PROGRESS SCOREBOARD
M5: +8 | +2
M6: +11 | +0

Sandslash and Arcanine both race out to commanding leads... and right before we countdown the final 48 hours of these matches!

Match 5: "The arena is hit by a Dragon Rush attack!"
Match 6: "The arena is hit by an Assurance attack!"

All Pokemon on all arenas take neutral damage from these attacks, so no Pokemon will gain bonus points.

48 HOUR SCOREBOARD
M5: +8 | +2
M6: +11 | +0

Can these Dugtrio and Butterfree get a turnaround happening? Or will Arcanine and Sandslash be facing off in the Quarterfinals? There's only one way to find out!

Well, it seems its all about lost at this point. :c

M5: I've never used a Sandslash before, and I dislike it's design, to be honest. I've used Dugtrio numerous times, and it was a prized member of a Nuzlocke team.

M6: I just don't have a liking of fire types, and I have used Butterfree before.

M5: - Looks awesome, and I'm not really a fan of either of these pokemon in-game.

M6: - Butterfree is not really one of my favorites, but the firedog is pretty awesome.

M5: -Sponsoring. I've got Haunter through to round 2 so if Dugtrio loses I'm still OK.
M6: -poor Butterfree: utterly outclassed by Arcanine.

Match 5: Just as Sandslash thought he was going to past the finish line.. The earth around him started to shake! Losing balance, the Pokemon fell to the ground, hurting itself in the process! Where could this unexpected Earthquake have come from? And was Dugtrio affected too? As it happens to turn out, the public were nice enough to donate an Air Balloon to Dugtrio, so he was unaffected! Hanging up in the air from the item, Dugtrio's chances finally looked a lot clearer!

EXTRA VOTES:
+5

FINAL SCORES:

M5: [7] DUGTRIO def. Sandslash (11-9)
M6: [2] ARCANINE def. Butterfree (12-2)

Thanks to a last minute vote from someone anonymous, Dugtrio manages to edge out Sandslash for a berth in the Quarterfinals! And as expected, Arcanine qualifies strongly, with Butterfree having almost no chance of qualifying.

Now we're getting down the the dirty end of the business! Just two more matches, and then we'll start the Quarterfinals. Qualifying already are Haunter, Venusaur, Beedrill, Pikachu, Dugtrio and Arcanine. Who will join them? Will Crunchy, Shuckle-rock$ and Samurott be able to join the other sponsors for a chance to win the 2,000PB grand prize?



ANALYSIS
Q: It's not often that you see early evolution stages get in through competitions held in Psypoke. How did Bulbasaur manage to get so far in this one?

Bulbasaur was actually one of the Pokemon who narrowly missed to on a seeded place in this competition. He performed very ver strongly in the pre tournament poll, and was lucky to be put together with the 11th seeded Nidoqueen who he beat quite comprehensively. Although some might say his first round match with Nidoqueen, Vulpix and Squirtle lacked firepower, explosiveness and drama, he's actually a very consistent competitor and sometimes that can be enough to win you Pokemon battles.

Q: Charizard is a fair staple in terms of Pokemon popularity. Why is he only seeded 6th?

For years the great fire lizard has been one of the coolest things in Pokemon, and it's only recently that people have started to undervalue his worth. Because of his poor pre tournament result, where he was 2 votes away from not qualifying for the main draw at all, his seeding rank reflects this. And be might have had a convincing win against Weedle, Hitmonlee and Machamp, things will be tougher against Bulbasaur who is arguably more popular then those three.

Q: So how are his chances in this competition?

Charizard's chances are still quite strong, but I think he might be burning out. He hasn't been pulling in the votes like he used to, but that doesn't mean he can't do it here. He's got the right stats, he's got the right typing, so in theory if he just keeps his head together there's no reason why he can't qualify for the Quarterfinals.

Q: Bulbasaur needs to make up a 4 vote deficit. Is this possible?

