Sep29

2025 Pokémon Dortmund Regional Championships Day 2 and Finals VGC Results

The second and final day of the 2025 Pokémon Dortmund Regional Championships has concluded! Everything you need to know about the results of the streamed VGC matches, the highest placing trainers, and the most popular Pokemon are featured below within this article!

This event is extremely noteworthy due to it being the second official event using the brand new Regulation Set H ruleset. This new format bans the use of any Restricted Legendary Pokemon such as Miraidon, as well as banning every other Legendary Pokemon such as Ogerpon and Urshifu, and Paradox Pokemon such as Flutter Mane or Iron Hands. This offers a drastic change from last month's 2024 Pokémon World Championships!

The 2025 Dortmund Regional Championships are also the first Regulation Set H tournament to take place in the EU region.

Make sure to check out Bulbagarden's coverage of Day 1 here!

Most Popular Pokemon
 Rillaboom climbs to the peak at 1st place, appearing on 41.6% of teams.


This Pokemon is always incredibly valuable on almost any team. Its ability Grassy Terrain allows it to support its team with healing, Grassy Glide allows for strong priority, and Wood Hammer deals very valuable amounts of damage. Fake Out is also a great utility move, as similarly demonstrated by Incineroar.

Rillaboom shows dominance after Day 1, appearing on the three highest placing teams piloted by Joan Garcia, 2023 Pokemon Worlds Finalist Michael Kelsch, and Koen van Cann.

 Kingambit storms up to 2nd place, appearing on 38.6% of teams.

Despite being a new Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet, Kingambit has more than proved how powerful it is. Its base Attack stat of 135 paired with a powerful offensive typing in the Dark and Steel-types along with a priority attack in Sucker Punch, not many can stand in its way. Its main weakness is clearly its 4x weakness to Fighting-type attacks, but terastallization can often fix this problem.

Paired with Rillaboom, Kingambit appears on all three of the highest placing teams, piloted by Joan Garcia, 2023 Pokemon Worlds Finalist Michael Kelsch, and Koen van Cann.

 Sneasler makes an insane climb to 3rd place, appearing on 37.6% of teams.

With the Poison Touch ability and its signature attack Dire Claw giving a chance to poison, paralyze, or put the opponent to sleep, Sneasler can be a very frustrating opponent. Focus Sash helps with its underwhelming defenses, and Fake Out is a great option for utility. Some players instead choose to run the Unburden ability, doubling its Speed stat after it loses its item. This allows Sneasler to outspeed almost every Pokemon in the format.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Sneasler to Day 2 of this tournament include Joan Garcia, 2023 Pokemon Worlds Finalist Michael Kelsch, and 2023 Malmo Regional Champion Mattie Morgan.

 Primarina floats up to 4th place, appearing on 33.7% of teams.

A newcomer in the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet competitive scene, Primarina can use its signature ability Liquid Voice to turn the attack Hyper Voice into a Water-type move boosted by STAB. It also deals high amounts of damage with Moonblast, and can remove stat boosts with Haze.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Primarina to Day 2 of this tournament include 2023 Pokemon Worlds Finalist Michael Kelsch, 2019 Europe International Finalist Davide Carrer, and Fabian Braun.

 Incineroar falls to 5th place, appearing on 32.7% of teams.

Despite some players doubting its potential in Regulation Set H, Incineroar proved itself in the first day of this tournament, appearing on many high-level trainers' teams. With Intimidate, Parting Shot, and Will-O-Wisp, it can severely weaken opposing Pokemon.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Incineroar to Day 2 of this tournament include 2019 Europe International Finalist Davide Carrer, Longyu Lin, and 2023 Malmo Regional Champion Mattie Morgan.

 Gholdengo fumbles the bag, dropping to 6th place, appearing on 24.8% of teams.

