and roll all day and take their crew into Day 2, only eight would get the privilege of doing so. Before we look at the last battlers standing, let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the day:

 

Opener of the Day

The return of live tournaments to the big stage have drawn out a lot of names that may be more familiar to veterans of GBL as opposed to those of us that came up during the pandemic period of remote tournaments. ValorAsh is one of the originals, and still battling as part of the newly rechristened Stadium Elite, but he was thrown into the spotlight immediately against Toshi9227. Much like WildSusanBoyle in Vancouver, Ash showed he hadn’t lost a step with an early Talonflame victory over a spicy Tropius pick from Toshi, and survived a Sableye onslaught to claim a 2-1 win over Toshi. It set the tone for a day that was jam-packed with battles, to the point where we had three more hours of battles opposed to the regional tournaments!

 

Flight Plan of the Day

While deemed the North American International Championships, one battle was determined to make sure Europe had a voice in the bracket. Hitching what he called a cheap flight from London, Dutch battler Inadequance arrived in Ohio to make another run at a Worlds berth, and have a much easier flight in August. Inadequance made it onto stream and knocked Chippychoodles to the Loser’s Bracket, but ultimately fell just short in losses to ItsAXN and ChemCoop.

 

Spice Pick of the Day: With the number of battlers reaching triple digits in Columbus, spice was going to be plentiful. Jason2890 had Venusaur and Bastiodon, GBL staples that had seen little action in these tournaments. Inadequance brought Pelipper, Obstagoon and Cofagrigus across the pond with him. Mxchmp made a deep run with the OG spooder, Ariados. TrainerRem brought a Pokémon that Fossil Cup fans (Anyone?) are now very familiar with. DanielZyniri of course went spicy, rocking Mew and Shadow Drapion. But we’ve seen all those in various formats. Have y’all seen a Goodra before? Even on your own roster? Party Marty brought the Kalos dragon in the squad, potentially as a Ninetales answer, but it didn’t see play in a loss against Panick23.


GTPvP of the Day

In previous recaps, this category has been disappointingly sparse, with only a handful of female battlers able to take the stage and get in on the action. And when I was unable to cover Milwaukee’s regionals, and thus the meteoric rise of birdpower13 and her quest to prevent Reis2Occasion’s coronation in his home state, I worried that Columbus would leave me disappointed.

 

Viewers of my streams know I am often wrong, and I am happy to report this was the case today.

 

First let’s start with the new face to Pokémon GO fans, but a veteran of the shoutcasting scene around Pokémon in general. Gabby Snyder learned about Pokémon GO while doing on-screen work for the VGC tournament in Indianapolis, and voraciously started to absorb all info she could about the game, seeking out consul from PVP veterans as she learned about catches and undercharges. In a short time, she picked things up and while she was the least experienced of the four shoutcasters on the mic, her professionalism and ability to ask the questions for a lot of new players to Pokémon GO, like herself, stood out and broke up the straight commentary. She was also able to bring a lot of VGC parallels as well to help bridge the gap between the communities. Hope to see more from her in this sphere in the future.

 

And hopefully she has the chance to call more matches from the GTPVP community because they showed up in droves in Ohio and were ready to battle from the get-go. The Queen of Spice herself, the legend of this site, Meta analyst NHoff came up in match three against Canadian competitor ScrapinPete, but her Tapu Fini/Noctowl spice options were unable to handle Pete’s meta picks on the stage. Hoff went 2-2 in the tournament, knocking out Pranav and bosoxguy7 before bowing out to nck228.

 

Another legend among the GTPVP community made her first appearance on screen as 4TheBattles came onto stage with Obstagoon in tow, a nod to her Mazer teammate Reis’ squad in Milwaukee perhaps? She drew a tough stage opponent in Indy Top 8 finisher TrentSzcz and after an impressive opening victory, Kim went down 2-1, and was knocked out in the next battle against HouseStark93 with a 2-2 mark. 


