The Ultimate Showdown on a Global Scale!

Last weekend, I fought in 70 matches while competing in Pokémon's online tournament, the Global Showdown. Global Showdown was my first online tournament and the last for Black and White 2. With school and moving out of my apartment, I didn't have much time to prepare a team. So I got some old Pokémon, changed a few movesets, and threw this together:

Sheik, Waluigi, Dhalia, Raymond, Bolin and Macho Man "Mewtwo" Savage are ready for battle!

So I know what you're thinking. "Smiles is using a Mewtwo!? Isn't that cheating?" Actually, no. The Global Showdown allows for any Pokémon to be used (except oddly enough Chatot). If I wanted to stand a fighting chance against Kyogre, Arceus, Kyurem, and opposing Mewtwos, I had to pack a Mewtwo of my own. You might also notice that some of my Pokémon come straight from my VGC team. Like I said, I didn't have much time between school and moving out, so I quickly threw them in. They actually performed pretty well.

 The first day of battling went well. I had a few wins here, a few losses there. It was definitely a learning experience fighting against Uber legendaries, but I got the hang of it. My first win against a full legendary team was a huge confidence booster, and I owe my thanks to Sableye.

 

For the most part, I was able to use strategy to get out of tough situations. My most memorable battles however come from Lady Luck. Sometimes, a dose of good ol' fashioned hax is all you need to get out of a sticky situation. I, however, did rely on Lady Luck more than I'd like to admit.

                                  

Lady Luck can be a cruel mistress. Just as easily as she'll flinch your opponent, she'll flinch you right back! This is one of the reasons why I hate the Wishmaker Pokémon Jirachi. I just wish I didn't have to deal with it.

                             

The worst thing that can happen during an online tournament is that your WiFi stops working. The second day of the tournament, my WiFi stopped working. I went insane! I was having so much fun and didn't want to stop competing. I decided to scour the area and bum WiFi wherever I could find it. My search led me to Big Bite, the greasiest place in town. Let's just say their slice of pizza has enough grease to create Muk. I bought the healthiest thing I could find and sat there for five hours playing Pokémon. It was glorious. 

A grilled cheese sandwich with tomato was the healthiest thing available.

Like before, I had my fair share of wins and losses. But that day, I felt that it was easier to pull off  my strategies. It was like the Big Bite grease was a good luck charm or something. Originally, my Volbeat was more of a gimmick that Baton Passed his Tailglow boost to Mewtwo for a clean sweep. Obviously, there's so many things that could go wrong with this, but I was surprised how often I pulled it off. Especially when I faced a full team of legendaries.

Probably my most memorable match was against a really bulky Lugia. I barely scratched it with a Super Effective Ice Beam! It planned to outstall me until I would struggle myself to death. However, a few good hits on Kyogre gave me the advantage as far as health is concerned. So what did I do? I planned to outstall the clock! It was a bloody war of attrition as his Lugia kept on using Substitue, Protect and Roost. Luckily, he gave in when we had 8 minutes left. Still, this was my most difficult match yet. I had to fight him and the urge to use the restroom! This battle took over 40 turns, so I suggest you make some popcorn if you want to watch the match below.

I had a blast competing in my first online tournament. Sure, I had a few disconnects (looking at you Rocky from Texas!), but for the most part I enjoyed the competition. It was great to see all the creative teams and movesets from trainers around the world. And to top it all off, I ended up with a 1547 rating! Basically, that means I won more than I lost. My biggest regret is that I didn't compete in online tournaments sooner. Hopefully X and Y continues the tradition of hosting fun tournaments.

Feel free to watch some of my other battles on YouTube