Another commonly high-placing Pokemon, Gholdengo is very straight-forward. Its ability Good as Gold blocks strong status moves from Pokemon like Amoonguss, and its base Special Attack stat of 133 paired with a powerful spread move in Make It Rain and another threatening attack with STAB in Shadow Ball. Gholdengo can also run Nasty Plot to boost its Special Attack stat even further. Steel and Ghost-type Pokemon also have a terrifying type combination with many resistances and immunities. With terastallization, Gholdengo can block damage from the few types that would otherwise be super-effective.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Gholdengo to Day 2 of this tournament include 2019 Europe International Finalist Davide Carrer, 2023 Malmo Regional Champion Mattie Morgan, and Alessandro Marchionne.

 Amoonguss is uprooted, falling to 7th place, appearing on 22.8% of teams.

The Mushroom Pokemon is another example of a Pokemon that is almost always competitively viable. Spore helps to shut down opponents by putting them to sleep, Rage Powder is a great redirection move, Pollen Puff allows it to heal its teammates, and Clear Smog can clear stat boosts from Pokemon like Dondozo or Annihilape. Its hidden ability Regenerator heals one third of its maximum health every time it switches out too, boosting its bulk even further.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Amoonguss to Day 2 of this tournament include Longyu Lin, 2023 Malmo Regional Champion Mattie Morgan, and Alessandro Marchionne.


Dragapult makes a surprise appearance at 8th place, appearing on 21.8% of teams.

This Pokemon is a member of a very popular and very effective core, also featuring Sneasler and Rillaboom. Its signature move Dragon Darts is incredibly valuable, since it has a very unique effect. It fires two darts that attempt to hit both targets one time. However, if one of the targets uses Protect or switches into a Pokemon that's immune to the attack, both darts will redirect into the Pokemon that's left vulnerable. With a Dragon Tera Type and Choice Band, many opposing teams are forced to take these high amounts of damage.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Dragapult to Day 2 of this tournament include Joan Garcia, 2023 Pokemon Worlds Finalist Michael Kelsch, and Rafael Sadowski.

 Archaludon finds its place, falling to 9th place appearing on 20.8% of teams.

Many players deemed Archaludon a top threat before this month's first Regulation Set H tournament in Baltimore. The Assault Vest held item paired with the ability Stamina make it terrifyingly bulky, and the attack Body Press can benefit from these Defense boosts. It has a good utility option in Snarl, powerful options for damage in Dragon Pulse or Draco Meteor, and a great signature move in Electro Shot. Some players have also been bringing alternate sets recently. The Power Herb item allows Electro Shot to fire in one turn, the Sturdy ability gives it a built-in Focus Sash, and the Stalwart ability provides a rare counter to Follow Me.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Archaludon to Day 2 of this tournament include Longyu Lin, Faaiz Ashfaq, and Rafael Sadowski.


Electabuzz shocks players by sticking to its 10th place spot on 19.8% of teams.


With redirection in Follow Me and the ability Vital Spirit, Electabuzz is a great counter to Amoonguss, blocking Spore from hitting its teammates. More generally speaking, Electabuzz also gets great speed control in Electroweb, and great utility in Taunt with more options in Helping Hand or Eerie Impulse.

Despite Magmar seeming to dominate the top three teams, the highest-placing trainers bringing Electabuzz to Day 2 of this tournament include Koen van Cann, Fabian Braun, and Rhys Johnson.


Garchomp stays at a tied 11th place, appearing on 17.8% of teams.


With the Life Orb held item, Garchomp deals incredible amounts of damage with Earthquake and Dragon Claw. Ground-type attacks are incredibly valuable against popular Pokemon like Incineroar, Gholdengo, and Kingambit, and Dragon-type attacks are great for coverage, or super-effective damage against Dragon-type Pokemon like Dragonite.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Garchomp to Day 2 of this tournament include Ross Stewart, 2019 Europe International Finalist Davide Carrer, and 2023 Malmo Regional Champion Mattie Morgan.


Basculegion leaps into a tied 11th place, appearing on 17.8% of teams.
This Pokemon typically has a choice between two sets. It can either hold the Choice Scarf with Adaptability to boost its STAB, or can hold the Choice Band with the Swift Swim ability to boost its Speed in rain. Both sets use the same powerful attacks, however, mainly using Wave Crash and Last Respects for high amounts of damage, Aqua Jet for priority, and Flip Turn for pivoting.