With Gabby taking over the booth, the other GTPVP shoutcaster got to prove her mettle in battle as well as Queen Bees field specialist DPhiE250 made a nice run. She prided herself in running a spicier team without Registeel or Walrein on the roster, and she proved it could work with Tapu Fini and Alolan Marowak pushing kayvaughn to the limit on screen and again winning the first battle with all three balls remaining before falling 2-1 and going out with a 3-2 mark after losing to eventual top 8 finalist Evan777713.

 

After not getting screen time in Indianapolis, NeedforSpeedy also finally made her long awaited debut on the main stage. One of the few battlers to bring Umbreon as a safe swap, she was unable to avenge DPhiE’s loss to kayvaughn on screen, again winning the opening battle, but the next two bouts went kayvaughn’s way and relegated Speedy to the Loser’s bracket. Speedy fell in her next matchup against Zimmykid, but a 3-2 mark again is a great result in such a stacked field. 

 

The star of the community today was Mxchmp, making a deep run into the tournament with a double Poison strategy of Toxicroak and Ariados confounding opponents. She calmed Panick’s team with enough Lunges to send him to the Loser’s bracket, the last one at the death to slay the Registeel spire. She ran into Jason2890’s Bastiodon and broke the dino apart, Lickitung and Toxicroak again doing work. She went on an amazing 5-0 run before losing to the two finalists from Group B, but a remarkable show with off-meta Pokémon had the crowd in Columbus roaring. On a day that was so tough for women across the States, it was nice to see some of the brightest stars of the community finally get their due on screen. 

 

Outfit of the Day

Can’t let this article go by without mentioning the exquisite outfit DJ Entaprize showed up to Columbus with. I’m glad the black and yellow vest/tie combo was showcased and I’m sure the Pittsburgh colors were meant to intimate the Ohio crowd, but unfortunately, the DJ was hung up by LunarWing2 and sent packing early.

 

Catch of the Day

There were so, so many, but maybe the most important one was KaiserTener’s catch in G2 of the Group A final against ValorAsh, sparing Nidoqueen from taking an Icicle Spear by sending in Walrein to take it instead. Nidoqueen dispatched Swampert in gratitude and booked Kaiser into the final day in style. No sunglasses necessary.  

 

 

TOP EIGHT

 

With all that, there are still eight battlers remaining and here who will be looking to make their way to London:

 

Graphic by PolymersUp

 

KaiserTener (USA)

The patriarch of the North East Battlers had not made any appearances before Columbus, but for those who knew him primarily as the draft guru, he showed he could build a team of his own and run rampant. The call he made against ValorAsh that ultimately proved to be the veteran’s undoing, shielding Shadow Nidoqueen and getting the Earth Power off against Shadow Swampert, was worthy of the “deal with it” shades emerging in the end. With the top four getting invites to London, all Kaiser needs is one win to clinch the trip across the pond, but he’ll face a tough challenge from Ziggomatic17 in order to do it. 

 

Ziggomatic17 (USA)

Florida rise up. When the Orlando tournament was cancelled, it left a lot of Southeast battlers scrambling to figure out where they would be battling, and Ziggomatic17 made the most of his appearance, knocking out LaprasLogan0 and ShadowBrady before sweeping out kayvaughn. Ziggo was at one point the #2 GBL battler in the world, and he backed up that talk, riding Talonflame like a phoenix into the Winner’s semifinals. KaiserTener awaits with that Shadow Nidoqueen, and that matchup could be key in determining who plays with house money in Day 2 action. 

