Oct12
2025 Pokémon Louisville Regional Championships VGC Day 1
This event uses the Regulation Set H ruleset. This format bans the use of any Restricted Legendary Pokémon such as Miraidon, as well as banning every other Legendary Pokémon such as Ogerpon and Urshifu, and Paradox Pokémon such as Flutter Mane or Iron Hands. This offers a drastic change from the 2024 Pokémon World Championships!
Standings
751 players took part in Day 1 of the 2025 Louisville Regionals. At the end of Day 1, the only players to have won all 8 games is 5× Regional Champion Riley Factura, 2016 World Championships Senior Division Champion Carson Confer, and Marco Martinez.
24 players managed a record of 7 wins and only 1 loss, including Paul Chua, Wolfe Glick, and James Baek.
# | Player | Team | Record | Teamsheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Riley Factura | 8-0 | Link | |
2nd | Carson Confer | 8-0 | Link | |
3rd | Marco Martinez | 8-0 | Link | |
4th | Joey Woodring | 7-1 | Link | |
5th | Collin Heier | 7-1 | Link | |
6th | Matt Tidd | 7-1 | Link | |
7th | Giovanni Aranibar | 7-1 | Link | |
8th | Luke Bowar | 7-1 | Link |
Since the 2025 Louisville Regionals are the 2nd tournament to take place in the NA region during Regulation Set H, it's important to look at players in this region that succeeded earlier to determine which players have the skill to perform well in this tournament. For example, 2023 EUIC Champion Paul Chua returns after having recently won 2nd place in the 2025 Baltimore Regionals. They're joined by 2024 Knoxville Regional Champion Toler Webb who placed in Top 4 at Baltimore. Other players from this tournament have made their way to Louisville as well, such as Christopher Han, Jo Costagliola, Junxi Zhu, and Lorenzo Arce, who all placed in Top 8 at Baltimore, followed by Justin Tang.
James Evans, 2022 NAIC Champion, is also making an appearance at the 2025 Louisville Regionals. More trainers who took high placements in 2022 North America Internationals are appearing too, with Joseph Ugarte, who landed in Top 4, as well as Zhe Zhang and James Baek, who placed in the Top 8. Joseph Ugarte also took another Top 4 placement a year later at the 2023 North America Internationals. 2024 NAIC Champion Patrick Connors is also participating in this event.
A legendary and well-known trainer participating in the 2025 Louisville Regionals is Wolfe Glick, 2016 World Champion and 6x Regional Champion. Recently, Wolfe Glick placed in the Top 16 of the 2025 Baltimore Regionals, using a slightly off-meta team featuring Hisuian Typhlosion, Toedscruel, Corviknight, Galarian Weezing, Garchomp, and Pawmot. For this tournament, however, they admitted to bringing a different team featuring Incineroar.
Most Popular Pokemon
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 both utility and priority. 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.
Sneasler appears on a popular team composition featuring itself, Dragapult, Kingambit, Rillaboom, Primarina, and either Electabuzz or Magmar.
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.
As mentioned above, Rillaboom is also a key member of a popular team composition featuring itself, Sneasler, Dragapult, Kingambit, Primarina, and either Electabuzz or Magmar.
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. 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.
Gholdengo features prominently on a team used by Toler Webb to place in the Top 4 of the 2025 Baltimore Regionals. This team features itself, Flamigo, Incineroar, Amoonguss, Ursaluna, and Porygon2.
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, allowing it to be boosted by STAB. It also deals high amounts of damage with Moonblast, and can remove stat boosts from set-up Pokemon like Dondozo, Annihilape, or Archaludon with Haze.
As mentioned above, Primarina appears on a popular team composition featuring itself, Sneasler, Dragapult, Kingambit, Rillaboom, and either Electabuzz or Magmar.
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.
As mentioned above, Kingambit appears on a popular team composition featuring itself, Sneasler, Dragapult, Rillaboom, Primarina, and either Electabuzz or Magmar.
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.
Amoonguss fitting on many team compositions has allowed it to win both the 2025 Baltimore and Joinville Regionals alongside Incineroar.