The highest-placing trainers bringing Basculegion to Day 2 of this tournament include Koen van Cann, Hjalmar Lind, and Fabian Kuhl.

Notable Trainers in Day 2
The only three players to have a record of 8 wins and 0 losses after Day 1 are Joan Garcia, 2023 Pokemon Worlds Finalist Michael Kelsch, and Koen van Cann.

Joan Garcia is running a popular team core of Sneasler, Dragapult, Rillaboom, and Kingambit. Typically, this composition will favour Primarina and Electabuzz as the remaining two Pokemon, but Garcia's team instead features Dondozo and Magmar. Notably, the Sneasler also uses the move Coaching to boost its teammate's Attack and Defense stats instead of Fake Out, a move we've seen much more commonly. 2023 Pokemon Worlds Finalist Michael Kelsch is using a similar team, with Primarina instead of Dondozo. Notably, their team is a lot more traditional, with Sneasler using Fake Out.

Koen van Cann is using a team featuring Alolan Ninetales with Blizzard and Freeze-Dry, but notably missing Aurora Veil, a move it would have preferred to have in previous formats. This is similar to the Ninetales featured on Paul Chua's team in the 2025 Baltimore Regional Championships. The rest of Koen van Cann's team is full of strong and consistent Pokemon, featuring heavy-hitters like Kingambit, Basculegion, Rillaboom, and Kommo-o, supported by Electabuzz.

The rest of the Top 8 placements after Day 1 feature Ross Stewart, 2019 Europe International Finalist Davide Carrer, Longyu Lin, Faaiz Ashfaq, and 2023 Malmo Regional Champion Mattie Morgan, all players with 7 wins and 1 loss. Following these, notable players making it to Day 2 include 2024 Liverpool Regional Champion Antonio Sánchez, 2020 Cologne Regional Champion Hippolyte Bernard, Fevzi Özkan, 2017 Europe and Oceania International Championships Finalist Nico Davide Cognetta, Sergio Ramirez, 2024 Dortmund Regional Champion Florian Temme, and many more.

Two of the highest-performing players in the EU region are also present. Currently 1st place in the official Championship Points Leaderboard in Europe, Taran Birdee is using a familiar team composition of Primarina, Electabuzz, Rillaboom, Sneasler, and Kingambit. This player fills the final slot of this team with Hisuian Typhlosion holding the Choice Scarf item. Hippolyte Bernard is 5th in the aforementioned leaderboard, using a popular team core of Ursaluna and Porygon2. These two are supported by strong attackers in Gholdengo and Flamigo, as well as supportive Pokemon with Incineroar and Amoonguss.

Final Standings

For more in-depth coverage of these specific battles, see the "Streamed VGC Rounds" section below.

With over 700 players competing in Day 1, they were knocked down to only 101 in Day 2, being knocked down once again to make the Top Cut, competing in the Top 32 matches.

The Top 8 featured battles between many high-level players. Davide Miraglia won against Ibrahim Maarouf, Nicolò Berardo won against Fevzi Özkan, Alessandro Marchionne won against 2017 Europe and Oceania International Championships Finalist Nico Davide Cognetta, and Mattie Morgan won against Jack Clarke. Moving on to the Semi-Finals, Davide Miraglia wins against Nicolò Berardo, and Mattie Morgan wins against Alessandro Marchionne, securing these two players a spot in the Finals.

Both teams were incredibly powerful, featuring interesting Pokemon and builds, but both games were eventually won by Davide Miraglia, the new 2025 Pokémon Dortmund Regional Champion.

Streamed VGC Rounds
The first round takes place between Jack Clarke and Fevzi Özkan.

Jack Clarke is using an incredibly uncommon team. With niche picks like Toxtricity, Drifblim, and Male Indeedee. The rest of the team is fairly more common, but still, none of them even appear in the Top 12 most common Pokemon seen at the top of this article. These Pokemon are Volcarona, Hydreigon, and Kommo-o. Fevzi Özkan, on the other hand, uses a very common team featuring Maushold, Annihilape, Pelipper, and Archaludon. Additionally, they also brought two less common support Pokemon in Sinistcha and Grimmsnarl.

