By Sophtoph, Contributing Writer

The final Pokémon GO tournament of the 2023 Play! Pokémon season before the World Championships has arrived! The Pokémon GO North American International Championships are returning to Columbus, Ohio and will take place from June 30, 2023, to July 1, 2023. It looks to be the largest Pokémon GO tournament ever, featuring a 256-person bracket and three days of matches, and both thousands of dollars in prize money and the final four invitations to the 2023 World Championships in Yokohama, Japan are on the line. We’ll cover the Pokémon and players that are expected to shine at NAIC so that you can make the most of watching it all unfold. Make sure to catch all the action live at Twitch.tv/PokemonGO.

In the wake of the move rebalance at the beginning of June, the prevailing strategies are still stabilizing as Trainers search for new recipes to success. Luckily, a few tournaments have already taken place throughout June—in Torino, Santiago, Fresno, Milwaukee, and Chiba—to give us a sense of emerging trends. Most notably, Trevenant has virtually disappeared from Trainers’ rosters after the energy cost of Seed Bomb was increased and several of its Ice-type counters were given new and improved move options. As a result, whether Pokémon can successfully rise to the top in this shifting landscape may hinge on their matchups against Medicham and its counters.

Medicham

Medicham has been one of the top Pokémon in the GO Battle League for as long as Trainers could battle each other, and its usage has only increased as a result of June’s move rebalance. In fact, Medicham appeared on over 80% of Trainers’ teams in Milwaukee. This Fighting- and Psychic-type Pokémon has enough bulk to absorb damage without using Protect Shields, a unique dual typing that gives it useful resistances against Fighting-type and Rock-type damage, and a versatile moveset that can be tailored to the team’s needs. Most Medicham use Ice Punch and Psychic as their Charged Attacks for the widest coverage, though some Trainers opt to replace one of these moves with Dynamic Punch or Power-Up Punch for additional Fighting-type damage.

Medicham’s Counters

With the Psychic-type Medicham appearing on so many teams, Ghost-type damage is in high demand. And with Trevenant out of the picture, Sableye is once again the Ghost-type Pokémon of choice, becoming the second-most used Pokémon in both Milwaukee and Fresno. Sableye is one of the few true counters to Medicham, dealing supereffective damage with its Fast Attack Shadow Claw while resisting Fighting-type damage.

In addition to Ghost-type Pokémon, Flying-type Pokémon generally have the advantage against Medicham. Noctowl maintains its status as a top pick throughout the 2023 season, as it has comfortable matchups against both Medicham and Sableye, bulk to hold its own in most neutral matchups, and access to Shadow Ball, which provides coverage for its counters. Altaria generally has a favorable matchup against Medicham as it resists Counter and deals supereffective damage with both of its most tournament-popular Charged Attacks, but its double weakness to Ice-type attacks can make it a risky pick. Nevertheless, Altaria also plays a useful role as one of the best counters to Pokémon like Swampert and Venusaur, who can sweep through entire teams if left unchecked.

While Trainers haven’t collectively settled on how successful Fairy-type Pokémon will be in countering Medicham (and, to a lesser extent, Sableye), experiments to bring new Fairy types into high-level play have already begun: RyanSwag distinguished himself in Milwaukee with Dedenne, while DvSheriff was successful with Togetic in Fresno. Clefable and Whimsicott are also viable options, both having received access to the high-energy Fast Attack Fairy Wind during June’s rebalance. We might also see Trainers return to using Azumarill, whose bulk and useful resistances make the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon a reliable pick.

Other than dealing supereffective damage, another approach to handling Medicham is to pick Pokémon that simply resist its most potent attacks—the bulky Psychic types Cresselia and Defense Forme Deoxys serve this purpose well. Like Medicham, both Pokémon have benefited from the disappearance of Trevenant. Cresselia’s Fast Attack Psycho Cut allows it to send out relatively hard-hitting moves quickly. Defense Forme Deoxys, which uses the same Fighting-type Fast Attack (Counter) as Medicham, is often seen as an alternative to the Meditate Pokémon. It deals less damage, but its pure Psychic typing gives it the advantage against both opposing Medicham (already a big win by itself) and Fairy-type Pokémon.