Even though Butterfree couldn't do it in the last match, it's very possible for Bulbasaur to make up that deficit. In the Arcanine-Butterfree match, Arcanine pulled away way too quickly, making it really hard for the butterfly to even attempt to catch up. This is why I would recommend getting your votes in early… but that's how I would approach the situation for Bulbasaur fans.

Q: Which type is cooler? Grass or fire?

I personally favour the fire type more, fire Pokemon definitely rock. They may suck competitively but I don't pay any attention to the metagame or anything, so I don't care about that anyway. However a little part of me wants to see cute little Bulbasaur go through, who personally I find a million times more cute and charismatic than his older brother Venusaur.

Q: And now we move from two starters… to another two starters!



ANALYSIS
Q: Blastoise seems pretty solid in this quarter, right?

This draw has been quite nice to Blastoise. He breezed through the first round quite convincingly, and Charmeleon knocked out his biggest threat Raichu, so yes, Blastoise is sitting comfortably at the moment. He's also definitely a contender for the title, slowly but surely chugging away in his matches.

Q: How did Charmeleon get here?

Charmeleon managed to outplay Raichu by 1 vote, for a place in Round 2. Charmeleon's popularity runs mainly in that he's also one of the fire starters (along with Charmander and Charizard), and I personally enjoyed him in the anime where he started to be a dick. I'm not entirely sure why everyone else likes him, but that's why I do.

Q: Does Charmeleon have a chance?

It will be really tough for him to progress, as Blastoise not only has a +4 vote advantage but is also seemingly a lot more popular. I'm not really sure what Charmeleon can do but it seems like his chances are really slim here. Being a middle evolution, his kind are usually forgotten about, but who knows? We've seen some big upsets in the past, so there's no reason why there can't be another one right here!

PRELIM SCOREBOARD
M7: +0 | +4
M8: +4 | +0

Just remember that anonymous voting is still possible, with now a reduction to 20PB per vote, capped at 100PB per Pokemon. And if you haven't gotten your tips in yet, it's not too late to win Psybucks! You'll get 10 per tip, and if you top the leaderboard at the end of the competition, you'll win an extra 500.

Anyway these are the last analyses you'll read from me for a while… I won't be having any for the Quarterfinal matches.

PS: Credit goes to Arkeis of Pokemon Factory (again) for the Pokemon images.

PSS: Read this (and vote in the poll)

Dugtrio made it!

M7: AWW HELL NAW CHARIZARD
M8: I'd rather see the turtle go through than another Char.

7.
8.

Sponsering both...

M7: - It's cute. It's Grass-type. It's the mascot of Bulbapedia. It's number one. It's down-to-earth. What's more to ask?
BTW, I think the recent decline in Charizard's popularity is due to its previous over-popularity - as seen all over the internet (especially by the so-called genwunners) and some previous PECs. It then triggered a wave of anti-mainstream realization that the old fire dragon actually isn't as epic as usually exaggerated. In short: the CIIIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIFE rolls ever on!
M8: - Eh, I don't feel like starting yet another flame war on my opinions on Blastoise, so let's just say I'm suddenly in an NFE mood today, 'kay?

Dick moves win battles, Samurott. Dick moves win battles.

Anyway, my votes.

Not a fan of the Charizard line at all.

M7: CHARIZARD!!!!

M8: BLASTOISE!!!!

In all seriousness, Charizard and Blastoise are numbers 1 and 2 in my favorite Gen 1 starters. I don't like the Bulbasaur chain much at all, and Blastoise beats out Charmeleon.

And here we are at the final hours of our Round 2 matches! Let's take a look at the leaderboard shall we...

PROGRESS SCOREBOARD
M7: +5 | +9
M8: +10 | +4

And of course, right on time, the arenas have been once more rocketed by attacks with 48 hours to go! Let's see what the damage is.

Match 7: "The arena is hit by a Horn Attack attack!"
Match 8: "The arena is hit by a Pin Missile attack!"

Both Bulbasaur and Charizard will gain a +0 bonus, as they both take neutral damage from Normal type attacks.
Blastoise will gain no advantage, however Charmeleon resists Bug attacks and thus will be rewarded with a +1 advantage.