Clarke's team threatens large amounts of spread damage with Expanding Force on Indeedee, and Boomburst from Toxtricity. However, the team also relies heavily on special attacks. Noticing this, Özkan can get Archaludon to use Snarl with Grimmsnarl setting up a Light Screen, greatly reducing the amount of damage they can do. Super-effective Dark-type attacks from the incredibly powerful Hydreigon struggling to deal any meaningful damage to the opposing Tera Ghost Grimmsnarl. This secures Fevzi Özkan a win in the first game. Özkan attempts to continue this domination in the second game, once again opening with Archaludon and Grimmsnarl. Even following its support Pokemon, Sinistcha and Grimmsnarl, being quickly taken down by Clarke's team, the Body Press Kommo-o isn't enough to defeat the combination of Pelipper and Archaludon. Fevzi Özkan wins the second game, and the round overall, bringing them to a score of 9 wins and 1 loss.

In a post-match interview, Fevzi Özkan discusses his team composition, and his match-up against his opponent. "I didn't even know Toxtricity was legal, to be honest, there was a Drifblim that I've never seen before [...] I saw that my opponent didn't a lot of answers versus Assault Vest Archaludon in the first place, and then if I paired that up with Screens and Snarl support, I figured that would be [...] really impossible for my opponent to get rid of it early."


Round 2 features a battle between Francesco Pardini and Nicolò Berardo.

Nicolò Berardo is running a standard Sneasler, Dragapult, Rillaboom team, once again paired with the common choices of Primarina holding a Throat Spray, Kingambit with Black Glasses, and Electabuzz. Francesco Pardini is, unsurprisingly, running a very similar team, but with a few small changes. They've chosen Dragonite over Dragapult, reminiscent of Paul Chua's Tera Flying Dragonite with a Lum Berry from the 2025 Baltimore Regional Championships. They also have Magmar over Electabuzz, and have Coaching on Sneasler instead of Protect.

Despite similar Pokemon being brought on both teams, Pardini's team is unable to deal enough damage, and is unable to take much damage in return before fainting. Berardo's Electabuzz gets a useful Electroweb on the first turn to lower the opponent's Speed stats, followed by their Primarina activating their Throat Spray. With these buffs, followed by the Choice Band boosting the already impactful damage from Dragapult's Phantom Force, Pardini loses the first game. The second game opens in a familar manner, but Pardini brings Sneasler alongside Dragonite for better support. Even face-to-face with the opposing Dragonite having just terastallized into a pure Dragon-type, Dragonite manages to stay around for a good few turns to deal a good amount of chip damage. Despite seeming on the back foot later in the game, Pardini makes a strong comeback with Primarina and Sneasler being the last two Pokemon left. Despite this, the opposing Primarina and Dragapult left, Pardini loses, and Nicolò Berardo wins the round.

The first round of the Top 32 features a battle between Sergio Ramírez and Hippolyte Bernard.

As mentioned in an previous section of this article, Hippolyte Bernard is using a popular team core of Ursaluna and Porygon2. These two are supported by strong attackers in Gholdengo and Flamigo, as well as supportive Pokemon with Incineroar and Amoonguss. Sergio Ramírez similarly has a Porygon2 on their team, but opts for a Garchomp as their strong Ground-type attacker of choice. Other less common picks on the team include Vivillon, which we've seen in earlier games from Day 1, as well as Gastrodon. The team is then rounded out with Incineroar as a supporting Pokemon, and Gholdengo as an offensive Pokemon.

Both players open with strong attacks, Ramírez using Earthquake to bring Gholdengo and Incineroar below half health, and a Hurricane from Vivillon to knock the latter out. Bernard then goes for a Make It Rain, similarly knocking both opponents below half health. Which player gets the upper hand first is decided by whichever player can take advantage of the damage that's been dealt. Bernard's Gholdengo terastallizes into the Dragon-type, takes an Earthquake, and then avoids a Hurricane, letting it stay alive to defeat both Garchomp and Vivillon with another Make It Rain, giving Bernard the advantage. After setting up Trick Room, Bernard's Ursaluna stares down Gholdengo and Incineroar, threatening super-effective Ground-type damage on both of them. With the metaphorical high ground, Hippolyte Bernard wins the first game. The second game opens in a slower manner. Bernard picks up the first knockout, defeating the opposing Vivillon with a Dual Wingbeat from Flamigo. After the opponent misses a knockout on Flamigo by 5 HP, Bernard's Ursaluna is able to knockout Incineroar and Gholdengo. Ramírez has one Pokemon remaining, and forfeits the game.