The final Pokemon featured on the Top 12 most used Pokemon in the 2025 Louisville Regionals are Incineroar, a popular Pokemon that has seemed to make a dramatic fall, followed by Garchomp in 8th, a popular member of "Double-Dragon" teams, Archaludon in 9th, Dragapult in 10th, Dragonite in 11th, and Pelipper in 12th.
The first battle livestreamed was in Swiss Round 2, a battle between 2024 Orlando Regionals Top 4 Ben Grissmer and 2024 NAIC Champion Patrick Connors.
Ben Grissmer's team features common Pokemon in Dragapult, Maushold, and Whimsicott, but also features a strong core of Pokemon that benefit from Indeedee's Psychic Surge ability. Although Sneasler more commonly uses the Poison Touch ability, this team makes use of its Unburden ability. With the Psychic Seed item, its Special Defense is raised by one stage when Psychic Terrain is set up, and its Speed is doubled thanks to Unburden. Since Psychic Terrain blocks priority moves, Sneasler is also running Throat Chop as an additional attack instead of Fake Out, which is great coverage against Ghost-type Pokemon that resist Poison-type attacks and are immune to Fighting-type attacks. Delphox and Indeedee both run Expanding Force, a Psychic-type attack that gains an immense amount of power on Psychic Terrain. Indeedee also has Trick Room and Imprison, allowing it to use the latter to prevent Trick Room teams from functioning at full power.
Patrick Connors is running a heavily modified version of a popular team core that commonly features Sneasler and Primarina alongside the Kingambit, Dragapult, Electabuzz, and Rillaboom that remain on Connors' team. Sneasler, however, seems to be replaced by Volcarona, a powerful Pokemon thanks to the status move Quiver Dance boosting its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed by one stage. Primarina is also replaced on this team, with Aqua Breed Paldean Tauros taking its place. With the Mirror Herb item and Intimidate ability, it can lower the opponent's Attack stats, and if it faces down an Annihilape or Kingambit with Defiant, it can copy the sharp Attack boosts. It's also important to note that while most of this team uses common sets, the Dragapult uses Choice Specs over the more common item Choice Band. This gives it a more reliable Ghost-type attack in Shadow Ball, instead of having to rely on Phantom Force or a Ghost-type Tera Blast.
Connors has a clear advantage in this matchup. While their opponent wants to set up Psychic Terrain and deal large amounts of damage with Expanding Force, they have a Dark-type in Kingambit which is immune to Psychic-type attacks, a Rillaboom that can replace Psychic Terrain thanks to its ability Grassy Surge, and a Dragapult that can move incredibly quickly and defeat Pokemon that are weak to Ghost-type attacks.
Grissmer brings Sneasler, Dragapult, Indeedee, and Delphox to the first game. Connors brings Dragapult, Electabuzz, Kingambit, and Rillaboom. With early knockouts on Sneasler and Dragapult, Connors is immediately able to win the terrain wars, leaving two Pokemon on the field that have no way to deal meaningful damage thanks to Rillaboom's Fire-type Terastallization. Grissmer fails to predict what their opponent is doing in the first game, ultimately resulting in them forfeiting. The second game, however, gives Grissmer an immediate advantage. The opposing Kingambit terastallizes into the Dark-type, but is immediately knocked out by a critical hit from Sneasler's Close Combat. This gives their team a slightly easier way to execute their strategies. Although their Delphox is knocked out by a Draco Meteor boosted by Helping Hand, they're able to knock out the opposing Dragapult, forcing Rillaboom out, and winning the terrain war. This results in Connors forfeiting the second game.
The third game has an unusual opening with Delphox and Maushold staring down Kingambit and Aqua Breed Paldean Tauros. Despite the Intimidate lowering its Attack stat, Maushold is still immediately threatening with Population Bomb, knocking both Kingambit and Rillaboom to half of their maximum HP. Early Terastallizations come out, with Delphox turning into a Fighting-type, and Kingambit becoming a pure Dark-type. Connors' Electabuzz is knocked out, and their Kingambit and Rillaboom are left on low health. Grissmer makes a final prediction. Kingambit and Rillaboom face down the Sneasler and Delphox. Ben Grissmer switches Delphox with Indeedee to win the terrain war, activating Sneasler's Unburden, and preventing priority attacks from the opposing side. While the Kingambit has the option to use Protect, Rillaboom uses the Assault Vest item, meaning it's left vulnerable. Sneasler defeats Rillaboom with a Dire Claw, and then Patrick Connors forfeits, giving Ben Grissmer the first win.
