From Volbeat to Toedscruel, 13 bizarre Pokémon made top cut at first major Scarlet and Violet event of the season

The 2025 Pokémon season is kicking off with Baltimore Regionals, and it’s been an incredible showcase of many ‘mon you wouldn’t have expected to succeed in Scarlet and Violet VGC.

If there’s anything we’ve learned at Baltimore Regionals (Sept. 14 to 15), it’s that any Pokémon has the potential to shine in Regulation H, a format without Legendary and Paradox threats. On the first day of the event, we saw Hisui Pokémon like Sneasler and Ursaluna rise in usage, and there was even a Scyther that blew everyone away in an amazing stream match. 

Now, it’s one thing to see off-meta picks like Scyther at the tournament, but it’s another thing to see them perform well and make the top cut. Scyther ultimately fell short of the top cut, but 13 other interesting Pokémon did manage to make it through, as pointed out by VGC pro and caster Aaron “Cybertron” Zheng.

Among the 13 ‘mons listed by Zheng, the most surprising ones are Volbeat, Delphox, and Vivillon, who rarely get any love in VGC. Meanwhile, Sneasler and Flamigo have snuck up in popularity and could easily become top threats as the Reg H metagame continues to develop.

We also have to talk about the Toedscruel and Galarian Weezing duo used by former world champ Wolfe Glick and regional champ Justin Carris. Toedscruel is similar to the more popular mushroom ‘mon, Amoonguss, in that they both have Rage Powder for redirection and Spore to put foes to sleep, but its Mycelium Might ability has always held it back. That’s where Galarian Weezing comes in. Galarian Weezing’s Neutralizing Gas shuts off other abilities, including Mycelium Might, enabling Toedscruel to move faster with its handy status moves.

Seeing the likes of Toedscruel and Volbeat succeed at a major tournament is refreshing to see, especially after the previous Reg G format was so centralized around a lot of the same ‘mons like Urshifu and Calyrex. For the first time in a while, it feels like any Pokémon can become a winner in the right hands in Reg H.

Reg H continues until Jan. 5, so there’s still plenty of time for other weird ‘mons to make a name for themselves. After that, Urshifu and its Legendary friends will return alongside Reg G. In other words, now’s the time to embrace any wacky off-meta picks you might have.