Kirkland Koffing vs. Murcer Island Mudkip

These two Gym Leaders have been in the league since season two. Over that time, both trainers have grown in their battling skills and seem some success but never lifted the trophy at the end of the season. Their Championship hopes start with a difficult matchup in this week one pairing. 

The Mercer Island Mudkip may have a new name, but their Gym Leader Max’s success has followed him wherever he goes. Chronically in 2nd place, he has been one piece away from a championship not once but twice over the course of three seasons. With a 3-1 victory over his cousin Smasher Schmidt, Max is one step closer to his elusive goal. They will look for their first ever victory against the Federal Way Pharos next week.

"I stand here today as a proud GM. After a really really weird season and an amazing rebrand, shout out KierGPT, the Mercer Island Mudkip have their first win. Recent additions, Moto Moto (Dondozo) and Robert Rich (Tatsugiri) have really made a SPLASH here. We have officially entered our GSW era ‘cause clearly the boys last season didn't work so here comes Kevin Durant to save the day. I'm glad Sicko Mode can be heard in these halls again.”

Smasher Schmidt might be less excited about the splash the new Mudkip team made. The Motto-Motto (Dondozo) commander ability truly commanded all of the attention this match. Schmidt will need to find a way to overcome such obstacles in the future. Those obstacles start again next week against former Champion Daniel and his Archaludon.

“We learned a lot through this match and won’t make any excuses. With such a short season we need to come back stronger next week and luckily most of the other teams are more normal when compared to this Dondozo-Tatsugiri combination. I hope Daniel is better at VGC than TCG because the Koffing are preparing for landing!”