Joseph Ugarte's team features a "Double-Dragon" core, with Garchomp and Dragonite. It also has a strong core of Pokemon that benefit from harsh sunlight, with Torkoal setting the sun with Drought, Jumpluff's Speed being boosted with Chlorophyll, and Hisuian Typhlosion appreciating the damage boost to Fire-type attacks. The final Pokemon on the team is Kingambit holding the Assault Vest item. On the other side of the battle, Lorenzo Arce uses strong offensive Pokemon in Volcarona, Sneasler, Annihilape, and Garchomp, as well as utility Pokemon that still threaten a lot of damage in Primarina and Corviknight.
Arce's team has a strong member in Garchomp, being able to hit three of the opposing Pokemon with super-effective damage. However, the Dragonite appearing on Ugarte's team provides a strong counter to this team. Garchomp's only Dragon-type attack is Breaking Swipe, which isn't known for dealing a lot of damage. Additionally, if the harsh sunlight gets set up, the opposing Primarina won't appreciate its Hyper Voice doing less damage, and Corviknight won't appreciate taking even more damage from the Fire-type attacks. However, Lorenzo Arce's Volcarona will appreciate the boost to its Fire-type attacks. Both teams also has the option for speed control with Corviknight and Jumpluff knowing Tailwind.
In the first game, Joseph Ugarte leads Jumpluff and Torkoal with Garchomp and Hisuian Typhlosion in the back, facing down Lorenzo Arce's Annihilape and Corviknight with Garchomp and Primarina in the back. Arce gets an important knockout on the opposing Garchomp, meaning their Tera Dragon Corviknight has much more reign over the battle. However, even resisting Fire-type attacks, both Corviknight and Primarina are no match for Hisuian Typhlosion's Eruption, boosted by the harsh sunlight and a Fire-type Terastallization. Joseph Ugarte makes a handful of notable mistakes, but the power of Eruption allows them to win the first game.The second game features a new opening, with Joseph Ugarte bringing Hisuian Typhlosion and Torkoal with x and x in the back against Lorenzo Arce's Corviknight and Sneasler with Annihilape and x in the back. Despite its great performance in the previous game, Typhlosion is hit by a Dire Claw from Sneasler, which manages to paralyze it. It tries to go for an attack on the first turn, but is unable to due to its status condition. It's able to knockout Annihilape, but is swiftly defeated by the opposing Garchomp due to Jumpluff missing a Sleep Powder. Ugarte's Garchomp loses an important speed tie, leading to them being defeated in the second game.
The third game has a similar opening to the previous two. Joseph Ugarte brings Typhlosion and Jumpluff with Torkoal and Garchomp in the back, against Lorenzo Arce's Garchomp and Sneasler with Corviknight and Annihilape in the back. The first turn features an interesting play from Ugarte. They switch their Typhlosion out for Torkoal, which sets the harsh sunlight, but is quickly defeated by Garchomp. This allows Jumpluff to gain a Speed boost from Chlorophyll, set up Tailwind for its teammates, giving Typhlosion an opportunity to switch back in. It gets to terastallize into the Fire-type, but even with an Eruption boosted by Terastallization and harsh sunlight is unable to knock out Garchomp and Sneasler, thanks to the latter's Focus Sash. Jumpluff misses yet another key attack, missing a Leaf Storm on Sneasler. If it connected, the Sneasler would have been defeated. Ugarte's Typhlosion is then defeated, with Jumpluff fainting soon after from Corviknight's Brave Bird. This allows Lorenzo Arce to win the third game, and the entire round too.
The most noticeable thing about Stefan Mott's team is the unusual pick of Klefki. It does have the ability Prankster, making it valuable on many teams with status moves like Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Light Screen, Reflect, and many more options depending on what your team needs. It's worth noting that this team, featuring Archaludon, Pelipper, Maushold, Annihilape, and Sinistcha, is very similar to Ethan Mattos' Top 16 team at the 2025 Baltimore Regionals. Similarly, the first thing many will notice about Wolfe Glick's team is that it features Yanmega, an incredibly uncommon Pokemon. Glick has also brought a strong team core known as "P2 Ursaluna", which is simply Porygon2 and Ursaluna. They round out their team with Incineroar, Sneasler, and Archaludon.
