LA Showdown Warstory

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

Though zerowing posted his, I'm going to post mine as well. :p The senior final videos are at the bottom.



A good luck charm Soxrock545 gave to me. :p

Ok, so I get there at the LA Science Center, which is decorated with stuff(see pictures below), at around 8:20 am because my sister wanted to try out for an alternate spot. That was fine for me, though it caused me to have to get up almost 2 hours earlier, lol. So she puts her name in for the drawing, but you are required to wait until the senior division actually finishes registration before the alternates are picked, which makes sense, but took forever since they were running behind with the juniors which caused the seniors to be behind. A funny thing was that for the junior alternates, when it came time to choose who was picked, the man in charge of picking, he just opened up the alternate scrambler device and yelled ”You are all in!!!!”. Apparently there were not enough juniors to even fill spots for the normal competition allotment. The senior alternates were a bit more narrowly picked. There were 29 open spots available, and about 70-80 people wanting to get one (so approx. 1 out of 3 were chosen; pretty good odds IMO). My sister actually did get an open spot, but several others in the crowd didn’t(I recognized Jeps from Smogon, as well as a few other people, who did not get in). I just registered at the correct time and got a green wristband and a DS wristband, nothing too special.







I talked with a few kids(even one who was a kid from Serebii, lol), though I didn’t outright recognize anybody really. Jeps and chalkE from Smogon are the only people I really recognized at first, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to them(=[ ). I even talked to Pulse without even knowing it! I battled a few people before the competition started, and won both matches, using both of my teams(a bit more on that later). But I was made to wait around 2 hours before I got to see the competition area.


Finally the time came to go in! =D I go in along with the other seniors there, but they just made us wait some more on the inside. >_> We have to wait until the juniors are finished with the battling stations. So I get in line that they created, and I didn’t know it at the time, but I struck up a conversation with zerowing from Smogon, who was wearing a Smogon shirt. He was a pretty cool guy; in fact, all the Smogoners I met at the Showdown were cool people through and through. I also met OmegaDonut, as well as yamipoli. I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to Jeps or Chalke, since they were moving around a lot and I couldn’t snag them. Devoninja was there, and I actually battled him in the tournament. I couldn’t find rottingpigfetus, I guess he didn’t bring his laptop like he said he would, lol.





(that is not me in the above picture or the battling station picture >_>)


So FINALLY they call out my division. Here is how it worked. There were 4 divisions, and they were named divisions……1 through 4 (>_>). Divisions 2 and 4 battled against each other first, and then divisions 1 and 3 battled each other. The top 8 out of all 4 divisions were the ones who would go to Florida for the Nationals. So I line up in the line with the other people in division 1 and 3. I’ll outline the basic premise of each of the battles that I had below. I am typing these to the best of my memory.


MY AVAILABLE TEAMS:


TEEMS R SECRT OLO




NOW ONTO THE BATTLE PORTION OF THIS THREAD



BATTLE ONE: A guy who is probably 45

My first battle! :O I was admittedly nervous at first, as I had been waiting for this moment for quite some time. It was weird though, they had DS lites that you play on, but you never actually put your DS card into the DS; you put it onto something on the side. They had a mechanism set up where the DS has a card reader extension in the card slot, which went to the slot on the side you pout then in. So you didn't put your card into the actual DS, you put it into something that went into the DS.

Anyways, my opponent starts off with Salamence and Latios, I start off with Togekiss and Bronzong.

Turn 1:Latios uses Helping Hand, Togekiss uses Follow Me. Salamence uses Crunch on my Togekiss, I still have ¾ of my health left. Bronzong uses Trick Room.

Nice, TR is set up. Now for the fun part of the battle. >=)

Turn 2:
I switch out Togekiss for Snorlax, Latios uses Protect. Bronzong uses Hypnosis on Salamence, it falls asleep.

Turn 3:

Snorlax uses Belly Drum, Sitrus berry activates, Bronzong uses Hypnosis on Latios, it falls asleep. Salamence is still asleep.

