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!
Final Standings
# | Prize | Player | Team | Record | Teamlist |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | $6,000 | Andrew Zheng | 14-2 | Link | |
2nd | $4,000 | Joseph Ugarte | 13-3 | Link | |
Top 4 | $2,000 | Riley Factura | 12-3 | Link | |
Parker Simmons | 12-3 | Link | |||
Top 8 | $1,000 | Marco Martinez | 12-2 | Link | |
Collin Heier | 11-3 | Link | |||
Cary D'Ortona | 11-3 | Link | |||
Wolfe Glick | 11-3 | Link |
Andrew Zheng wins the 2025 Louisville Regionals, defeating Joseph Ugarte in a legendary battle in the Finals.
Most Popular Pokemon
Sneasler holds on to its 1st place, appearing on 45% 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 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 is used by many high-placing trainers, such as 5× Regional Champion Riley Factura.
Gholdengo rises to 2nd place, appearing on 35.8% 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. 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 is used by many high-placing trainers in this tournament, such as Andrew Zheng.
Kingambit places at a tied 2nd, appearing on 35.8% 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.
Kingambit is used on many high-placing trainers' teams, such as 2017 Dallas and Madison Regional Champion Andrew Nowak's.
Incineroar rises back to 4th place, appearing on 34.9% of teams.
Despite some players doubting its potential in Regulation Set H, Incineroar proved itself in a handful of tournaments by appearing on many high-level trainers' teams. With Intimidate, Parting Shot, and Will-O-Wisp, it can severely weaken opposing Pokemon, and can disrupt its opponents with Fake Out.
Incineroar appears on many high-placing trainers' teams, such as 6x Regional Champion and 2016 World Champion Wolfe Glick.
Amoonguss places 5th, appearing on 33.9% 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.
Amoonguss is used by many high-placing trainers, such as 5× Regional Champion Riley Factura.
Garchomp rises to 6th, appearing on 30.3% 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.
Garchomp appears on many high-placing teams, such as 2018 Hartford Regional Champion Alberto Lara.
The first battle livestreamed was during Swiss Round 11, between 2020 LAIC Champion James Baek and 2022 Milwaukee Regional Champion Zhe Zhang. Notably, both of these players are at 8 wins and 2 losses at this point in the tournament, meaning whoever loses this battle is knocked out of the competition.
James Baek is using a "Double-Dragon" team, with Garchomp and Hydreigon as the main attackers. Annihilape and Gholdengo can be incredibly threatening too, with the team being supported by Clefable and Whimsicott. Zhe Zhang is using a team similar to Paul Chua's, notably featuring Alolan Ninetales with the Choice Specs, as well as another Double-Dragon core of Garchomp and Dragonite. The remaining Pokemon on the team are Kingambit, Incineroar, and Amoonguss.
Alolan Ninetales on Zhang's team could be a great way for them to take the advantage, with three of Baek's Pokemon being weak to Ice-type attacks, with only one resistance, as well as three Pokemon being weak to Fairy-type attacks. Their counter to this could fall to their Gholdengo, being immune to Extreme Speed, resists Flying-type and Ice-type attacks, and can deal super-effective damage in return to Alolan Ninetales. This would allow Annihilape to safely terastallize into the Water-type, use Bulk Up a few times, and be able to threaten more of its opponents.