Hippolyte Bernard wins the round, and moves on to the Top 16!

The streamed game in the Top 16 features Ibrahim Maarouf playing against Joan Garcia.

Once again, the two trainers have very similar teams. Both feature Sneasler, Rillaboom, Kingambit, Dragapult, and Magmar. Joan Garcia's final Pokemon is Primarina, but Ibrahim Maarouf opts for Dondozo as their Water-type Pokemon of choice.

Maarouf's team is constantly helped throughout the first game by their Tera Poison Primarina. After the opposing Kingambit goes down, both Sneasler and Rillaboom struggle to hit it for meaningful damage. Despite getting knocked down by Wood Hammer, it still takes down Garcia's Kingambit and Sneasler. Maarouf's own Sneasler defeats Rillaboom with a super-effective Dire Claw, but is hit by an unlucky Fissure from Dondozo. However, the Sneasler is miraculously saved by a Focus Sash. Seeing their defeat, Joan Garcia forfeits to give Ibrahim Maarouf the first win. The second round opens with Maarouf on the back foot after Sneasler gets defeated by Dragapult and Magmar. After a double-up from Dragapult and Kingambit, Maarouf's Primarina that had helped it through the previous round has been defeated. With their Rillaboom and Magmar unable to break through that offensive core, Ibrahim Maarouf loses the game, confirming a third and final game.

The final game features a similar opening to the first. Maarouf's Sneasler and Primarina are facing down Garcia's Kingambit and Sneasler. Without terastallizing, Primarina manages to stay on the field while facing down super-effective Poison-type attacks. As Maarouf's own Sneasler defeats its mirror, their team has a slight advantage. Maarouf knocks Dondozo to sleep thanks to Sneasler's Dire Claw. Turns later, they follow this up with another Pokemon forced asleep in Garcia's Dragapult, and Joan Garcia forfeits the final game, giving Ibrahim Maarouf the win.

Ibrahim Maarouf wins the round, and moves on to Top 8!

In a post-match interview, Ibrahim Maarouf reflects on their match-up against this incredibly tough opponent. "The thing about mirror matches is they're always, like, do they really have the same six, or is it a small difference between Dondozo or [Primarina]? We have different Water-types, we have to utilize them in a different way, and that's why I brought [Primarina], because it felt like it made such a difference in that mirror match."

The Top 8 round takes place between Fevzi Özkan and Nicolò Berardo.

As mentioned in the descriptions of earlier streamed rounds, Fevzi Özkan uses a very common team featuring Maushold, Annihilape, Pelipper, and Archaludon, supported by Sinistcha and Grimmsnarl. Nicolò Berardo is running a standard team we've seen many times with Sneasler, Dragapult, Rillaboom, Primarina, Kingambit, and Electabuzz.

With Primarina using Hyper Voice many times, connecting into Annihilape, Özkan's Rage Fist is quickly powered up. With Maushold supporting and Sinistcha healing Annihilape up, this team becomes incredibly threatening. Sinistcha can also redirect with Rage Powder, as it prevents Dragapult from targetting Annihilape multiple times later in the game. Annihilape unfortunately gets hit by the opponent's Dire Claw, which paralyzes it, halving its Speed and giving it a 25% chance to fail any move. With Maushold getting knocked out soon after, Annihilape gets lucky enough to defeat Dragapult in one hit with Rage Fist. With Sinistcha gone, though, it's now effectively on a timer. Özkan loses their third Pokemon in Archaludon, followed by them forfeiting the first game. In the second game, Özkan gets to use Maushold's Beat Up to strongly boost the power of Rage Fist, knocking out the opposing Primarina in one hit. Maushold gets knocked out, but Annihilape retaliates by defeating the enemy Electabuzz and Dragapult with two more one-hit knockouts. Berardo is defeated, Özkan wins, and the round is brought to a third and final round.

