Pokémon Scarlet & Violet - Coin Trick - Jul 19 24 C

Something I noticed about my opponents in this session so far: many of them have a completely uncustomized (and sometimes completely un-updated) trainer card. (Or student ID card, as the game sometimes calls it). It turned up in Monday’s and Tuesday’s videos, and in this video, you’ll see it too: it’s just the player character, looking forward blankly, behind a dark blue gradient background, with diagonal stripes on the lower right corner colored based on the player’s game version.
Ordinarily, most of my opponents in online matches will have customized cards, and you’ll see that I change mine every month. I wonder why, all of a sudden, I am seeing a lot of people who don’t bother. I like to do it for the personal touch. I understand that some people don’t, but I don’t understand the much higher proportions of them than before.
Type: Double Battle
Opponent: Big Cat
Battle Court: Mesagoza (Central Square)
Music: BB League Elite Four
My Pokémon: Gigi (Farigiraf), Debra (Zebstrika), Hipparchus (Hippowdon), Gustave (Feraligatr)
Opponent’s Pokémon: Raichu (Kantonian), Gholdengo, My Boy Blue (Golduck), Dragapult
Whereas my opponent here has “Florian” (the default name for the male player character in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet) in his default look, they clearly have updated his look, wearing the Kitakami kimono and a an Okidogi mask from the Festival of Masks, with the Kitakami Topknot hairstyle. (Not sure if they’ve gone through Indigo Disk yet, but since you can’t get just one DLC or the other, I know they have the Indigo Disk expansion by extension of them having the Teal Mask extension.) Presumably they do, as they have Hydrapple on the team, but it is plausible, though unlikely, that they had their Dipplin evolved with someone else’s help.
What ensued, it seems, was aggressive use of Protect. I can confirm that Raichu, My Boy Blue (Golduck), and Dragapult all have it, but they just happened to be timed all wrong. They also didn’t switch out when they had the chance after Overheat missed on the first turn, as both of the other Pokémon they had in reserve resist Fire attacks, and Electric attacks are out of the question due to Raichu standing there, whom I’m certain has Lightning Rod.
Golduck, having Cloud Nine, could make for an interesting counter. Weather effects are making a comeback, especially with Koraidon being allowed in battle. If this Golduck has Ice Beam or something, he can reliably challenge both Koraidon and Torkoal, the main Pokémon setting harsh sunlight. Snow and sandstorm are rarely used, but you can see Cloud Nine take effect here, negating the sandstorm caused by Hipparchus (Hippowdon).
Out of coincidence, I’ve had two battles this session, also, with opponents with trainer names that are unintentionally the same as that of a Sonic character, with “Sage” and “Big Cat” (Big the Cat). I don’t know if Golduck’s nickname of My Boy Blue refers to anything besides him being shiny and thus even bluer than normal. And like my last session, this one seems to have ended in a ragequit. I’m seeing more of those lately too.