The first games opens with James Baek running Annihilape and Clefable with Hydreigon and Whimsicott in the back against Zhang's Dragonite and Alolan Ninetales with Garchomp and Incineroar in the back. Baek's Pokemon struggle to survive very long against Zhang's powerful opening of Tera Flying Dragonite and Alolan Ninetales. Annihilape is weak to Tera Blast from Dragonite, but if it terastallizes into the Water-type, then Ninetales can hit it with a super-effective Freeze-Dry. Clefable is quickly defeated by a handful of attacks, Whimsicott is weak to both Flying-type and Ice-type attacks, and Hydreigon is yet another Pokemon weak to Ice-type attacks. Annihilape gets to use Bulk Up a few times, but is still heavily threatened by the super-effective hits, especially considering the bulk of Dragonite's Multiscale ability and Alolan Ninetales' Defense being boosted by the snow. Baek is defeated in the first game. The second game opens in the exact same manner, with Clefable and Annihilape standing against the powerful combination of Tera Flying Dragonite and Alolan Ninetales. However, the Ninetales locks in to Blizzard instead of Freeze-Dry, allowing Annihilape to safely terastallize. After building damage on Rage Fist as well as its stat boosts, the game is suddenly flipped on its head, and Zhang doesn't have a strong counter to the powerful Annihilape before it noticeably weakens their team. It gets defeated, but Baek's Hydreigon is able to come in and deal devestating damage with a Heat Wave boosted by the harsh sunlight. James Baek wins the second game.
In the third and final game, James Baek adjusts by opening with Whimsicott and Hydreigon, although the latter is knocked out in one hit by Ninetales' Moonblast, followed by Whimsicott being brought down to 1 HP from a Flying-type Tera Blast. At the very least, this allows Annihilape to switch in, guarantee that Ninetales isn't locked in to Freeze-Dry, and use Bulk Up a few times. It's easily argued, however, that losing Hydreigon wasn't worth the advantage, given how it won Baek the previous game. Whimsicott is quickly defeated, Clefable shortly follows, and the Tera Water Annihilape is left with four Pokemon it has to defeat, including the Alolan Ninetales with Choice Specs. James Baek forfeits, giving Zhe Zhang the win.
Simmons' team features a strong Trick Room core, with Indeedee, Gallade, and Exeggutor having the option to set Trick Room, as well as a strong sun core in Torkoal, and Exeggutor. Mancuso, on the other side of the battle, is using a common team composition known as "Dragapult Balance", with Dragapult, Kingambit, Sneasler, Rillaboom, Primarina, and Magmar.
Mancuso's team features many fast Pokemon, in Sneasler and Dragapult. This gives Simmons' Trick Room core a bit of an advantage, especially with Indeedee's Psychic Terrain blocking priority attacks from Kingambit. Simmons' main strategy, however, features Exeggutor getting a Speed boost from its Chlorophyll ability, and then dealing insane amounts of damage with Expanding Force boosted by Psychic Terrain, also blocking priority attacks. Mancuso's strongest counters to this strategy are Kingambit, which is immune to Psychic-type attacks, and Rillaboom, which can reset the terrain with its ability Grassy Surge.
The first game opens with Simmons' Exeggutor and Indeedee with Torkoal and Ursaluna in the back against Mancuso's Dragapult and Rillaboom with Magmar and Kingambit in the back. Simmons gets to immediately execute their strategy, setting up Psychic Terrain, terastallizing Exeggutor into the Psychic-type, and dealing insane amounts of damage with Expanding Force. It knocks out Dragapult, and greatly weakens Magmar and Rillaboom. Despite featuring two counters to this strategy in Rillaboom and Kingambit, Simmons effectively keeps their own terrain user safe to deal with Rillaboom, and use other offensive Pokemon in Ursaluna to deal with Kingambit. This allows them to win the first game. With Kingambit in front and Rillaboom in the back, Mancuso adjusts their positioning in the second game, making their team much more effective. After the Psychic Terrain is shut down, Exeggutor is brought down to 1 HP, Ursaluna and Indeedee are defeated, and Mancuso wins the second game.
Simmons adjusts in the third and final game, opening with Indeedee and Gallade, threatening a powerful strategy in the team's Trick Room core. Torkoal and Ursaluna prove to be a very powerful combination, threatening powerful hits even when resisted. Mancuso gets a few steps up, they're able to defeat Indeedee early, and permanently remove the Psychic Terrain from the game, giving Kingambit more reign with its priority attacks, but the reversed move order is too much for their team to handle. Torkoal gets to switch in, and it dominates the battle with Eruption, winning Parker Simmons the round, knocking out David Mancuso from the tournament.