Having four weaknesses to Fighting-type attacks, Yanmega could potentially be a good counter to Mott's Annihilape. If it goes down early, however, Wolfe Glick may struggle to find a way to position their team around this threat. With Stefan Mott's team being fairly fast, however, Glick also has a win condition in Trick Room. Once again, Annihilape is extremely dangerous for both Porygon2 and Ursaluna, so either good positioning or a Terastallization may be required. Glick's team is also lacking in many powerful Special Attackers, with only their own Archaludon fitting the bill. If the opposing Archaludon or Annihilape get to set up their Defense boosts without Glick's Archaludon being available, there may be fewer options to defeat them.
Stefan Mott opens the first round with Maushold and Archaludon with Klefki and Sinistcha in the back, against Wolfe Glick's Sneasler and Yanmega with Archaludon and Ursaluna in the back. Although Maushold is quickly defeated, it immediately gets to set up Archaludon with many Defense boosts thanks to Stamina. Mott then replaces this defeated Pokemon with Klefki, using Reflect to keep Archaludon alive even longer. Klefki is quickly defeated, replaced by Sinistcha, but Glick still needs an answer to the imminent threat of Mott's Archaludon. Luckily for Wolfe Glick, their Archaludon terastallizes into the Electric-type, and holds on for just long enough to defeat Stefan Mott's team. The second game features a similar opening, with Glick bringing Incineroar instead of Ursaluna. Mott's Maushold activates Archaludon's Stamina ability four times, boosting its Defense. Once again, Glick is able to tear through Archaludon's supporting team members, with Maushold going down to a single Close Combat, and Klefki being knocked out by an Air Slash. Glick uses Incineroar to gradually lower Archaludon's Special Attack. With a Ghost Tera Type, Incineroar can use this to ensure that it won't take enough damage from its attacks in the late game. Without its own Terastallization, though, Glick's Archaludon is much, much weaker to Body Press, getting knocked out in one hit.
The third and final game opens in a similar fashion, with Glick instead opening with Incineroar and Sneasler. In a reverse to the previous turns, it's instead Glick whose Pokemon is immediately defeated, with Incineroar falling to a Body Press. Learning from the previous games, however, they make sure to terastallize their Archaludon into the Electric-type, retaliating by defeating the opposing Maushold. Being chipped down by Archaludon and Sneasler, Mott's Archaludon is ultimately defeated, leading to the endgame of the final game. Sinistcha and Klefki stand against Archaludon and Yanmega, both being the team's final two Pokemon. Wolfe Glick defeats Sinistcha, Stefan Mott defeats Yanmega. However, with its Special Attack being dropped by the opposing Archaludon's Snarl, Wolfe Glick is defeated, giving Stefan Mott the win.
Swiss Round 5 takes place between 2023 EUIC Champion Paul Chua and Joey Woodring.
Paul Chua is once again featuring their team which won them 2nd place at the recent 2025 Baltimore Regionals. Featuring a Double-Dragon core in Garchomp and Dragonite, with more powerful attackers in Kingambit and Alolan Ninetales alongside support in Incineroar and Amoonguss, this team is certainly not one to be underestimated. It's also worth noting that while their Baltimore team featured Alolan Ninetales with a Focus Sash, this team gives Ninetales the Choice Specs, with powerful attacks in Blizzard, Freeze-Dry, Dazzling Gleam, and Moonblast. On the other side of the battle, Joey Woodring brings a team with two powerful cores. Ursaluna and Porygon2 form a Trick Room core, alongside Archaludon and Pelipper forming a rain core. Incineroar and Amoonguss are the final Pokemon on this team, providing a large amount of support.