Medicham’s Teammates

To build viable teams around Medicham, Trainers also need to include Pokémon that can handle Medicham’s counters.

Steel-type Pokémon possess the most useful defensive typing in the game and synergize well with Fighting-type Pokémon like Medicham, since they resist the Flying- and Fairy-type attacks that threaten Fighting-type Pokémon. For the first time all season, Registeel has surpassed Galarian Stunfisk in the recent championships as the Steel-type Pokémon of choice. Despite taking supereffective damage from Medicham’s Fighting-type Fast Attack, Registeel can beat Medicham because it resists both of Medicham’s most frequently utilized Charged Attacks: Ice Punch and Psychic. In fact, Registeel has positive matchups against almost every Pokémon in the metagame when shields are down, making it powerful both at the end of a game to deal a final blow with its devastating Charged Attacks, and early on as it forces opponents to use Protect Shields.

Aside from Steel-type Pokémon, there are several options for handling Flying-type Pokémon like Noctowl. Lanturn, one of the only popular Electric-type Pokémon in the Great League, also benefited from the disappearance of Trevenant, which was by far its hardest wall. Lanturn’s bulk combined with its Water- and Electric-type coverage let it comfortably handle both Flying-type Pokémon and neutral matchups.

Ice-type Pokémon, a category previously dominated by Alolan Ninetales, have also increased in usage across the board. Most notably, Shadow Alolan Sandslash appeared on the winning teams of Paulasha97 and 0EL1TE0 in Torino and Fresno, respectively. While previously on the fringes of viability, Alolan Sandslash’s newly granted access to the Ground-type Charged Attack Drill Run has revolutionized its play, giving it much more favorable matchups against central Pokémon such as Lanturn and opposing Steel-type Pokémon. Walrein and Dewgong are also powerful Ice-type attackers, though their additional Water typing can make them more vulnerable due to their weakness to Grass- and Electric-type attacks.

Trainers using Medicham also find it useful to carry Pokémon that comfortably beat its main Ghost-type foe, Sableye. Lickitung’s Normal typing allows it to handle Ghost types well, while its extreme bulk and access to a Charged Attack with a low energy cost—Body Slam—give it the advantage in many neutral matchups. In addition, despite taking supereffective damage from Fighting-type attacks, it can hold its own against Medicham by dealing supereffective damage back with its Fast Attack Lick. Using Power Whip as its secondary Charged Attack also provides helpful Grass-type coverage for Water-type Pokémon such as Lanturn or Dewgong. Umbreon, which similarly resists Ghost-type damage and generally absorbs damage with ease, can fill a similar role.

Offensive Pressure

The final few Pokémon we will discuss are not specifically related to Medicham, but rather can propel a Trainer to success by dealing heavy-hitting neutral damage in a short amount of time. Swampert, especially potent in its Shadow form where it deals 20% more damage, can quickly take down entire teams when there are no Protect Shields remaining. Swampert generates energy extremely quickly and has access to both the Charged Attack Hydro Cannon and the hard-hitting Earthquake—this translates to the ability to do enough damage to take out bulky Pokémon such as Registeel and Lanturn from full health in fewer than 10 seconds. Moreover, Swampert only takes supereffective damage from one type—Grass—making it an even more formidable foe.

The looming threat of Swampert has led Trainers to search for viable Grass-type Pokémon after Trevenant’s disappearance. Venusaur, which is also often seen in its Shadow form, can easily handle Water-type Pokémon and can deal heavy damage in neutral matchups, such as against Medicham or Sableye. And just like Swampert, Shadow Venusaur can quickly sweep through teams when Protect Shields are gone.