The minor Trick Room core of Wolfe Glick's team may be a good counter against Lara's Double-Dragon team, with many of the heavy hitters being relatively fast for the format. Glick's Archaludon also appreciates the presence of two Dragon-types, as it can hit them with its Dragon Pulse for super-effective damage. Notably, Glick has four Pokemon weak to Fighting-type attacks. If the Corviknight sets up Bulk Up and uses a boosted Body Press, their team may be in trouble.
Alberto Lara opens the first round with Alolan Ninetales and Volcarona with Garchomp and Corviknight in the back, against Wolfe Glick's Yanmega and Sneasler. Yanmega's Speed Boost ability proves its worth, allowing it to hit Volcarona twice, knocking it out, following it up with a Tailwind before it's defeated. This allows Archaludon to move quickly, knock Corviknight out with one Electro Shot, and most importantly, outspeed the Choice Scarf Garchomp to knock it out before it's hit by a super-effective Earthquake. Wolfe Glick wins the first game. They adjust in the second game, opening with Porygon2 to set up Trick Room for Ursaluna. Despite getting two effective knockouts on Ninetales and Volcarona, Glick seems to be on the back foot nearer the end of the game due to Trick Room expiring, and Porygon2 being too low on health to set it up again. With clever switching and clever targeting, however, Wolfe Glick terastallizes their Porygon2 into the Flying-type, resisting key attacks, and being able to knock out the terrifying Garchomp on the other end. This wins Wolfe Glick the second game, and the Top 16 round overall.
Confer has a strong team core in their Dondozo and Tatsugiri. The latter has the ability Commander, which gives Dondozo two boosts to all of its stats when they're on the field together in return for Tatsugiri jumping in its mouth, unable to move, be targeted, or switch out to another Pokemon. Another notable core of this team is the combination of Indeedee and Sneasler. The former sets Psychic Terrain which activates Sneasler's Psychic Seed item, giving it a boost to its Special Defense, and activating its ability Unburden to double its Speed. The other two Pokemon are heavy-hitters in Annihilape and Dragonite. On the other side of the battle, D'Ortona is running a slightly modified version of a Dragapult Balance team. Notably, the Water-type slot that is typically filled by Primarina is instead given to Aqua Breed Paldean Tauros.
Using a very common team composition, it's likely that Confer has practiced against the opposing team before in practice.
Carson Confer opens the first game with Sneasler and Indeedee, with Annihilape and Dragonite in the back, against Cary D'Ortona's Dragapult and Rillaboom, with Tauros and Electabuzz in the back. With Sneasler's Speed boost from Unburden, D'Ortona struggles to defend from the offensive combination of Sneasler's powerful attack in Dire Claw and Dragonite's Flying-type Tera Blast. Confer wins the first game, but part of the victory can be attributed to a small amount of luck, with Dire Claw putting Tauros to sleep, and Tauros sleeping for all three turns. In the second game, D'Ortona has the opportunity to evaluate their matchup and adapt. Confer adapts too, bringing the combination of Dondozo and Tatsugiri. Terastallizing into the Steel-type, Dondozo can deal meaningful damage to opposing Pokemon, but unfortunately has its Earthquake attack nerfed by Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain. Taking a super-effective Fire Blast, Close Combat, and a neutral Shadow Ball, it faints before it can pick up any more knockouts. Tatsugiri and Sneasler are quickly defeated, and Cory D'Ortona wins the second game.
