Palafin just won 2 back-to-back Pokémon Scarlet and Violet tournaments

After three days of intense Pokémon battles in Melbourne, Australia, the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Oceania International Championships have finally come to a close and a new winner has been crowned. Going into the final Masters Division match on Feb. 19, two players from the US battled it out for a chance to take home the trophy. 

In an interesting turn of events, Gavin Michaels and Alberto Lara live just 10 minutes from each other in Los Angeles and practiced for the tournament together before flying all the way to Australia. It was revealed that Alberto only won 20 percent of those practice matches, so it seemed the odds were already stacked against him with their team matchups. Still, both players came ready to play with their eyes on the prize. In the end, it was Gavin who came out on top.

Related: How to transform Palafin into its Hero Form in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Palafin was the hero in back-to-back championships

Perhaps the most exciting part about the Oceania finals match was seeing two unique team compositions. We saw plenty of Flutter Mane, Gholdengo, and Arcanine throughout the weekend, but none of those popular picks made any appearances in the finals. Instead, Gavin was running a team of Palafin, Baxcalibur, Pelipper, Iron Hands, Amoonguss, and Dragonite. Alberto’s team consisted of Klefki, Corviknight, Roaring Moon, Iron Bundle, Volcarona, and Garchomp. Needless to say, the two teams were structured very differently, but it was refreshing to see.

Alberto’s plan was to use Klefki to set up screens to minimize the damage against his team, but Gavin’s Pokémon were hitting so hard even through the screens. In particular, it was Gavin’s Palafin and Baxcalibur dishing out a lot of damage. Palafin, a familiar face from Wolfe Glick’s winning team at Orlando Regionals, came through once again with ridiculously powerful Wave Crashes boosted by the rain. Palafin might’ve gotten lucky with a critical hit against the Klefki in both games, but that doesn’t take away from how dominant the dolphin can be once it’s in its Hero Form. Even Klefki’s Reflect and Thunder Wave were not enough to stop it.

Meanwhile, Gavin’s Baxcalibur was able to deal massive damage with Icicle Crash on Roaring Moon and its signature move Glaive Rush on Volcarona. Iron Hands was good for Fake Out pressure and using Volt Switch to quickly get Palafin back on the field in its Hero Form. And although we saw more of Talonflame than Pelipper throughout the tournament, it was Pelipper who got to walk away with the title of Most Valuable Bird for its efforts in being a reliable ally and setting up the rain for Palafin.