Hello again, PokéCommunity. We’re back again this week, though a bit late, with coverage of the quarterfinals of Zeffy‘s Alola Random Battles Tournament. If you haven’t read last week’s coverage, you can catch it here.

The bracket is as follows:

Michonne vs. FireSnow
Omicron vs. Lycanroc
Noa vs. Aurora
Nick Wilde vs. Nah

Without further ado, let’s get right into the matches.

Michonne vs. FireSnow

Michonne 2-1 FireSnow.

In the first battle, both battlers lead off with a Spikes-setter – Michonne with Delibird and FireSnow with Klefki. Delibird is badly poisoned by Klefki’s Toxic and the both of them each get 3 layers of Spikes on the opponent’s team. Delibird’s Aerial Ace barely manages to scratch Klefki and soon falls to Toxic, so Michonne goes into his Gumshoos (which also becomes badly poisoned due to Klefki’s Prankster) to take Klefki out with an Earthquake. FireSnow’s Umbreon is able to come out and Foul Play Gumshoos, which falls the turn after due to Toxic damage.

Michonne next goes into Vullaby, which Whirlwinds FireSnow’s Umbreon into his Vanillish. Vanillish is able to take out two and a half Pokémon before falling to Michonne’s Carracosta, which gets up a Shell Smash and a Weakness Policy boost. Thinking that his Carracosta is faster than FireSnow’s next Pokémon, Kadabra, Michonne opts to not go for the priority Aqua Jet, and Carracosta is knocked out. The last Pokémon for Michonne is Vullaby, which, after a stally battle with Kadabra, gets knocked out by FireSnow’s Lycanroc.

Going into the second battle, Michonne starts with Palossand and goes for Toxic on FireSnow’s Air Balloon Sudowoodo, which goes for Stealth Rocks. The next turn, Michonne switches out into his Golduck, but ends up taking a Wood Hammer straight to the face. Golduck is able to knock Sudowoodo out, and Rowlet is the replacement. A series of smart moves and switches between Michonne’s Gengar and Palossand against FireSnow’s Rowlet, Vikavolt, and Morelull results in the loss of Morelull. After this, FireSnow’s Sharpedo comes out, gets a Protect and Speed Boost and Mega Evolves to knock out the Golduck sack.

Electivire comes in on the side of Michonne and forces Mega Sharpedo into Vikavolt, which takes a Volt Switch from Electivire. Michonne switches in Palossand but takes a Energy Ball this time and it faints. Next comes Porygon-Z and, unfortunately for FireSnow, Vikavolt is frozen by a Tri-Attack, allowing Porygon-Z to get up a Nasty Plot and an Agility, which lets it defeat Vikavolt and heavily chunk out the incoming Oranguru. Gengar and Electivire are able to defeat FireSnow’s remaining Pokémon, Mega Sharpedo. Had that Freeze not happened, or if FireSnow’s Sharpedo knew Crunch (and he realized that it was Strong Jaw boosted), this game may have had a different outcome.

In the final battle, the RNG favours Michonne, as both Pheromosa and Solgaleo are on his team. Turn 1, Michonne leads with Pheromosa and U-Turns on FireSnow’s Grubbin, which lands a Toxic on the Eevee switch-in. Grubbin is knocked out next turn and out comes Hypno, which manages to Protect-stall some turns of Toxic, eventually causing Eevee to faint. Lanturn comes out for Michonne, and it and Hypno trade Toxic. Michonne correctly predicts the Protect the next turn and doubles to Pheromosa, getting an easy KO on Hypno the turn after.

Now it’s Michonne’s Lanturn vs. FireSnow’s Parasect, and Lanturn gets blown back by a Seed Bomb. Solgaleo is the revenge-killer that comes out, and destroys Parasect with a Flare Blitz. Out comes Weavile for FireSnow, but its Knock Off leaves Solgaleo barely hanging, resulting in Weavile and Solgaleo both fainting in a double down. Shiinotic is FireSnow’s next ‘mon, and Pheromosa is once again summoned on Michonne’s side. Pheromosa easily knocks out Shiinotic with Poison Jab, gets a U-Turn on Jolteon, and Jolteon is knocked out in the later turns by Michonne’s Vaporeon. Had Knock Off knocked out Solgaleo, this game could have had a different victor.

[Battle 1] [Battle 2] [Battle 3]

Omicron vs. Lycanroc

Omicron 0-1 Lycanroc.

