The Victory Road September 2025 Challenge #1, an unofficial Video Game Championships (VGC) grassroots tournament hosting high-level trainers, featured 178 players battling for a prize of $605 USD. Lucas Mester-Christensen claimed their victory in the finals against 2x Regional Quarterfinalist Juan Manuel Odriozola. Continue reading for more information on every high-placing team from this event!
The event ran from September 20-21, and used the Regulation Set H ruleset, banning the use of all Paradox and Legendary Pokémon. To see announcements for future Victory Road events, make sure to check them out on X (formerly Twitter)!
The following list shows each player who made it to Top Cut; the teams they used, which you can click or tap to see more information, such as each Pokémon's moves or ability; and any prize money earned in USD. Any team or rental code shown below can be used in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's in-person events while Regulation Set H is running from September 1 to November 30, 2025.
Results
# | Rewards | Trainers | Pokémon |
1st | $605 | Lucas Mester-Christensen |
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2nd | $300 | Juan Manuel Odriozola |
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Top 4 | $150 | Joao Leite |
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Shunsuke Minami |
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Top 8 | $75 | Yuki Kitano |
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Marcus Koh |
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Kiran Singh |
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Dimitri Koziaris |
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Top 10 (Top Cut) | — | Aapo Niemiranta |
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Juan Manuel Santizo |
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Lucas Mester-Christensen won the Victory Road September Challenge #1 alongside an incredibly niche pick in Blaziken, a Pokémon whose most recent placements were a Top 64 finish at the 2026 Monterrey Regionals, used by trainer Roman Rivera with a record of 5 wins and 3 losses; and Top 256 at the 2026 Frankfurt Regionals, used by Germán Francisco Tenza Rubio—a player with a history of bringing uncommon Pokémon to events, like their team from the 2025 Dortmund Regionals that included our friend Malamar—with a similar record of 5 wins and 3 losses.
Blaziken does have a fairly unique role in VGC, being one of only three fully-evolved Pokémon with access to the ability Speed Boost. This ability is fairly self-explanatory: at the end of each turn, Blaziken is given one boost to its Speed stat. With a fairly impressive base Speed stat of 80, 252 Effort Values (EVs) invested in its Speed, and a Timid nature to boost its Speed to its absolute maximum, Blaziken's ability allows it to suddenly outspeed most Pokémon in the format after just one turn.
Another interesting team composition from this event is Yuki Kitano's Top 8 team featuring Kantonian Weezing and Slaking. With a base HP stat of 150 and an Attack stat of 160, Slaking seems like it could easily be the best Pokémon in the format; as many people know, however, it's severely held back by its ability Truant. This ability forces Slaking to 'loaf around' every other turn, meaning it's unable to select any move. With most Pokémon in VGC carrying Protect, Slaking's teammates can easily defend themselves from all damage on turns where Slaking is attacking, and retaliate while it's loafing around. However, Weezing's signature ability, Neutralizing Gas, has the incredibly unique effect of disabling almost every other ability on the field, including Slaking's Truant. This turns Slaking into the huge threat that it perhaps deserves to be, with powerful attacks like Double-Edge, Hammer Arm, and Sucker Punch, as well as great utility with Slack Off healing up to half of Slaking's maximum HP. This can be a rather volatile strategy, however, as both Pokémon rely on each other to reach their full potential; if either one of them is knocked out, the other one becomes dramatically less useful.
Trainer Joan Perelló used the same six Pokémon to reach the Top 32 of the 2026 Frankfurt Regionals, claiming an impressive record of 9 wins and just 3 losses.
Top Pokémon
# | #Pokémon | Day 1 | Day 2 | | # | Pokémon | Day 1 | Day 2 | ||
#1 |
| Gholdengo | 58.4% | ▲ 60% | #8 |
| Archaludon | 24.7% | ▼ 16% | |
#2 |
| Incineroar | 47.2% | ▼ 44% | #9 |
| Amoonguss | 23.6% | ▲ 28% | |
#3 |
| Rillaboom | 33.1% | ▲ 40% | #10 |
| Ninetales (Alolan) | 21.9% | ▲ 24% | |
#4 |
| Dragonite | 33.1% | ▼ 28% | #11 |
| Ursaluna | 16.9% | ▲ 24% | |
#5 |
| Ursaluna (Bloodmoon) | 32.6% | ▲ 36% | #12 |
| Pelipper | 16.9% | ▼ 12% | |
#6 |
| Sneasler | 29.8% | ▲ 32% | #13 |
| Basculegion (Male) | 15.2% | ▲ 20% | |
#7 |
| Annihilape | 29.2% | ▼ 24% | #14 |
| Porygon2 | 10.7% | ▲ 20% | |
