Seven-year-old Singaporean Simone Lim has proven that she is the very best Pokémon trainer, that no one ever was by winning the Junior Championships grand final for the Pokémon Oceania International Championships in Melbourne.
The final battle for the Junior Championships saw Lim going against reigning champion Justin Miranda-Radbord who had previously taken home the title of Regional Champion 21 times, including the Pokémon Oceania Junior Championships in 2019.
Lim managed to take the first match from Miranda-Radbord in the first round of the set by taking full advantage of her Butterfree’s Sleep Powder, putting the Pokémon Miranda-Radbord had sent out into the battlefield to sleep immediately before using her Tyranitar to eliminate her opponent’s Pokémon.
The second match saw Miranda-Radford tying the score by switching up his strategy and taking down Lim’s Butterfree early game to prevent Lim from using the same tactic she employed in the first round.
For the decisive final match, Lim had also reworked her Pokémon lineup, bringing out her Whimsicott instead of Butterfree, helping her team to tank attacks from Miranda-Radbord’s dynamaxed Rhyperior. Though some might question why Lim chose to bring a Whimsicott to the championship, it could be because of its Grass/Fairy typing, helping to increase her defence against Dragon, Dark, and Fighting-type moves, all popular threats in the competition. Much like how Miranda-Bradford chose to bring a Glaceon, not only because it is one of his favourite Pokemon, but also to counter against Flying-type Pokémon, as we saw him using it against Lim’s Gyarados, which is part-Flying.
She also Dynamaxed her Tyranitar right away to help ensure that the flow of the battle is in her favour, by giving her Tyranitar a better move set as well as increasing its HP in battle.
Unfortunately, Miranda-Radbord shows that he isn’t the reigning champion of the Junior Championships for nothing as he managed to eliminate three of Lim’s Pokémon, leaving her with only her Tyrannitar.
Backed against a corner with her last Pokémon, Lim proved her ability to read her opponent by accurately predicting that Miranda-Radbord would use Protect on his Rhyperior, leaving his Dusclops open for her Tyranitar to Crunch on. An amazing prediction that helped her win the Championship.
You can watch Lim’s exciting final move right here.
What’s even more amazing is that this is Lim’s first time competing in the Championships. She had climbed all the way from being the seventh place in the top eight to facing off against the reigning regional champion in the finals.
She even gave an adorable post-game speech after her match, while clutching onto her large Eevee plushie.
If you wish to catch Lim’s full battle against Miranda-Radford, you can do so in the video below.
Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.
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