If the Bout last week for my Faction, SWEEP JR, can be considered a warm-up after a break, this Bout may be considered our "go time". That's because we were paired up with a Faction called Majestic Tiger Elite, which by its name is obviously a compatriot of the second Faction we faced. It also happens to be one of the debutant Factions of this Cycle in APAC, aside from mine and a few others from my country and beyond. The opposing Faction had started on a hot streak, but like us, it fizzled somewhat after that, and so we met up in this Bout.
Like its brethren, it's a Faction from India, but almost all of its members are from anywhere else but. Only three are truly from APAC countries, four are from EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Africa), and the other three are from North America and/or Latin America (NA, LATAM). It's a multinational Faction in the truest sense, so we had to take the initiative and establish battle times on our terms and not theirs, at least for those not from APAC. It's both fascinating and frustrating given the common issues of Factions, which may be amplified with this Faction.
As such, battle times for us in this Bout ran the gamut of all possible days. The Thursday battle involved riman12 vs. RAMPVINIANO17EZ in the Open Great League, the latter being the opposing Captain and the only Indian on the team; this was won 2-1. The Friday battles involved Wina1403 vs. Stuje24 (Catacomb Field, opponent from the U.K.) and Almujha vs. PokeSlowB (Arcana Field, opponent from Greece). Both ended in losses, 1-2 and 0-3 respectively, the latter being somewhat of a shock. Then, there was a Saturday battle involving Kucingimutt vs. CranelLarcade (Arcana Field, opponent from Costa Rica); this one, won 3-0, made things even again, though uncomfortably so.
The rest of the battles took place on Sunday. They started off with YukixCyz vs. jaraxXxus (Catacomb Field, opponent from Bulgaria), which ended up a 1-2 loss. Next came RaymondHrtwn vs. IXIEVOIXI (Justicar Field for Ultra League, opponent from New Zealand), also turning out as a 1-2 loss. The last battle in the Open Master League involved Orioo16 vs. XXBlueNationXX, the opponent being from Canada; this needed a 3-0 win on our side for us to win, exactly like in Bout 1... but it was only a 2-1 win instead, putting the final score at 10-11 and us losing by one point again, also exactly like in that Bout and all other ones where we lost, the fourth time overall.
While it has to be commended that we have never scored less than 10 points a Bout (through that same number of wins) , a loss is still a loss, regrettably and disappointingly all the same, including in their patterns, thus far throughout this Cycle. I can point at a number of things that may have contributed to that - some of which I may have addressed - but I'm not going to do it even specifically for this Bout. That's for me and my team, including my manager, to discuss separately and privately.
Our debut Cycle is now two-thirds over, and there is one-third of it left in the form of three more Bouts over the first three weeks of this month. I had introduced my Faction by saying that we are now taking on the world, and we have done just that so far and specifically for this Bout with an unusual multinational faction. Even if the results are rather unexpected and quite surprising, there's not much we can do but to go on until the Cycle wraps up, at which point we might be able to cool down and regroup for the future.
One year ago: Pokémon Go Mega Evolution Rework
Two years ago: Like a Slowking Without the Shell
Three years ago: Seek and Ye Shall...
Four years ago: Transcending to a Beautiful Harmony
Five years ago: Old Memories, New Memories
Six years ago: Indie Pokémon Stickers
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