With Paul Chua lacking a Fighting-type attacker, Joey Woodring's win condition could revolve around their Trick Room core. Most of Chua's attackers are relatively fast for the format, giving Porygon2 and Ursaluna yet another advantage. While Trick Room would also give Chua's Amoonguss a speed advantage, Ursaluna is unable to be put to sleep while it's already burned. Alolan Ninetales is a powerful attacker on Chua's team as well, threatening super-effective Ice-type damage on three of Woodring's Pokemon, Ursaluna, Pelipper, and Amoonguss, with only Incineroar being able to resist these hits. Although, Incineroar does take neutral damage from its Fairy-type attacks. It's also worth noting that Paul Chua's team only features one Special Attacker, potentially giving the opposing Archaludon a win condition as long as it can set up its Defense boosts.
Paul Chua opens the first game with Incineroar and Amoonguss with Alolan Ninetales and Dragonite in the back, facing down Joey Woodring's Archaludon and Pelipper, with Incineroar and Porygon2 in the back. Chua gets a strong opening turn, immediately putting the opposing Archaludon to sleep with Spore. Even with this advantage, though, Archaludon just builds up Defense boosts and refuses to go down. Paul Chua forfeits, giving Joey Woodring the first win. The second game opens in a different manner, with Paul Chua's Garchomp and Incineroar facing down the opposing Incineroar and Porygon2. Woodring uses the first turn to set up Trick Room. Porygon2 immediately gets put to sleep by Amoonguss, but is able to wake up in the next turn, dealing super-effective damage to Amoonguss with Ice Beam. With Archaludon switching in, Chua still struggles to deal meaningful damage to it. Dragonite is replaced by Garchomp, which threatens stronger super-effective damage, but is quickly shut down by Archaludon's Grass-type Terastallization. Alolan Ninetales is now in a stronger position, being able to deal super-effective damage to Archaludon, but Woodring effectively pivots around it, defeating Paul Chua, and winning the game.
Alberto Lara uses a "Double-Dragon" team similar to Lorenzo Arce's featured in Swiss Round 3. It has powerful attackers in Volcarona, Dragonite, Sneasler, and Garchomp, with the latter notably using a Choice Scarf instead of the more common Life Orb set, supported by Corviknight and Alolan Ninetales. Although its Choice Specs sets have been picking up in popularity, Lara is using a classic Light Clay set with the status move Aurora Veil to boost the team's bulk. On the other side of the battle, Andrew Nowak features an uncommon and incredibly interesting Pokemon in Metagross. The Clear Body ability prevents its Attack stat being dropped by Intimidate, and the Assault Vest item boosts its bulk even further. It has Heavy Slam and Psychic Fangs for a Steel-type and Psychic-type attack respectively, both with STAB, Stomping Tantrum for Ground-type coverage, and Bullet Punch as a powerful priority attack. It's supported by powerful attackers in Alolan Ninetales, Garchomp, and Kingambit, as well as supportive Pokemon in Magmar and Sneasler.
A seemingly common issue in Regulation Set H, it's important to note that Andrew Nowak's team features four weaknesses to Ground-type attacks, potentially giving Lara's Garchomp an advantage, since only one of them can terastallize. Their only obvious answer to this Pokemon is Nowak's own Alolan Ninetales, which is threatened by super-effective damage from Volcarona, Garchomp, and Sneasler. Lara's team, however, does have two powerful Pokemon with 4x weaknesses to Ice-type attacks, potentially giving them a way to best their opponent.
Nowak's Metagross unfortunately suffers from an immediate burn in the first game. Lara capitalises on this with their Corviknight, being able to set up with numerous uses of Bulk Up, healing with Roost, and setting up even more with Coaching from Sneasler. Nowak's Kingambit attempts to mimic this, boosting its Attack with Swords Dance and Defense with its teammate's Coaching, but is ultimately unable to keep up. Lara almost loses the first game, with Corviknight being paralyzed and Alolan Ninetales being put to sleep by the opposing Sneasler's Dire Claw, but he manages to hold on, winning the first game. Both players attempt to continue this in the second game, both Corviknight and Kingambit boosting their stats, but the Tera Flying Kingambit is quickly threatened by Sneasler's Dire Claw. With Nowak's team full of physical attackers, Lara is able to continue boosting Corviknight's Defense, heal with Roost, and tear through Nowak's team. Corviknight is put to sleep from Dire Claw, but is still bulky enough to survive three more turns. It follows this up by knocking out Magmar and Sneasler with Body Press, with Alberto Lara winning the game and round overall.
