The Pokémon Oceania International Championships took place this weekend, and it was full of exciting VGC battles. Jack Gilbert, from Australia, won the seniors tournament using a Trick Room team with Rhyperior.
Gilbert was the top seed entering the finals and has a history of performing well in tournaments. He finished top 32 in the world in 2019, he was the Brisbane Regional Champion in 2019, and he finished in the top four in the Oceania Internationals in 2019 and 2018.
The final Pokémon battles
To get the win this time around, he brought along Charizard, Grimmsnarl, Gastrodon, Jellicent, Duraludon, and Rhyperior. His opponent, Federico Camporesi, had a lot of trouble dealing with the Rhyperior and Gastrodon.
Camporesi did get off to a hot start, however, winning the first of the best of three. Gilbert didn’t run Rhyperior in the first round and lost handily to his Duraludon, Sylveon, Dracovish, and Conkeldurr.
The second game was a different story. Gilbert’s Jellicent got Trick Room off on the first turn, and crafty use of the held item, Eject Button, allowed him to swap in his Rhyperior, who swept the rest of Camporesi’s Pokémon with the help of Grimmsnarl.
The final game started off terribly for Gilbert. He lost his Jellicent on the first turn before it was able to use Trick Room. Fortunately for him, Rhyperior One-Hit-KO’d Camporesi’s Duraludon, and then his Conkeldurr and Dravocish after its Weakness Policy was activated. Gilbert’s Gastrodon also played an important role in the fight by not allowing Dracovish to use Fishious Rend due to its Storm Drain ability. The match came down to the final move, where Camporesi’s Sylveon just barely missed knocking out Gilbert’s Gastrodon, who won him the game and match.
In taking the Pokémon Oceania International Championships, Gilbert won 500 Championship Points towards an invite to the Pokémon World Championships as well as $2,500 prize money. The next International Championship is the Europe International from April 17-19 in Berlin, Germany.
