Pokémon Champions - Illusion of Choice - Jul 3 26 B

This will be the last video of Season M-3, and after that, my Pokémon Champions coverage will make way for Season M-4, with the debut of a new double battling team, which will mak use of some of the Pokémon added to that season. The featured Pokémon for this video is Hisuian Zoroark, who turns up in over half of the matches here. I don’t know how it got so popular all of a sudden, but…here it is. I still find it pretty interesting that Hisuian Zoroark is designed by Atsuko Nishida, original character designer for Pikachu itself (along with Eevee, some of the Eeveelutions like Sylveon and fan-favorite Umbreon, Minccino, Cinccino, and some of the Pika-clones like the Pawmi line), as Hisuian Zoroark’s fearsome look is quite different from much of her other work. 00:00 - Battle #1 Type: Single Battle Opponent: Greed Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Trainer (X & Y) My Pokémon: Samantha (Toucannon), Victoria (Victreebel), Dolores (Basculegion) (Female) Opponent’s Pokémon: Zoroark (Hisuian), Gallade, Blaziken I went with Samantha (Toucannon) because Beak Blast would be my answer to most Pokémon who go up against it, including Hisuian Zoroark. I had a feeling I would see it there at the beginning of the battle, but I’ve also seen people who don’t select it or pick it second (or third in double battles) to ensure llusion can work but won’t be obvious, which is why I didn’t go straight for a Dark-type move like Knock Off. Having a Normal-type there also means their Hisuian Zoroark can’t use any Ghost-type moves. For the record, there’s a 27.1% chance Triple Axel will not hit all three times. I did get lucky that I hit that chance when their Gallade used Triple Axel on Victoria (Victreebel), giving me the one turn I needed to use Strength Sap and turn the momentum back in my favor. I get unlucky on the Aurorus Team when I swap out Ice Spinner on Paolo (Quaquaval) with Triple Axel, as I have never once hit all 3 times. 04:54 - Battle #2 Type: Single Battle Opponent: musa Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Trainer (Heart Gold & Soul Silver) My Pokémon: Samantha (Toucannon), Victoria (Victreebel), Rex (Tyrantrum) Opponent’s Pokémon: Volcarona, Metagross, Annihilape Metagross has Clear Body, preventing stat reductions. You know what bypasses that? Burn. Of course, when Metagross Mega Evolves, the Ability always becomes Tough Claws, meaning they CAN get their stats lowered the same way as most other Pokémon, allowing me to show up this feasome Steel-type with a Rock-type. That is one resilient Annihilape though, still standing after an Attack-boosted Outrage attack. I was experimenting with Temper Flare on Samantha (Toucannon) because I felt the team needed a Fire attack, and I don’t think anyone else had one or needed their other four moves more. It didn’t really work out. 08:40 - Battle #3 Type: Single Battle Opponent: Moon Moon Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Trainer (Ruby, Sapphire, & Emerald) My Pokémon: Samantha (Toucannon), Victoria (Victreebel), Dolores (Basculegion) (Female) Opponent’s Pokémon: Rimuru (Zoroark) (Hisuian), Blaziken, Gengar Here, we have someone who used Hisuian Zoroark to take on Gengar’s appearance. My guess is that they were expecting a Ghost-type attack, which Hisuian Zoroark is immune to, but I am packing Dark-type moves on this team. It’s just not obvious. And after finding out how people are using female Basculegion for physically attacking with Last Respects anyway, I can also see why they’re cautious about Ghost-type attacks. I wonder if that means they were surprised to see Shadow Ball and Surf coming out of this one. 12:13 - Battle #4 Type: Single Battle Opponent: Haven24 Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Trainer (Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl) My Pokémon: Samantha (Toucannon), Dolores (Basculegion) (Female), Victoria (Victreebel) Opponent’s Pokémon: Zoroark (Hisuian), Talonflame, Staraptor And here is a battle with both Hisuian Zoroark AND Mega Staraptor, and somehow, this wound up being the shortest battle of all the ones in this video. Samantha (Toucannon) can take hits better than I thought and lasted long enough to inflict Burn onto Mega Staraptor, which hinders it greatly. 13:20 - Battle #5 Type: Single Battle Opponent: Clint Caos Battle Court: Battle Arena Music: Trainer (Black & White) My Pokémon: Samantha (Toucannon), Victoria (Victreebel), Forrest (Forretress) Opponent’s Pokémon: Dragapult, Weavile, Greninja This video will run longer than usual to show that yes, I did reach Master Ball Tier in Season M-3 with this team. I thought their Weavile was going to use Fake Out, and Beak Blast inflicting Burn for using Fake Out usually works pretty well as a counter for it (unless it’s coming from Incineroar, but I have other means for Incineroar in this team). Going straight to Ice Spinner was unexpected, but it’s also a contact move, so Beak Blast would still inflict a Burn.