Tournament: SWEEP JR vs. Pallet Town Ruby (SA Factions)

Well, this is the first tournament report that doesn't involve me as a properly battling Trainer, but I'm nonetheless at the helm of it in a way. A week ago, Silph Arena Factions started Cycle 4 of Season 2, and I heralded its start in a post. The next day, the pairings for Bout 1 were revealed, and my team, SWEEP JR, was paired up with an Australian team, Pallet Town Ruby. It seemed to make for a nice start, as it would mean communicating with some native English speakers and having an easier time coordinating. Or so I thought.

Going with the initial lineup established by the RSVP, as the positions were revealed, my team and I ran into the first snag: a member of the other team that seemed to be absent. I contacted the Captain of the opposing team, and I was told that the member was new but would coordinate soon. After what seemed to be a lack of coordination, I was prompted to file a dispute, the first ever for me... through which it was revealed that the member did try to coordinate but my teammate apparently hadn't, to my complete surprise. So it was that a "nightmare" had in fact followed. Still, they did in the end manage to schedule and complete their battles eventually.

After that, there was a lull before the first match, which took place on Saturday morning my team time (closer to midday for the other team). Leading off the pack was an Arcana Field Specialist match, Almujha vs. Lilibear26, the latter being the Captain of the opposing team. That resulted in a 1-2 loss, which in a way was quite "prophetic". The next match, the Open Great League match of riman12 vs. 678Ghost, was to take place just prior to Community Day our time (toward its end for the other team), but due to complications, it was postponed until late night and early morning respectively. Fortunately, it resulted in a 2-1 win as the "equalizer". I was nervous in making the coordination for this as ("nightmarish") communication issues arose, and it almost led to a second dispute being filed through.

The rest of the matches played out throughout Sunday. Catacomb Field Specialists YukixCyz vs. TheSoopNasty led to a 2-1 win, which was followed by Arcana Field Specialists Kucingimutt vs. WhiteChocOOlate and resulted in a 3-0 sweep and our team taking the lead. It seemed that there was a chance we could win this Bout... until RaymondHrtwn vs. JTizzler312 in the Justicar Field for Ultra League and DwiXsa vs. CJohn89 in the Catacomb Field both lost 0-3 as the other team rallied and our lead vanished instantly. The Open Master League match of Orioo16 vs. FishOnAHeater became the deciding match, and it had to be won 3-0 for us to win; after a delay, that ended up not to be, as only a 2-1 win was managed. In the end, our team lost 10-11, which was very close.

Something that may be gained from this first Bout is that we have to be attentive. The coordination efforts that resulted in that first dispute was indeed a result of our collective inattention, which otherwise could have been avoided. The teammates who battled in the matches where they were completely swept also admitted that they didn't exactly battle in the best way, which also may partially indicate inattention; the "prophetic" match (and I'll just leave it at that) could also be regarded to be like that as well. Being that I'm handling a team of "juniors" as our team name suggests, including myself as a Factions "rookie", this is just something that we have to learn.

In the remaining eight Bouts of the Cycle, however they occur and with whoever they involve, there will surely be much to be learned - and possibly changed, as Pokémon Go itself changes all the while our opponents and their Pokémon also change. This tournament report, a special one for Silph Arena Factions, will accordingly change throughout that time as well. And while our first Bout didn't result in a victory, some good things still happened, and it'll continue to be our task of making that happen, true to our team name.

One year ago: ASMR with Pokémon

Two years ago: All I Can Do, with You

Three years ago: Sad Music from Kanto

Four years ago: A Girl and a Fan

Five years ago: The Place to Be

Six years ago: Cosplay: Daisuki Japan 7 - Wanderlust!