48 HOUR REMAINING SCOREBOARD
M7: +5 | +9
M8: +10 | +5

Make sure to vote if you already haven't done so!
And also get ready for the Quarterfinals! They will probably be started on the weekend, if all goes according to plan. The sponsors of these Pokemon will also begin to play a more major role from here on in, so this is a big chance for Samurott, Shuckle-rock$ or Crunchy to join the existing 5 qualifying sponsors. Here's hoping they can get through!

I see you visited the Department of Redundancy Department.

I agree fully.

M7 - - Cool fire type.
M8 - - Blastoise is my favourite Gen 1 starter final evolution.

Oh my! Do you mean that redundant department that is known as the Redundant Department of Redundancy Department? It's such a...redundant department!

This redundant post is the result of redundant posting and is very redundant indeed.

...

But seriously, that is hilarious. "I ordered my Heracross, named Attack, to attack. Attack attacked with the Horn Attack attack!"

...Which brings up the grammatical issue of whether I'm allowed to say "<name> is the first First Lady of the US etc"?

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

M7:
M8:
No reasons, I just am.
Oh and I'll type up the answers tomorrow, I've been busy with exams and haven't got a chance to do so yet.

I think I'll join this thing.

M7:
M8:

Bulbasaur fails and charmeleon's mean. 'Nuff said.

KaBOOM.

FINAL RESULTS
M7: +6 | +11
M8: +12 | +6

But wait! What's this! Some last minute anonymous votes! Some extra firepower provided to certain competitors! So just who were the lucky recipients?

+5
+5

(EVEN MORESO) FINAL RESULTS
M7: +11 | +11
M8: +12 | +11

...so we have a tie between Bulbasaur and Charizard! Normally in a tie, I'd cast my vote and send through whoever I liked more... but I can't bring myself to do it! So the tiebreaker is: the next person to vote either Bulbasaur or Charizard will send them through to the next stage of the competition! Please note that whoever votes in the tiebreaker can't be someone who has already voted this batch. Blastoise however is guaranteed a spot into the next round, so there's no need to vote for him.

Can you feel the tension in the air? What's going to happen?

Ooh I get to do the tie breaker.

Charizard gets my vote. I like Bulbasaur but Charizard vs Bastoise is more exciting.

...I don't like Charizard whatsoever and yet I am finding it rather difficult to argue with your logic.

FINAL SCORES

M7: [6] CHARIZARD def. Bulbasaur (11-11 TB)
M8: [3] BLASTOISE def. Charmeleon (12-11)

Probably the tightest sets of matches we've had all tournament.. setting up for a Quarterfinal of epic proportions!

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FINAL 8!



And congratulations to each of the sponsors, for these Pokemon are now 1 step closer to being crowned the winner of the first Battle Royale!

Haunter - DragoBoy
Venusaur - Super_Typhlosion
Beedrill - JsXtm
Pikachu - Cherrygrove
Dugtrio - DragoBoy
Arcanine - ShinyLucario
Charizard - Shuckle-rock$
Blastoise - Samurott

SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Q1: Haunter vs [9] Venusaur
Q2: Beedrill vs Pikachu
Q3: [7] Dugtrio vs [2] Arcanine
Q4: [6] Charizard vs [3] Blastoise

Tomorrow I'll post up how the Quarterfinals are going to be played (we'll be easing in other base stats too, having a different 48 hour countdown format, as well as sponsor based decisions ), and the day after we'll be starting the matches. Q1 and Q2 will run at the same time, likewise Q3 and Q4.




NEW: TIPPING COMPETITION!

SCOREBOARD
7 - Samurott
6 - DragoBoy, ShinyLucario
5 - Crunchy, Dare234, DNA, Shuckle-rock$

You'll all get your prizes tomorrow, and no one got the full 8 bonus...

For the next round! You can start with your tips now and you get 20PB for each correct tip, plus a 50PB bonus if you get all 4 correct. Whoever tops the tipping leaderboard at the end of the competition gets 500PB... and 2nd and 3rd may get prizes too if I am nice.