Turn 4:

Snorlax uses Body Slam on Salamence, fainting it. Bronzong uses Gyro Ball on Latios, while Latios is still asleep. He sends out Zapdos

Turn 5:

Snorlax uses Body Slam on Latios, fainting it. Bronzong uses Hypnosis on Zapdos, it falls asleep. Trick Room Ends =( He brings out Alakazam.

Turn 6:

Zapdos uses Detect. Alakazam uses Shock Wave against Bronzong (lol) Bronzong uses Trick Room, and Snorlax uses Body Slam on Zam, fainting it.

Turn 7:

Snorlax kills the Zapdos, securing my first round win! :D

Now that the first battle was over, I was much more relaxed and knew I was in control. =)


BATTLE TWO: DEVONINJA

Yes, the very same devoninja who posts here. I didn’t want to eliminate a Smogoner this early, but I had no choice. =(

He sends out Lickylicky and Driftblim
I send out Togekiss and Bronzong

Turn 1: I Protect with Togekiss, predicting an Explosion; turns out I was right. Lickylicky uses Explosion, killing Bronzong.

Turn 2: I send out Metagross, he sends out Ambipom.

I don’t remember much of this battle, I apologize. : ( It eventually gets to where his Charizard has a Sub and his Ampibom is at 2/3 health left as his last two pokes(he had a Driftblim I think, while my Togekiss and Metagross are out; Bronzing died to Lickylicky‘s Explosion(darn you bluecookies, lol). I use Bullet Punch on Zard to get rid of sub and his Zard uses Belly drum ambipom used something, and my tog kiss Air Slashed his Ambipom. He uses Earthquake next turn, killing my Metagross and his Ambipom, and Air Slash finished his Charizard off. So I win another battle. =) Things are going well. His wife(I believe he mentioned it was his wife; if not, I’m sorry) was taking pictures during the match, which I didn’t mind.

BATTLE THREE: Against a kid who looked young enough to be in the junior division.

This kid led off with a Driftblim and Shiftry. I led off with Togekiss and Bronzong.

Turn 1: His Blim uses Protect, which I find surprising since it was immune to Explosion as you will find out. I use Follow Me expecting Fake Out, but he Explodes instead. My Togekiss and Bronzong survive but by not much health. Zong uses Trick Room. He sends out Blastoise (lol), while I send out Snorlax.

Turn 2: His Blastoise uses Protect, and Snorlax uses Substitute, which is really good because Driftblim uses Will-o-Wisp on snorlax. I Air Slash the Driftblim.

Turn 3: Snorlax uses Belly Drum(Sitrus berry activates) while I switch Togekiss for Metagross. Driftblim protect again, while Blastoise uses Earthquake. My sub did not break.

Turn 4: I Psyche Up with Metagross and kill the Blastoise with Body Slam. His Blastoise uses Earthquake again, but my sub still didn’t break. X) He sends out Latias.

Turn 5: I Bullet Punch his blim and it faints, while Latias protects from Body Slam from Snorlax. Trick Room ends.

Turn 6: I Bullet Punch his Latias and faint it. =)

Now, unbeknownst to me at the time, there were not a full 128 participants there playing. So that match’s victory got me into the top 8 overall. :D they brought back the top 4 from the other divisions(divisions 1 and 3), and we were bunched together into just the top 8.


I AM GOING TO FLORIDA FOR THE SHOWDOWN NATIONALS EVERYBODY!! LETS HEAR A BIG BOOYAH


At this point, I am interviewed by one of the staff members and she asks a bunch of questions, which will probably be posted on the site sometime in the future, so I won’t bother typing it all out. I feel great, and the staff is congratulating me, etc. I talk with the rest of the top 8, and they seem really cool people too. I'll be meeting them again in the near future.
Ok, now that I am in the top 8, let’s move on to the rest of the battles. :p


BATTLE FOUR: Against a kid who said “My brother made my team for me”

Yes, those were his exact words. I asked him if we went on the Internet for Pokemon(like I did all my competitors), and he gave me that answer. Kind of makes you wonder why he is in the top 8. =/ But now that I know omni made that team