In the third game, Carson Confer brings Indeedee and Dragonite, with Annihilape and Sneasler in the back, against D'Ortona's Rillaboom and Dragapult. The first turn features two one-hit knockouts, Confer's Sneasler going down to a Draco Meteor, and D'Ortona's Rillaboom going down to a Flying-type Tera Blast. Another trade follows, Indeedee is knocked out, but Dragapult is defeated in retaliation. With Annihilape in the back, it appreciates Dragapult being knocked out, since it lacks a Ghost-type attack to deal super-effective damage. Coaching boosts Dragonite's Attack and Defense stats, but it's defeated by a Thunderbolt from Electabuzz, crucially not a physical attack. With Annihilape locked in to a non-damaging move, Cory D'Ortona wins the third game, and moves on to the Top 8.
The first battle in the Top 8 is between Marco Martinez and 5x Regional Champion Riley Factura. Both players are fighting for their place in the Top 4, whoever loses is knocked out of the tournament.
Martinez uses an interesting Ceruledge set with Bulk Up to boost its Defense and Attack. When it terastallizes into the Grass-type, it keeps its immunity to Fire-type attacks from Flash Fire, making it a lot harder to remove. Gastrodon appears on the team too, likely utilising the Storm Drain ability to remove Ceruledge's Water-type weakness, and Clear Smog to deal with other Pokemon using setup moves. The last four Pokemon on the team are fairly standard, being Sneasler, Dragonite, Rillaboom, and Kingambit. On the other end of the battle, Riley Factura is using a strong rain core with Basculegion, Pelipper, and Archaludon, paired with Sneasler, Amoonguss, and Kingambit.
Martinez' Ceruledge won't appreciate the rain being set up by the opposing Pelipper, but Gastrodon appearing on its team will be able to support this weakness. Rillaboom and Kingambit can also help to support, threatening the hard-hitting Basculegion with super-effective damage.
Marco Martinez opens the first game with Sneasler and Kingambit, against Riley Factura's Pelipper and Sneasler. Factura luckily gets Hurricane to hit two times, confusing the targets both times. This leads to Sneasler fainting and Kingambit being knocked down to half of its health without dealing noticeable damage in return. Gastrodon and Rillaboom are left to face a Tera Grass Archaludon, as well as three more Pokemon on Factura's team, and Martinez is defeated in the first game. Martinez is luckier in the second game, avoiding confusions and winning speed ties. This allows them to quickly knock out Sneasler, as well as following it up by using the Gastrodon to deal enough damage to Archaludon for it to be finished off by Kingambit. This forces Factura to forfeit, moving the round on to a third game.
In the third game, Martinez opens with Sneasler and Kingambit against Factura's Pelipper and Archaludon. Both players trade knockouts, Sneasler is knocked out by a double-up from its opponents, but Kingambit returns the favour by defeating Pelipper. Unfortunately, despite a Defense boost from Coaching, Kingambit is instantly defeated by a super-effective attack from Sneasler. Rillaboom is defeated by a critical hit Dire Claw, Gastrodon is put to sleep, and Riley Factura wins the round to move on to the Top 4.
Both teams feature a Trick Room angle, featuring Porygon2, but Wolfe Glick has the advantage of having Tailwind as an option too. If they can shut down the opposing Porygon2, they could have free reign over the speed of the game. Zheng's Garchomp is a great counter against Glick's Archaludon, since it's weak to Ground-type attacks even if it terastallizes.
Andrew Zheng opens the first game with Sneasler and Porygon2, with Incineroar and Gholdengo in the back, against Wolfe Glick's Incineroar and Yanmega, with Ursaluna and Porygon2 in the back. Zheng struggles to stand against Glick's effective positioning. They're unable to use Trick Room, since Ursaluna is on the field, but they're still threatened by the possibility of a Tailwind from Yanmega. Zheng's team doesn't have a strong answer to the Ursaluna, and Wolfe Glick wins the first game. In a key turn of the second game, Incineroar manages to hit Ursaluna with Knock Off before its Flame Orb activates, permanently nerfing Ursaluna's damage. This also opens the Ursaluna to be put asleep by the opposing Amoonguss, which it typically doesn't have to worry about. Glick makes an impressive display of his abilities, however, constantly pivoting his Pokemon in the endgame, keeping Ursaluna alive while it's on low health, and surviving important attacks. Unfortunately, the opposing Porygon2 outspeeds Ursaluna in Trick Room, and knocks it out before it can attack. Andrew Zheng wins the second game.