Lycanroc gets the free win for the second week in a row. Omicron did not respond to Lycanroc’s challenge, so he is disqualified.

Noa vs. Aurora

Noa 2-1 Aurora.

In the first battle, Aurora chooses to lead with Carbink, while Noa sends out Relicanth. Relicanth cripples Carbink with Toxic and sets up Stealth Rock, while Carbink does little more than set up a screen and Explode on Tentacruel. The next few turns feature repeated switches, as both Noa and Aurora try to get some momentum. Eventually, Noa’s Necrozma and Aurora’s Relicanth face off in the rain, with Necrozma boosting its Attack with Swords Dance while Relicanth does pitiful damage with a rain-boosted Waterfall.

With no other choice, Aurora sends in Klefki to cripple Necrozma with Thunder Wave, which she succeeds in doing before losing her keys to Necrozma’s Earthquake. Relicanth then eliminates Necrozma with a bit of luck, before it is forced out by Munchlax. Aurora’s Togedemaru attempts to luck Munchlax to death, but fails, losing its Air Balloon and being forced out by the threat of Earthquake and the need to check Noa’s Xurkitree later. Pelipper removes Noa’s Munchlax for Aurora, but becomes setup bait for Mega Metagross, which starts to cleave through the remnants of Aurora’s team. Aurora’s Electabuzz eventually removes Mega Metagross from play, but the damage is done by this point. Noa’s Xurkitree knocks out Electabuzz and Togedemaru, winning the match.

The second battle sees Noa immediately gain an advantage at the lead matchup, sending out Machoke against Aurora’s Gigalith. Gigalith Explodes to soften Machoke for Aurora’s Lilligant, which puts Machoke to sleep. This doesn’t matter too much, though, as Noa sends out Blissey – a hard counter to Lilligant. Lilligant tries boosting to overcome Blissey, but its Petal Dance is no match for Blissey’s gigantic special bulk, and Lilligant is easily Toxic stalled. Aurora’s Parasect falls to the same strategy, as its X-Scissors are mere flesh wounds to Blissey. Seemingly doomed, with her only Pokemon left being Magearna, Magneton, and Metapod, Aurora reveals her win condition: Shift Gear Magearna. Magearna only needs one boost to tear through Noa’s entire team, keeping Aurora’s hopes alive.

In the third battle, what should be a favourable lead matchup for Aurora (Nihilego vs. Crobat) is cruelled by Nihilego’s lack of Rock-type STAB, allowing Crobat to remove it with two Super Fangs and a Brave Bird. Crobat performs a similarly Fang-tastic feat on Aurora’s Wailord before it falls to Aurora’s Silvally. Noa’s Krookodile then forces Silvally out as Aurora decides to send in Shiinotic to counter Krookodile; unfortunately, all this achieves is the removal of her hard-earned Toxic Spikes, as Noa’s Salandit comes in on Shiinotic and absorbs them. Silvally returns to play and forces Noa to send in Herdier, which walls Silvally.

Aurora switches Shiinotic back in on Herdier, with Effect Spore putting Herdier to sleep, but this only allows Noa’s Alolan Ninetales to come in for free, force out Shiinotic, and start spamming Blizzards, which spells the end for Aurora’s Silvally. Aurora’s own Alolan Ninetales comes in to try and revenge kill Noa’s Ninetales, but is shut down by Salandit. Forced to retreat, Aurora sends in Alolan Exeggutor, which KO Salandit. Noa’s sleeping Herdier returns to play, and destroys Alolan Exeggutor with Ice Fang after waking up and avoiding a Draco Meteor. Aurora tries to gain back an advantage by setting up a Nasty Plot with her Alolan Ninetales, but Herdier KO it before it itself falls to hail damage. From here, Noa sacrifices Carbink against Aurora’s Shiinotic to damage it enough for Krookodile to knock it out and win the match.

[Battle 1] [Battle 2] [Battle 3]

Nick Wilde vs. Nah

Nick Wilde 2-1 Nah.