Luke Bowar uses an incredibly interesting team used by Francisco Trigo to win a Top 8 placement in the 2025 Lima Special Event. Indeedee, Ursaluna, Gallade, Hatterene, and Torkoal provide a powerful Trick Room core, followed by Torkoal and Charizard providing a sun core. With the Solar Power ability, Charizard deals even more damage in harsh sunlight, and is given the Choice Scarf item to allow it to deal insane amounts of damage while outspeeding most Pokemon in the format. Matt Tidd also uses a strong Trick Room core, with Hatterene, Porygon2, and Torkoal. The team is then supported by Kingambit, Salamence, and an unusual Amoonguss set with the Effect Spore ability, holding a Focus Sash.
Despite having a Trick Room core, it seems that Tidd's team struggles to make as much use of it as Bowar's does, with the former having the option to deal even more damage with Expanding Force boosted by Psychic Terrain. Tidd's team also lacks a Rillaboom, giving the Psychic Terrain strategy even more merit. If Luke Bowar decides to go all-in with their harsh sunlight core, Matt Tidd also only has two resistances to Fire-type attacks in Salamence and their own Torkoal. Tidd does, however, have the advantage of bringing Kingambit to the battle. It's immune to Psychic-type attacks like Expanding Force, and although it's weak to Fire-type attacks, it can shut down Torkoal with a powerful Sucker Punch to force it to deal less damage with Eruption, and can pick off Charizard when it inevitably falls to low health.
The four Pokemon that Luke Bowar brings to the first game gives this player two options for high amounts of damage, with Indeedee and Hatterene providing damage with Expanding Force, and Torkoal and Charizard provide damage with strong Fire-type attacks in harsh sunlight. Tidd strategically uses their Pokemon to deal with these cores, however. Hatterene takes small amounts of damage from Expanding Force thanks to its resistance, and the Focus Sash Amoonguss manages to survive long enough to put Torkoal to sleep, and bring the opposing Hatterene to very low health. They then bring in Torkoal, in an attempt to resist powerful Fire-type damage from Charizard. However, with Indeedee's Helping Hand boosting its damage, the Charizard is too much to handle, giving Luke Bowar a win in the first game. They get a rough start in the next game, losing Charizard and Torkoal, but Ursaluna's large damage output is difficult to deal with, especially with Psychic Terrain blocking priority attacks from Kingambit. These powerful Pokemon allow Luke Bowar to win the round.
Collin Heier uses a popular team composition with Sneasler, Rillaboom, Dragapult, and Electabuzz, as well as adding two less common Pokemon in Dondozo and Volcarona. On the other side, Riley Factura is using a powerful team core of Pelipper to set up the rain with Drizzle, and Archaludon and Basculegion to make the most of the weather. Sneasler provides support with Fake Out, Kingambit deals large amounts of damage with the Black Glasses item, and Amoonguss threatens to shut down the opposing Pokemon.
The most obvious element of Riley Factura's team, the rain, is both beneficial for Heier's team and detrimental. Dondozo would appreciate the boost to Wave Crash, but Volcarona wouldn't want its Fire-type attacks being weakened. It's worth noting that Heier's team doesn't have a way to get rid of the rain, so Volcarona may simply be at a disadvantage in this matchup.
Basculegion, boosted by rain and a Water-type Terastallization, is enough to immediately knock Dragapult out with one hit, followed by another one-hit knockout on Electabuzz, with Factura showing the strength of a well-positioned rain team. In a fast-paced first game, Heier's Tera Fairy Volcarona is quickly knocked out by a super-effective Steel-type attack from Archaludon, and they proceed to forfeit. The second game is similarly dominated by Factura, with Archaludon terastallizing into the Grass-type, resisting key attacks and allowing it to stick around even longer. Its Body Press knocks out Rillaboom, and Heier's final Pokemon, the Tera Fairy Volcarona, is once again knocked out. Riley Factura wins the second game, and the round overall.
Make sure to return tomorrow to see Bulbagarden's coverage of Day 2 of the 2025 Pokémon Louisville Regional Championships!
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