Match 5: Just as Sandslash thought he was going to past the finish line.. The earth around him started to shake! Losing balance, the Pokemon fell to the ground, hurting itself in the process! Where could this unexpected Earthquake have come from? And was Dugtrio affected too? As it happens to turn out, the public were nice enough to donate an Air Balloon to Dugtrio, so he was unaffected! Hanging up in the air from the item, Dugtrio's chances finally looked a lot clearer!
EXTRA VOTES:
 +5
FINAL SCORES:
M5: [7] DUGTRIO def. Sandslash (11-9)
M6: [2] ARCANINE def. Butterfree (12-2)
Thanks to a last minute vote from someone anonymous, Dugtrio manages to edge out Sandslash for a berth in the Quarterfinals! And as expected, Arcanine qualifies strongly, with Butterfree having almost no chance of qualifying.
Now we're getting down the the dirty end of the business! Just two more matches, and then we'll start the Quarterfinals. Qualifying already are Haunter, Venusaur, Beedrill, Pikachu, Dugtrio and Arcanine. Who will join them? Will Crunchy, Shuckle-rock$ and Samurott be able to join the other sponsors for a chance to win the 2,000PB grand prize?
MATCH 7: BULBASAUR v [6] CHARIZARD
ANALYSIS
Q: It's not often that you see early evolution stages get in through competitions held in Psypoke. How did Bulbasaur manage to get so far in this one?
Bulbasaur was actually one of the Pokemon who narrowly missed to on a seeded place in this competition. He performed very ver strongly in the pre tournament poll, and was lucky to be put together with the 11th seeded Nidoqueen who he beat quite comprehensively. Although some might say his first round match with Nidoqueen, Vulpix and Squirtle lacked firepower, explosiveness and drama, he's actually a very consistent competitor and sometimes that can be enough to win you Pokemon battles.
Q: Charizard is a fair staple in terms of Pokemon popularity. Why is he only seeded 6th?
For years the great fire lizard has been one of the coolest things in Pokemon, and it's only recently that people have started to undervalue his worth. Because of his poor pre tournament result, where he was 2 votes away from not qualifying for the main draw at all, his seeding rank reflects this. And be might have had a convincing win against Weedle, Hitmonlee and Machamp, things will be tougher against Bulbasaur who is arguably more popular then those three.
Q: So how are his chances in this competition?
Charizard's chances are still quite strong, but I think he might be burning out. He hasn't been pulling in the votes like he used to, but that doesn't mean he can't do it here. He's got the right stats, he's got the right typing, so in theory if he just keeps his head together there's no reason why he can't qualify for the Quarterfinals.
Q: Bulbasaur needs to make up a 4 vote deficit. Is this possible?
Even though Butterfree couldn't do it in the last match, it's very possible for Bulbasaur to make up that deficit. In the Arcanine-Butterfree match, Arcanine pulled away way too quickly, making it really hard for the butterfly to even attempt to catch up. This is why I would recommend getting your votes in early… but that's how I would approach the situation for Bulbasaur fans.
Q: Which type is cooler? Grass or fire?
I personally favour the fire type more, fire Pokemon definitely rock. They may suck competitively but I don't pay any attention to the metagame or anything, so I don't care about that anyway. However a little part of me wants to see cute little Bulbasaur go through, who personally I find a million times more cute and charismatic than his older brother Venusaur.
Q: And now we move from two starters… to another two starters!
MATCH 8: [3] BLASTOISE v CHARMELEON
ANALYSIS
Q: Blastoise seems pretty solid in this quarter, right?
This draw has been quite nice to Blastoise. He breezed through the first round quite convincingly, and Charmeleon knocked out his biggest threat Raichu, so yes, Blastoise is sitting comfortably at the moment. He's also definitely a contender for the title, slowly but surely chugging away in his matches.
Q: How did Charmeleon get here?
Charmeleon managed to outplay Raichu by 1 vote, for a place in Round 2. Charmeleon's popularity runs mainly in that he's also one of the fire starters (along with Charmander and Charizard), and I personally enjoyed him in the anime where he started to be a dick. I'm not entirely sure why everyone else likes him, but that's why I do.
Q: Does Charmeleon have a chance?
It will be really tough for him to progress, as Blastoise not only has a +4 vote advantage but is also seemingly a lot more popular. I'm not really sure what Charmeleon can do but it seems like his chances are really slim here. Being a middle evolution, his kind are usually forgotten about, but who knows? We've seen some big upsets in the past, so there's no reason why there can't be another one right here!
PRELIM SCOREBOARD
M7:  +0 |  +4
M8:  +4 |  +0
Just remember that anonymous voting is still possible, with now a reduction to 20PB per vote, capped at 100PB per Pokemon. And if you haven't gotten your tips in yet, it's not too late to win Psybucks! You'll get 10 per tip, and if you top the leaderboard at the end of the competition, you'll win an extra 500.
Anyway these are the last analyses you'll read from me for a while… I won't be having any for the Quarterfinal matches. 
PS: Credit goes to Arkeis of Pokemon Factory (again) for the Pokemon images.
PSS: Read this (and vote in the poll)
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+8 | 
+11 | 
+0
Make sure to vote if you already haven't done so!