In the first battle, Nick Wilde leads with Leafeon and Nah starts with Glalie (Mega). Mega Glalie has the type advantage, so Nick Wilde swaps to his Magmortar to take the Ice-type Return. Magmortar goes for Fire Blast as Nah’s Glalie is swapped out for Pelipper. Hypno is Nick Wilde’s Scald switch-in and it gets burned as a result. After Knocking Off Hypno’s Leftovers, Pelipper Hurricanes the Leafeon switch, taking it out. Charjabug is the replacement, and scares Pelipper out into Alolan Persian, which falls after a Spark and two X-Scissors. Nah’s Mega Glalie takes Charjabug out, but is once again forced to go into Pelipper in response to the Magmortar as Nick Wilde makes an excellent double from Magmortar to Hypno on the same turn.

Hypno gets a crucial Toxic off before fainting, and Magmortar tries to Substitute-stall Pelipper, switching to Wingull the same turn Nah decides to switch into Golbat. Golbat takes out Wingull, but Nick Wilde goes into his Dragon Dance Flygon. Flygon sets up a Dragon Dance but falls subject to Golbat’s Taunt. Flygon takes out Golbat with Fire Punch and then Mega Glalie with Outrage, and its Lum Berry cures the Poison that was induced by Toxapex’s Baneful Bunker. However, as it goes for another Dragon Dance the next turn, Flygon unfortunately gets Scald burned. FLygon still manages to take out Pelipper and Espeon, but Toxapex is too much too handle for it and Magmortar, giving Nah the win.

Battle number two starts with Nick Wilde’s Toxapex against Nah’s Golbat. Toxapex is Taunted right away, and must Scald the Alolan Exeggutor switch-in the next turn. After taking a Psyshock and failing to burn with the second Scald, Nick Wilde switches Toxapex out into his Hypno to take the Leaf Storm from Exeggutor. Araquanid comes out in place of Alolan Exeggutor as a switch, and uses Infestation on the Toxapex switch-in. Toxapex walls Araquanid, and goes for Toxic Spikes as Nah switches Araquanid for Xurkitree. Xurkitree then uses Energy Ball on the predicted Mudbray switch, 2HKOing it. Pyukumuku comes out after Mudbray faints. Not wanting to faint due to Innards Out, Xurkitree switches out into Alolan Exeggutor as Pyukumuku goes for Light Screen. Pyukumuku then starts setting up with Curse, but Golbat switches in, forcing Pyukumuku out into Hypno, which gets Taunted.

Now, many turns of Nick Wilde switching between Hypno and Toxapex and Nah switching between Alolan Exeggutor and Golbat take place, resulting both Alolan Exeggutor and Hypno fainting on the same turn. Buzzwole comes out for Nick Wilde, eating the Brave Bird from Nah’s Golbat, and KOing back with Stone Edge. Lycanroc (Midday) replaces Golbat, and uses Accelerock to knock out Buzzwole. Lycanroc then sets up a Swords Dance on Toxapex, and ends up knocking out Pyukumuku, which results in a double down due to Innards Out. Nick Wilde lets Arcanine come out vs. Nah’s Xurkitree, prompting Nah to sack Araquanid and Lurantis to Flare Blitz. Xurkitree is Nah’s last Pokémon, and fails to KO with Thunderbolt. In return, it gets crit by Flare Blitz, knocking it down to 12% HP. Toxapex then comes out as Nick Wilde’s last Pokémon, and it uses Baneful Bunker to make sure Xurkitree dies to the Poison damage. If Xurkitree was not crit by Flare Blitz, Nah may have had a shot at KOing Toxapex with Thunderbolt.

The final battle begins with Nick Wilde’s Spinarak vs. Nah’s Carbink. Spinarak gets up Sticky Web as Carbink goes for Stealth Rock. Spinarak then uses Agility twice and Baton Passes into Mudsdale, which destroys half of Nah’s team before fainting. Jangmo-o comes out on the side of Nick Wilde to do some damage, but is knocked out by Nah’s Gigalith. Then Nick Wilde’s Gyarados is able to come in, Mega Evolve, and take out the rest of Nah’s team with the help of Sticky Web.

[Battle 1] [Battle 2] [Battle 3]

Conclusion

And that’s it for this round. Moving onto the Semifinals, we have:

Michonne vs. Lycanroc
Noa vs. Nick Wilde

Again, to anyone who is interested, you can view the live progress of the bracket on challonge.com. Or check out the replays and progress in this thread. Keep in mind that these are spoilers if you want the news fresh from Daily! The next article will cover the Semifinals and the Finals, so stay tuned!

Written by 5qwerty and Aurora.
Edited by colours and bobandbill.