The third round opens with a familiar yet brand new opening. Özkan opens with Annihilape and Maushold standing against Berardo's Sneasler and Dragapult. Opening with a terastallization, it seems that the Tera Dragon Dragapult on Berardo's side is keen to get some early knockouts, especially before Annihilape can quickly build up its damage potential. Berardo correctly predicts Maushold to terastallize into the Fairy-type, knocking it out in one hit with Dire Claw. Immediately, Özkan is on the back foot. Following this, Sinistcha is hit by a double-up from Dragon Darts and a critical hit Dire Claw, knocking it out too. Özkan only has Pelipper and Annihilape left, with the latter having used Bulk Up twice in an attempt to boost its defenses. Pelipper protects, allowing Annihilape to get hit twice by Dragon Darts, boosting the base power of Rage Fist by two stages. This allows Annihilape to get a one-hit knockout on Dragapult, but these two Pokemon still have to take on the Sneasler which had ruined Özkan in the first game. Electabuzz barely survives a Rage Fist, allowing it to use Electroweb to knock out Pelipper and lower Annihilape's Speed. Even though it activates Defiant, this leads to Annihilape being defeated, and Nicolò Berardo wins the Top 8 round.

Nicolò Berardo wins the Top 8 round, and moves on to the Semi-Finals!

The first game of the Semi-Finals takes place between Alessandro Marchionne and 2023 Malmo Regional Champion Mattie Morgan.

Their two teams are very reminiscent of the Top 32 round between Sergio Ramírez and Hippolyte Bernard. Alessandro Marchionne is running a fairly common team, characterized by Porygon2 and Ursaluna as a Trick Room core supported by Gholdengo, Flamigo, Incineroar, and Amoonguss, compared to Mattie Morgan's team with Porygon2, Garchomp, Gholdengo, Sneasler, Incineroar, and Amoonguss.

Marchionne's Incineroar is immediately knocked out, taken down by a Close Combat from Sneasler and a Tera Blast from Porygon2. Amoonguss switches in, but it clearly seems that this team is on the back foot. With the offensive threat that is Tera Steel Life Orb Gholdengo boosted by Nasty Plot, even a bulky Pokemon like Amoonguss is taken down by a Make It Rain, as Porygon2 is defeated by a critical hit Flare Blitz. With these fast-paced knockouts, Marchionne forfeits the first game. Game 2 opens in a very similar fashion, with Sneasler hitting a super-effective Close Combat against Incineroar, but Marchionne makes sure to set up Trick Room early, eventually switching Ursaluna in. Unfortunately, the team constantly struggles to deal enough damage. The first Trick Room runs out without any important developments made as Porygon2 struggles to set up a second, and Gholdengo goes for two Nasty Plots to boost its Special Attack to drastic levels. A Make It Rain knocks out Ursaluna and Amoonguss, losing Marchionne the game, and the round overall.

Mattie Morgan wins their round in the Semi-Finals, and moves on to the Finals of the 2025 Pokémon Dortmund Regional Championships!

The second game of the Semi-Finals takes place between Nicolò Berardo and Davide Miraglia.

We've seen Nicolò Berardo's team before, playing against Fevzi Özkan in the Top 8 and against Francesco Pardini earlier in Day 2. They're running a standard team we've seen many times with Sneasler, Dragapult, Rillaboom, Primarina, Kingambit, and Electabuzz. Davide Miraglia's team, however, features many interesting and powerful Pokemon in Garchomp, Hydreigon, Gholdengo, and Annihilape, with Whimsicott and Clefable for support.