Now that we’ve explored most of the Pokémon we can expect to see on stage, let’s look at some of the most promising Trainers who will be taking them to battle. As NAIC will be the final tournament of the year, many of North America’s strongest players will be present to vie for the crown.

If you’re talking about the strongest players in North America, you’re talking about ItsAXN. Many consider him North America’s best, and with good reason—he’s the reigning (and first-ever) NAIC Champion, was North America’s top finisher at last year’s World Championships, and has made the Top Cut at all eight regional tournaments he has attended. Regardless of how this competition ends, Trainers at home can learn from ItsAXN’s clean and precise play.

The only other Trainers in North America with as many top cuts as ItsAXN in the 2023 Play! Pokémon season are wdage, HotPoket777, and OnionFr4nk. While it would certainly be no surprise to see any—or all—of these three go far at NAIC, many will likely be cheering for OnionFr4nk. Known for achieving results in both Play! Pokémon and the GO Battle League with his unconventional, alignment-based playstyle, he is the only one of this young and talented trio who has yet to secure an invite to Yokohama and will certainly be fighting hard to join his friends there.

Many other Trainers who have already qualified for the 2023 World Championships will also compete at NAIC. Among them are Reis2Occasion, HouseStark93, NHoff, and Doonebug97, who have also dabbled as judges; MagicMayson and BirdPower13, who have continued competing throughout the season after topping Toronto and Salt Lake City, respectively, back in the fall; and Balk88 and 0EL1TE0, fresh off their wins just this month, who could be riding momentum and a unique confidence in the latest changes in play.

While the field might seem especially daunting given the sheer number of players who have already achieved top results at other tournaments, the good news for Trainers who have not yet qualified is that invitations to Worlds “trickle down”; that is, the top four players at NAIC who have not already qualified will receive invitations, regardless of their absolute placement. In fact, at the Hartford Regional Championship in May, four of the top six competitors had previously qualified to the World Championships, meaning that the 6th place finisher Trogdor8989 was secured an invitation due to this rule.

In addition to the Trainers listed above, keep an eye on beeeach7, NNNNino468, HaydonusActual, and TrentSzcz—all achieved Top 8 at multiple tournaments this season, each time coming just one or two games away from an invitation to the World Championships. With four invites to be awarded in Columbus, NAIC could be a great opportunity for these Trainers to finally earn a well-deserved ticket to Yokohama by repeating placements that they already achieved in the past.

A few players who had success last season may also be fighting hard for their last chance to return to Worlds: Hsineerg, one of North America’s top finishers at last year’s World Championships; AndrewManjarrez, who took second place at last year’s NAIC behind only ItsAXN; and Iomero0, the first Pokémon GO player from North America to ever qualify for the World Championships.

Arizona is also sending a strong delegation to NAIC with a dominant showing on this season’s Play! Pokémon leaderboard, which awards paid travel to the tournament. These players include JJan11, who leads the country in official Play! Pokémon Points for Pokémon GO, and DvSheriff and Munchlax2000, who both placed in Fresno’s Top 8.

Finally, here are a few dark horse picks who are also talented all-around gamers. Despite playing Pokémon GO for less than a year, NiteTimeClasher has already showed impressive results, such as reaching Fresno’s Top 8 with Togedemaru. B0pper, perhaps better known for his success in the Video Game Championships (VGC), has consistently achieved results in both the GO Battle League and Show 6 competitive formats, recently snagging a Top 8 spot in Arlington. (For those unfamiliar with the format,  Show 6 is when Trainers bring six Pokémon to a particular tournament and choose three of those Pokémon for each battle. This means opponents know roughly which Pokémon they will face.)

NAIC will likely be North America’s biggest and best Pokémon GO tournament yet, and an all-star culmination of Pokémon GO’s first complete season as part of the Play! Pokémon circuit. Best of luck to all Trainers who are lucky enough to attend, and for everyone following along at home: make sure to check out all the action at Twitch.tv/PokemonGO!