 

ItsAXN (USA)

The first of three battlers to make both the Indianapolis Top 8 and the Columbus Top 8, AXN aimed to put the disappointment of his loss to eventual Indy champion kiengiv behind him and the Utah–based battler was relentless in romping through a stacked Group B, dropping fellow Indy Top 8 finisher Balk88, Frankfurt Top 8 finisher Inadequance, and fan favorite mxchmp en route to a spot in the winner’s semifinal against AndrewManjarrez. AXN did swap his team from Indy, dropping Diggersby in favor of one of the more traditional Ground selections in Swampert, and the Hydro Cannons made the difference, allowing him to weather Cryptomorphism’s attacks in the group semifinal. Now, he’s in the best position of the three to avenge the loss in Indy and make the most of a second chance to head to London.

 

AndrewManjarrez (MEX)

While three of the final eight are pulling off a double with repeat performances from Indianapolis, the only Mexican battler remaining might have one-upped them. Or at least 7-11’d them. AndrewManjarrez made the final eight in his hometown of Mexico City one week earlier, but was the first battler eliminated in a Loser’s bracket matchup with Carlosqabrera. Making a quick turnaround to come to Columbus, Andrew was possibly still warmed up, defeating MagicMayson, Juaniiilo95 and finally preventing a repeat from TrentSzcz in the Group D final with a victory. Andrew put a lot of faith in Sirfetch’d’s flexibility and the duck quacked like a champ. Can he join Martogalde in London? First he’ll have to deal with itsAXN who is a seasoned veteran himself at this point.

 

TrentSzcz (USA)

The second of three Indy Top 8 battlers to double up in Columbus, Motor City native TrentSzcz doesn’t have the advantage of starting in the winner’s bracket this time. He looked to be well on his way knocking out names like Sassifrass88, 4TheBattles and ShinyDialga45 before running into AndrewManjarrez in the Group D final. Trent figured what wasn’t broken in Indianapolis didn’t need fixing, bringing the exact same squad to Ohio, and despite the loss to Andrew, he bounced back to hand Sassifrass a second loss and stay alive in the tournament. He didn’t face Balk in Indiana, but one of the two will see their dreams end early in Day 2.

 

Balk88 (USA)

Of the three finalists that are repeating feats from Indianapolis, Balk had the longest road to make his second appearance in a final 8. The Chicago native fell early in Group B action against itsAXN, but went on a tear through the Loser’s bracket, eliminating Mathmagic10, BTWxDinho, TINYBOY305, nck228, Cryptomorphism, Jason2890 and finally mxchmp for a 7-1 mark on the day. Balk made two changes from his Indianapolis squad, dropping Alolan Ninetales and Sableye in exchange for the bulkier Azumarill and more flexible Trevenant, and he’ll put those substitutions to the test against TrentSzcz.

 

TrainerRemPVP (USA)

A battler known more for taking Twitch viewers around the Atlantic Ocean shores in his early morning streams, TrainerRem came into Columbus with a mission, and that mission was to give everyone Fossil Cup flashbacks. The first trainer to reach the top 8 with a Lucario, and a shiny Lucario at that, Rem looked unstoppable until hitting the KaiserTener roadblock in the Group A semifinals. However, the aura was strong as Rem bounced back to take down Breezy12345, Arrow and ValorAsh to make it into Day 2. Evan777713 has brought spice of his own to the party, but Rem’s going to be looking to put him to sleep early. 

 

Evan777713 (USA)

With all the conflicting luck in his handle, it’s a wonder Evan was able to balance it all out and reach the Final 8, but the New Yorker channelled the spirit of the city to put on a resilient display. After a Round 3 defeat against NeedforSpeedy, Evan fell to the Loser’s bracket but went on a Balk-esque run of his own, eliminating ShinyHunterBen, DPhiE250, ShadowBrady, Zimmykid and kayvaughn to stay alive in the tournament. And I am glad for this as we all need more Shadow Beedrill in our lives. The spicy Bug type looks like it has some targets against Rem, but he’ll need more than a favorable coin flip to make a run to a London ticket.

 

Day 2 promises to be just as exciting as day 1 with the promise of a London trip at stake for two of the remaining battlers. I can’t wait to see what is in store.