The first round opens with a one-hit knockout on Primarina from Miraglia's Make It Rain. A second attack defeats Electabuzz and knocks Sneasler down to its Focus Sash, immediately bringing Berardo down to their last two Pokemon. Their Kingambit gets a Swords Dance off, and knocks out one Pokemon, but they still lose the first game. The second game starts slow, with Gholdengo's threatening presence not being as strong as in the previous game. Berardo's Kingambit gets to sit on the field next to the Choice Band Dragapult, knocking out Gholdengo, and making the playing field a little bit more even. Terastallizing into the Dark-type, Kingambit gains a weakness to Fairy-type attacks, however, and is knocked out by Clefable. Miraglia's Annihilape is left undamaged on the field with a Life Orb Garchomp in the back. Nicolò Berardo doesn't give up, but is still defeated in the second game by Davide Miraglia.

Davide Miraglia wins their round in the Semi-Finals, and moves on to the Finals of the 2025 Pokémon Dortmund Regional Championships!
In a post-match interview, Davide Miraglia reflects on the previous round and the strength of their Gholdengo. "One thing that we also thought about, putting Clefable [on the team], is that it would help Gholdengo sweeping things, and that's what it does. [Gholdengo] is good against Sneasler, because it doesn't touch you, it's good against Primarina [...] It's Gholdengo, you know."

The 2025 Pokémon Dortmund Regional Championships Finals take place between Davide Miraglia and 2023 Malmo Regional Champion Mattie Morgan.

As featured in the previous round in the Semi-Finals, Davide Miraglia's team features many interesting and powerful Pokemon in Garchomp, Hydreigon, Gholdengo, and Annihilape, with Whimsicott and Clefable for support. Mattie Morgan runs a team with Porygon2, Garchomp, Gholdengo, Sneasler, Incineroar, and Amoonguss.

Morgan opens the first game with a Trick Room with Porygon2 sat next to Amoonguss. The latter is forced to switch out, since both of Miraglia's Pokemon on the field are immune to Spore, Gholdengo thanks to its signature ability Good as Gold, and Annihilape thanks to its Safety Goggles. Morgan switches Gholdengo in, as their Porygon2 goes for a Tera Ground Tera Blast, bringing the opposing Gholdengo to incredibly low health. Miraglia switches Clefable in to protect Gholdengo as Annihilape terastallizes into the Water-type. The Annihilape loses half of its health to a Shadow Ball, and luckily gets its Special Defense dropped. This activates Defiant, gives it a 2x boost to its Attack stat, allowing it to defeat the opposing Gholdengo with a Rage Fist. Morgan's Amoonguss gets a critical hit with Sludge Bomb to knock the opposing Clefable out, forcing their low health Gholdengo back in. With Amoonguss back on the field, it's once again unable to use Spore in front of Gholdengo and Annihilape. It switches back in to bring Sneasler out, but its immediately hit by a double up from Make It Rain and Rage Fist, knocking it out. Porygon2 and Amoonguss are, once again, facing down Gholdengo and Annihilape on Miraglia's side. Rage Fist knocks out Porygon2, and Mattie Morgan forfeits the first game.

Morgan opens the first round by boosting Porygon2's Attack and Defense with Sneasler's Coaching before setting up Trick Room once again. Boosted by two lots of Bulk Up, Miraglia's Annihilape is suddenly threatening the other end of the battle. Sneasler switches itself out to avoid a knockout, and Amoonguss takes it place. Porygon2 terastallizes in to the Ground-typing to avoid a super-effective hit from Annihilape's Drain Punch, but still doesn't deal enough damage or provide enough utility to threaten Annihilape. Dire Claw misses getting a status condition on Annihilape, and a follow-up Make It Rain from Miraglia's Gholdengo knocks Sneasler and Porygon2 out. Amoonguss comes out on to the battlefield again, despite the fact that it fails to provide much value. It sits next to Morgan's Gholdengo. Miraglia's Annihilape terastallizes into the Water-type, knocks Gholdengo out in one hit with Rage Fist, followed by a knockout on Amoonguss, winning Davide Miraglia the round, and the entire championship.

Davide Miraglia wins the 2025 Pokémon Dortmund Regional Championships, and becomes your 2025 Dortmund Regional Champion!
For more coverage of future Pokémon Scarlet and Violet VGC events, make sure to keep an eye on Bulbagarden!
radiomochi Written by radiomochi