Anyways, I have little recollection of this battle much to my dismay. He started off with Breloom and Togekiss, and I started off with Togekiss(which for this battle and the next one is holding Chesto Berry instead of Leftovers) and Bronzong yet again. I use Air Slash and Bronzong uses Trick Room. His Kiss uses follow me as well, and his breloom uses protect and poison orb takes effect. I think I Hypnosis his Togekiss and use Reflect with my Togekiss. I forgot a lot of what happened, but eventually his Togekiss dies and I use Trick Room again once it runs out. Snorlax is out, belly drums, and kills stuff he has while I use Hypnosis with bronzing. I win yet again. :D



FINAL FOUR AT THE LOS ANGELES SHOWDOWN :D



BATTLE FIVE: Against a red shirted guy who took notes of the battle

This was the best battle I had all day. That’s all I really have to say.

He has a rain dance team and starts off with Ludicolo and Vaporeon, and I unsurprisingly use Togekiss and Bronzong. This match almost took up the 15 minute time limit. =/

Turn one: I Use Follow Me in anticipation of Fake Out, butLudicolo and Vaporeon use Surf; both of my pokes survive, but not with a lot of health. I set up Trick Room with Bronzong.

Turn 2: Vaporeon uses Protect, I use Hypnosis with Bronzong, but it misses(=/). I Air Slash with Togekiss against Ludicolo, and almost OHKO it, but it survives by maybe 50 HP. Ludicolo flinches.

Turn 3: Ludicolo uses Protect while I use Hypnosis with Bronzong on Vaporeon, but it misses(again =/). Vaporeon uses Surf, and Bronzong and Togekiss die. I send out Snorlax and Metagross.

Turn 4: I Bullet Punch Ludicolo and faint it, ad have Snorlax use Belly Drum, while Vaporeon uses Rain Dance. He sends out Kingdra.

Turn 5: Both Vaporeon and Kingdra use Protect, I obviously didn’t kill something with Body Slam, but I did Psyche Up the Belly Drum at snorlax. Trick Room ends.

Turn 6: I Bullet Punch Kingdra, and it has half it’s health left. Both Kingdra and Vaporeon use Surf, and it CHs my Snorlax, fainting it(=/), while Metagross somehow survives.

Turn 7: I Bullet Punch Kingdra, but it lives and kills me with Surf.






So, I finally lost. :p But it didn’t matter much, since I was already going to Orlando. So I pick up my bag of goodies(nothing too special, just a few stickers and a figurine. There was a beach ball decorated like a poke ball, as shown below. Except the one in the bag was an Ultra Ball instead of a normal PokeBall. :o






So, just before the final match, the top 8 have our pictures taken in front of a big board that said “Showdown”, etc. We had them taken individually, as a group, and with Pikachu. They will probably be posted on the website sometime soon.

And the final battle. Zerowing and the guy who beat me in the previous battle are in the finals. I’ll let the videos I took do the talking.



Here's the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGCE4rTE-Zo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3NvHvzbsyo



So, after that, I talk a bit with Omegadonut and yamipoli. Then I leave, go to my car, and check out all the stuff I got. I had a great time overall, and an even better time getting into the Final 4. I can't wait for Orlando. =)

[BlueCookies]

Excellent story, and congrats for making it to Orlando :)

It's a good thing you listened to my advice and gave Togekiss Chesto berry(It probably didn't matter since the Kid was a noob, lol) for that one match, That Breloom could have owned you lol.

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

Yeah, if I didn't have it I might have lost, lol.


I'm uploading pictures and the second video right now.

[Davy]

Pretty interesting story, shame I'm not going to the New York Tournament on the 19th. Makes me wish I could. I'd probably do bad, now a 1 vs. 1 on the other hand, I might be good at.

I'm waiting for the pictures and part 2 to the video of course.

[deathshadow8895]

Heh, i've already congratulated you elsewhere, but I might as well do it again :P. Amazing battles, strategies and Pokemon.

I can't wait to watch the videos to.

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

Ok, both finals videos are uploaded. check them out. =) zerowing has the team in the right.

[Sudo]

Very nice, congrats on securing the trip to Florida! Good luck there!

