(I have to admit that it still stings for me to finish this write-up for reasons that will become clear shortly, but I have to do it anyway, sooner if not later.)
The members of the other team have changed as well several times, spawning other Factions as a result. In fact, my Faction happens to have two of its previous members, which only further deepens the contest (and in that regard, perhaps it slightly mitigates the "junior" aspect of my Faction). Regardless, many members of both sides know the others well, and the majority of us are registered in Arcaviary in addition to the national coordinating group for Factions, so it was a snap to communicate and schedule things. Preparing things, on the other hand, took on a complexity of its own, including setting up the player lineup as needed, which was still my responsibility.
Certainly, after that came the Pokémon roster setup as usual, followed by the battles where the dynamics take place. For that, this one started early: Wina1403 vs. MasLenengue in the Catacomb Field kicked things off on Thursday evening my local time, although this led to a 0-3 loss and an early lead for the other team. But then came a series of 2-1 wins from riman12 vs. PRBKillerbee (Open Great League on Friday afternoon), YukixCyz vs. OneBall02 (Catacomb Field on Friday evening), and Almujha vs. Sabiankeys87 (Arcana field on Saturday morning) that brought momentum and evened things to 6-6, leaving the rest of the matches to take place on Sunday.
On that day, Kucingimutt vs. YopaNN27 (Arcana Field) played in the morning and gave a 3-0 win, putting the score at 9-6. Later that night, RaymondHrtwn vs. EmperorOldDeus (Justicar Field for Ultra League) played but led to a 1-2 loss and the score at 10-8. My team only needed one more win to win... but sadly, the Orioo16 vs. LordFerdyPM match in Open Master League shortly after that led to a 0-3 loss and a 10-11 loss overall, the third straight result with this margin for my Faction and in contrast to the previous Bout. Our Master League Specialist also "lost a little innocence" by being shut out, the first time in a long time, even with preparations to the utmost extent. It's a painful sting.
Some things can still be gained. In this Bout, my teammates took four out of the seven matches, which is still an achievement, and the wins were pretty good as well. For the first time since this Cycle started, I also did not have to deal with filing disputes (although one of the Catacomb Field matches had a threat of a dispute being filed... by the other team, and for battle results rather than coordination). Though this may have been helped by the Bout being a "national derby", that too is an achievement and a relief, as well as assurance that battling remains the way to go, furthermore once we're back to being paired up with a Faction from somewhere outside the country.
Within the next few weeks (and thus the next few Bouts), there will be some challenging times for my Faction, and some minor but sweeping (ahem) changes will be necessary to contend with that. For now, this Bout with a fellow national Faction may just serve as a testament, along with the results of previous Bouts, that we can measure up to the challenge of Factions in general, even if some of the results might not be what we expected. There will always be rough edges - in fact, some of them came out as a result of this Bout - but that's for me and my Faction to file down as they appear. And the challenges may or may not remain interesting... but that's all part of the Factions fray.
One year ago: The Type Is Wild
Two years ago: Cosplay: "How Are You, Communities?"
Three years ago: Subcultures and Specialties
Four years ago: Pokémon and eSports
Five years ago: Fondness for Latias and Latios
Six years ago: A Story of Love, A Story of Passion
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