In the third game, Andrew Zheng opens with Amoonguss and Incineroar against Wolfe Glick's Ursaluna and Incineroar. Ursaluna protects to ensure it gets burned before it's hit by Knock Out. Glick's pivoting abilities are displayed again, with their Pokemon constantly switching. Their Yanmega uses Tailwind, which gives the opposing Porygon2 a clear strategy to use Trick Room. Ursaluna gets a key knockout on the opposing Gholdengo, but all of their Pokemon are incredibly low on health. Porygon2 defeats Glick's Incineroar with a Tera Blast, Ursaluna faints to burn damage, and Wolfe Glick loses the game. Andrew Zheng wins, and moves on to the Top 4!
The first Top 4 battle is between 2023 Portland Regional Champion Joseph Ugarte and 5x Regional Champion Riley Factura. Both players are fighting for their spot in the Finals.
We've discussed Factura's team in length, but on the other side of the battle, Ugarte features a strong sun core with Torkoal, Jumpluff, and Hisuian Typhlosion. Notably, this battle features a "weather war", or two weathers that want to fight to be on top. Harsh sunlight boosts Ugarte's team and nerfs Factura's, and the rain nerfs Ugarte's and buffs Factura's.
Notably, Ugarte's Torkoal is slower than the opposing Pelipper. If both switch in during the same turn, the rain will get set up first, but the harsh sunlight will dominate it, giving Ugarte a strong advantage.
The first game opens with Factura setting up the rain for free, followed by the Tera Water Basculegion knocking out Jumpluff in one hit. Ugarte makes a strange decision to terastallize their Typhlosion into a pure Fire-type in front of Basculegion, leading to it being quickly knocked out as this player struggles to set up their preferred weather condition. Luckily, Factura's terrifying Basculegion is eventually defeated, followed up by the Archaludon fainting too. Despite the strange decisions, despite losing the weather wars, Joseph Ugarte is still able to clutch the endgame, using the Garchomp boosted by Torkoal's Helping Hand to defeat both Pelipper and Kingambit, winning the first game. The second game opens in an identical manner, with the Tera Water Basculegion boosted by rain knocks out Jumpluff in one hit. However, Ugarte gets better control of the weather in the second game. Unfortunately, as Ugarte is brought down to their final two Pokemon, Torkoal is unable to switch out and then back in to reset the rain. Ugarte makes an incredible prediction, however, managing to knock out the opposing Amoonguss while the Pelipper uses Protect. Being outsped, Pelipper is then defeated, giving Joseph Ugarte the win, moving on to the Finals.
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Once again, Simmons features a team with two powerful overlapping cores in Trick Room with Indeedee, Gallade, and Ursaluna next to the Sun core with Torkoal and Exeggutor. The final Pokemon is Hisuian Zoroark, adding another element of mystery and unpredictability to the game. Zheng has a more balanced team, featuring Amoonguss, Incineroar, Sneasler, Garchomp, Porygon2, and Gholdengo.
Zheng has a notable way to defeat the Trick Room core, since they brought their own Trick Room user in Porygon2. However, their team only has one Dark-type to be immune to the Psychic-type attack Expanding Force, and no way to get rid of the Psychic Terrain. With Chlorophyll boosting its Speed, Exeggutor may be able to run freely.