[omni]

that brother was me by the way. ;/

hes played before, and i have told him a little about how to actually play, but he just didnt have experience.

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

oh, haha, I didn't know that. But I just found it odd that he was using a team someone else made for him and he didn't make it himself and still got into the top 8.

[kamikaen]

Anyone else think 5:10 in the first video was a little weird...?
Nice to read this, I hope more people do these for the NYC one, and I hope they take lots of pictures. :P

[omni]

well, i spent the past two months preparing for this thing. i asked him if he also wanted to compete and he agreed to do so. in the end hes the one that was picked to play, not me :( i pretty much did the exact same thing with him for the gamestop tournament last year, in which he won, surprisingly.

i, for one, didnt expect him to get this far. honestly lol.

[makiri]

haha I didn't know that was you. It was cool chatting with you and I'll be seeing you in Orlando!

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

kami, I see nothing wrong at 5:10......>_>


yeah zerowing, I didn't know it was you until I was talking with yamipoli after I had just finished recording, and she mentioned you were here. Otherwise I would have talked a bit more. :p Yep, see you there!

[BlueCookies]

Originally Posted by Fat kamikaen

Anyone else think 5:10 in the first video was a little weird...?
Nice to read this, I hope more people do these for the NYC one, and I hope they take lots of pictures. :P

Are you talking about how it kind of sounded like the announcer said "shit." Well, that's what it sounded like to me anyway <.<

Edit: Why are you letting that jersey tarnish gengar's image?

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

I'm giving it a champion's jersey. No tarnish at all. :p At least I didn't put a Yankees jersey on it. That'd be like using Explosion against a Dusknoir; an epic failure.

:p

[Silv]

Well...my overall thoughts on that final battle...with all the critical hits that guy landed, both in the final, and in the battle described, I'd only assume a scope lens was involved. Really, I wasn't expecting a rain based team to win. But hey...

I'll be trying to get in as an alternate in NY. Almost done with my team. I hope I get in, because I'm really confident in the strategy I put together.

[Davy]

Which one is the picture that shows the DS Game Slot Mechanism?

[Little Green Yoda]

Rain-based teams rule. :P

Congrats on making it to Orlando! Thanks for uploading the vid! Kinda weird that the battle on PBR shows which moves are being picked on the TV. I'd have thought that kind of info would be shown on the DS only.

[Bountyhunter19]

lol wartsory

gj placing

[Stallion]

Congrats dude, and really cool team idea :).

Why isn't there anything as good as this in Australia :(.

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

@davy = I don't have a direct picture of the actual DS mechanism, they wouldn't let me take pictures directly of the actual device or ask any questions about how it worked. >_> But I got a pic of a junior match, so I can sort of explain how it worked.





From what you can see in that picture, they have two DS lites on a table. Now, a contestant would put their game card in a slot in the table right about where the kid in red has his left hand. You would stick it in. Nintendo powers up the systems. You go, get your team and go into battle, but you don't pick your first move. Then, and only then, once Nintendo has set a timer, play can start. Each DS station is linked only to the other DS on it. So, the kid in red and the kid in green can only play each other(no other signals show up when looking for the battle you were supposed to be doing); not the table next to it. It would show no wireless signal up on the 3 bars, which alarmed me at first but then after a minute or so I realized what's going on. Then, just as a winner was decided, you were told to eject your game cards(even when the DS was still on o_O), and the loser would get a bag, etc, while the winner moved on to the next section of DS tables. And the process would continue.



@yoda = thanks! :p Yes, that was odd. Nintendo doesn't even know how to work their own games. =/ And in Orlando I will be sure to record that battle as well and upload it.


@bountyhunter = lol edited

[Bentendo1]

Congrats on going to Florida man. :)

Edit: Is Nintendo paying for plane tickets and stuff? o.o Just curious.

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

Yep, flights and hotel. =)

[travisurfer]

lol, congrats on going to orlando. the videos were entertaining as well. :)

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

Yes, I like commenting on what's happening during a battle. Just like I did for my Gamestop videos. :p