Grants Pass Grotle vs. Bothell Beartic

These two founding league members have taken very different paths to get to season 2.1.The Beartic have battled in every season they were eligible for, not living up to their expectations season after season until winning the championship in season 1.4. The defending champs hosted the Grants Pass Grotle. Alex and the Grotle have gone through a rebrand during their 4 3 seasons away from the league. Starving for their first win, Trainer Alex has pulled out all of the stops, acquiring a monster of a team in the draft.

Games one and two were double-shocks. Champion Kenneth dominated these games only losing Sneasler in both. What really shocked the fans was Hiker’s Alex ability to adjust and perform well in game 3. As any veteran trainer knows, it is hard to adapt and keep battling at a high level after getting stomped in back to back games. Hiker Alex kept his footing and put up a great fight in game three using a fantastic mix of trick room and instruct. Unfortunately for the Grotle, Champion Kenneth had a plan for this, fake-out cycling with his three fake-out users and priority grassy glide to keep the pressure on. 

This 3-0 victory keeps the defending champions tied for first place and undefeated as we hit the halfway point in the season. Champion Kenneth will be tested again next week when they face off against the Kirkland Koffing who are not far behind in the rankings.

The Grotle are in a similar place as a year ago, winless. Their first victory will be hard to come by in the next few weeks as they face off against back to back to back founding Gyms starting this week. The Beartic this week are followed by the Kenmore Air and the Ballard Bulbasaur. Two out of those three matches are against former champions.