Welcome Pokemaniacs! You've all made it to the wonderful world of Round 2! We've had a rather impressive amount of individual votes and I sincerely appreciate the turnout. Lets take a look at the results from Round 1 which also will then inform us of who we're voting for in Round 2! Pack a set of Pokeballs because we're on our adventure!
Cascade BracketNow having seen all four brackets in Round 1, this was the most decisive from the start. It had the fewest close calls and the spread was pretty wide all around. An interesting fact about seeding is that the Water types were absolutely the most evident. It's the only type to appear more than ten times and it actually nearly reached twenty. Water Starters were specifically a hot commodity and yet Mewtwo quickly took the lead against Froakie. Squirtle did the same but to an even larger degree with only TriforceBun and I having the audacity to vote against it in support of Jigglypuff. Piplup, another Water-starter proved that this classification gives it an edge in the races. Chespin and Espeon were the closest match-ups for this bracket in Round 1 but still, the cute starter Pokemon won the hearts of the majority.
Bulbasaur continued the trend with a huge sweep against another Eevee-lution, Jolteon. I personally thought that Bulbasaur's final evolution, Venusaur, would have knocked it out of the park but instead he was cut down decisively by Scyther. In my personal biggest upset of the bracket, Dragonite only received half the votes of the great Legendary-bird, Ho-oh. Finally, the weirdness of Cofagrigus didn't persuade the voters to choose it over Totodile… yet another Water-starter. It's amazing that four Water-starters were randomly selected to be in the first bracket. Three of which made it through Round 1. It'll be interesting to see who makes it out alive and makes it to the Elite Four!
Thunder BracketPerhaps it makes total sense that the first matchup in the next bracket would be none other than Eevee and Blastoise. One is the base Pokemon for a few Pokemon from the Cascade Bracket and the other is the final evolution of the most popular seed in the whole thing, Squirtle. In the end, Blastoise quickly and clearly surfed over the competition. By a merely two-vote spread, Wartortle, the middle-evo Pokemon from the Squirtle-line, took the crown against the Legendary Electric-Pokemon, Zapdos. Wartortle and Blastoise go head to head now. If Blastoise takes out Wartortle, I worry it'll create a paradox. Haunter spooked his way past Cyndaquil. Clearly a starter Pokemon doesn't get as much love when it isn't the Water-type. Pikachu and Snorlax showcased a classic Pokemon battle. The yellow electric rodent was up against one of the most memorable story-based Pokemon encounters in the series… that big ol' Snorlax sitting in your way. In a surprise upset, Snorlax blocked Pikachu's advancement.
Snivy then got the 'not-a-Water-type' treatment after memorable moments from the anime helped push Meowth into a win. Mudkip, the cute little Water-starter, mud-slapped Lucario. I thought Lucario would have succeeded more but I suppose he simply is over saturated after Super Smash Bros. Then came the most hotly debated Pokemon discussion since 'Is Mew under that truck?'. Bidoof vs. Malamar… both were Pokemon who were long-shots to enter the competition and both were contested and loved by specific users of the site. This was also our very first TIE in the brackets. So, rather conflicted considering I hadn't decided how to handle ties, I noticed that three folks from the first bracket didn't vote in this second one. So I sent them a PM with only this specific matchup in mind. Best out of those three would edge the Pokemon over. This way the community still chose. In the end, two out of three votes went to the dark and evil Malamar! Ploot must be overjoyed. His campaigning for Malamar's justification would put most American politicians to shame. Finally, rounding out the Thunder Bracket, good ol' Greninja drowned out the Dugtrio competition. I suppose the influx of love from the Smash Bros. series helped here, though perhaps it was simply because Greninja is a cool evolution in a Water-starter line of Pokemon. I'm sensing a theme here…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------So thank you if you read through my overview but alas, the reason you're all really here! Enjoy the next brackets! We'll vote two-at a time for a while now to help speed this up. The poll will still be active for two full days plus however much time remains on a third day (the day I post the bracket). Thanks in advance for voting, and have fun! Enjoy your new match ups!
Mewtwo vs. Squirtle
Piplup vs. Chespin
Bulbasaur vs. Scyther
Ho-oh vs. Totodile
Blastoise vs. Wartortle
Haunter vs. Snorlax
Meowth vs. Mudkip
Malamar vs. Greninja
Vote for the Pokemon that you think should win the matchup. Please vote on every matchup.
Please cast your votes in the following format, bolding the Pokemon that you choose to advance:Pidgey vs. Raticate
Sandslash vs.
DratiniPolls are open until
Friday, March 25th, 2016 at 11:59 AM EST. Gotta vote em' all!
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