Parker Simmons opens the first game with Indeedee and Exeggutor against Zheng's Gholdengo and Incineroar. But, wait, the Exeggutor looks a bit suspicious, don't you think? That's because it's actually Hisuian Zoroark! With its Illusion ability, it can pretend to be Exeggutor, attempting to trick the opponent. Unfortunately for Simmons, their attempts to position the real Exeggutor result in it quickly taking a lot of damage before it can use Expanding Force. Their team is comprised of many Pokemon with not enough bulk, resulting in a lot of these Pokemon fainting early in this game. This results in Andrew Zheng winning the first game. Simmons seems to opt for a heavier Trick Room stance in the second game, opening with Gallade and Indeedee. Zheng's Gholdengo, however, is able to do incredible amounts of damage. Shadow Ball knocks out Gallade, Make It Rain knocks out Indeedee, Ursaluna is defeated soon after, and Simmons is very, very suddenly down to only one Pokemon against all four of Zheng's. Torkoal is defeated, and Andrew Zheng wins the Top 4 round, moving on to the Finals!
As a reminder, Ugarte is using a team with a powerful core of Pokemon that benefit from harsh sunlight. Torkoal sets it up with its ability Drought, Jumpluff's ability Chlorophyll doubles its Speed in the sun, and Hiusian Typhlosion deals extra damage with its Fire-type attacks in the sun. There's also a Double Dragon core, featuring incredibly powerful Pokemon in Garchomp and Dragonite. The final Pokemon featured on the team is yet another Pokemon with a powerful presence in Kingambit. Andrew Zheng's team features a more balanced line-up, with Amoonguss, Incineroar, Sneasler, Garchomp, Porygon2, and Gholdengo.
Zheng doesn't have a way to avoid the sun being set up, but their Tera Water Gholdengo will appreciate those hits being resisted at the very least. Garchomp and Incineroar also resist the powerful Fire-type attacks, but neither of them will appreciate being hit by a Tera Fire Eruption boosted by the harsh sunlight. Zheng could consider a Trick Room angle, however. Porygon2 is incredibly bulky, and if it gets to set up Trick Room, Amoonguss will effectively get a free turn to put the opposing Pokemon to sleep. Ugarte has to be careful to position their Typhlosion around Zheng's Gholdengo, which has proved itself to be a major threat in previous games.
Joseph Ugarte opens the first game with Jumpluff and Torkoal, with Hisuian Typhlosion and Kingambit in the back, against Andrew Zheng's Porygon2 and Sneasler. Ugarte immediately locks in a Terastallization, turning itself into a Dark-type, somehow getting lucky enough to hit a Sleep Powder against Porygon2. Zheng predicts the Terastallization, and knocks Jumpluff out in one hit with Sneasler's Close Combat. Typhlosion gets to use its first Eruption, boosted by Helping Hand, and knocks out Sneasler, as well as knocking out Porygon2 in one hit. Zheng's two final Pokemon are Garchomp and Incineroar, both Pokemon that resist Fire-type attacks. Garchomp goes for a Stomping Tantrum, and defeats Typhlosion in one hit. Ugarte is down to their final two Pokemon, Torkoal and Kingambit. These are quickly defeated, and Andrew Zheng wins the first game. The second game opens in a similar manner, with Typhlosion and Kingambit facing down Porygon2 and Incineroar. Ugarte gets powerful hits off early, knocking out the opposing Incineroar. Zheng forfeits early, sensing their defeat
The third game opens with Ugarte's Jumpluff and Torkoal, with the latter immediately switching out to Typhlosion due to its Eject Pack, against Andrew Zheng's Porygon2 and Incineroar. The massive Fire-type damage proves itself in this game, getting to immediately knock Porygon2 out. Incineroar retaliates with a powerful Knock Off to get rid of Typhlosion's Choice Specs, greatly reducing its damage. It's soon knocked out by the same Incineroar, and Kingambit is left to deal the damage on Ugarte's team. It's quickly put to sleep, defeated in one hit by a Flare Blitz, and only Torkoal and Jumpluff left. With nothing left to do, Joseph Ugarte forfeits.
Andrew Zheng wins the 2025 Louisville Regional Championships! For more coverage of future Pokémon Scarlet and Violet VGC events, make sure to keep an eye on Bulbagarden!
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