There were two unusual circumstances behind my final team selection when it came time to become LA CHAMPION:

1. I had a full box of Galar-debuting or exclusive Pokémon at relatively the same level

2.Because of a major illness, I had a LOT of time to scout Leon’s team for counter-picking.

As such, here’s what led a young girl from Postwick named Kallen to celebrate with a little bit of the bubbly:

Centiscorch: Leech Life, Fire Lash, Thunder Fang, Crunch

Purpose: Hard check the Aegislash.

I’ve done a fair few mono-type runs in my day, and the first two I ever did were Bug and Fire. So when they give me a Bug/Fire type that’s as potent on offense as Centiscorch is, he gets a prominent slot ahead of Sandaconda for taking out Sword and Shield’s most obvious old Pokemon. Thunder Fang helped with catching some of the Water types along the way, and Crunch didn’t need a TR to go on.

Mission: Accomplished.

Frosmoth: Ice Beam, Bug Buzz, Quiver Dance, Weather Ball

Purpose: Try and get a hit in on Dragapault.

Ice/Bug is a brand new type combo, and Quiver Dance (1 stage boost to three stats) is a vicious stat booster. I had a heck of a time getting this (time restricted happiness evolutions can bite me), so it had to make the big stage.

Mission: Failed. Turns out SOMEONE was packing Flamethrower and is a speedy bastard.

Hattrene: Psychic, Dazzling Gleam, Magical Leaf, Calm Mind

Purpose: Finish off the Dragons.

I had a whale of a time getting this to its final stage, but when I finally did it went on a major winning streak against Dragons and their ilk. Hence, a backup for Dragapult and also something that could outrun a Haxorus and potentially one-shot it.

Mission: Successfully wasted both dragons.

Inteleon: Snipe Shot, Ice Beam, U-Turn, Bind

Purpose: Beat Rhyperior.

I would normally have some more special moves here, but I got a real bad TR draw so I didn’t have any extra Shadow Balls or Dark Pulses to go to those last two slots. Shame, as Inteleon really likes to blast stuff with special moves. Still, he only needed one move to get his shine in the final match.

Mission: Rhyperior blinked and was gone.

Corviknight: Drill Peck, Iron Head, Thief, Hone Claws

Purpose: Hard counter Rillaboom.

Flying… Flying… Steel/Flying? OK, then. A Rillaboom can’t really touch something as tough as Corviknight was, so it was just a matter of Drill Pecking it into next year.

Mission: Successful.

Coalossal: Rock Slide, Fire Punch, Earthquake, Brick Break

Purpose: Get really big and take out the Kanto invader.

Saving the best for last. Rock/Fire has a very checkered history in Pokemon - Magcargo creates a vacuum, to put it mildly. But Coalossal is just fast enough to sneak in a hit, or can absorb Fire moves and get REALLY fast. He’s also the only one of the bunch I used a full set of Dynamax Candy on.

Mission: Successful by way of a one-hit KO with Max Rockfall.