If you're not familiar with the Timmy Johnny Spike player archetypes, they were thought up by the card designers at Wizards of the Coast for Magic: The Gathering, though they can be applied to any game with a competitive scene and a high degree of customization, Pokémon included. There are sub-categories of each, and a person can occupy multiple roles at once, but they are as follows (and can be either gender, despite their names): A Timmy plays for the experience. They either play for the spectacle, for the socialization or both. This is the archetype least likely to be seen at competitions, instead preferring to play the game among a group of friends. When a Timmy competes, however, they will take with them whatever will be the most fun, and they want to chat with their opponents. The Dynamax mechanic was aimed primarily at the Timmies; for Pokémon, they're the largest in number. Due to their nature of sticking to small groups, there isn't any one place online where Pokémon Timmies congregate; if they meet up online at all, they will more likely be in Facebook or Discord groups.
A Johnny plays the game as a form of self-expression. They may be fans of intricate setups, of stories and themes, or of using the less popular options. However, what all three have in common is that they want to show their opponents what they've created. Just as coming up with a deck in Magic (or other collectible card games) is a Johnny's favorite aspect of the game, so is crafting a Pokémon team. A Johnny is not satisfied with winning unless they can win with style. Johnnies are typically the smallest in number in any such game, but there seems to be a concentration of Pokémon Johnnies at the Serebii Forums. (I am a Johnny, more specifically an Uber Johnny with Deck Artist mixed in.)
A Spike plays to win, first and foremost. The aim of a Spike is to prove to others how skilled they are. This may be done by searching for the strongest strategies available, careful observation of the metagame, and/or practicing relentlessly to play perfectly. That being said, a Spike's rubric for oneself isn't necessarily their win ratio, but it could be how efficient their play is or how well-adapted they are. Smogon is a site catered to Pokémon Spikes; naturally, they make up the Pyroar's share of the people there. In most games, you'll find lots of Spikes at tournaments, and Pokémon is no exception, though the VGCs group is largely separate from the Smogon group.
The card designers place equal importance to all three groups and don't consider one as any better than another, although Spikes spend the most in collectible card games, so long-running ones tend to gravitate towards them (Pokémon TCG included). The groups themselves, however, spend much of their time at each other's throats, and they don't normally get along with players not of their type. Granted, you shouldn't think too much on which one you belong to if you don't want to feel categorized; these were made by the card designers to better please their buyers, not for any sociological enrichment.
Opponent: Zander (17)
Stadium: Default Stadium
Music: Gym Leader
My Pokémon: Perrserker, Grimmsnarl, Eldegoss, Arctovish
Opponent's Pokémon: Ninetales, Charizard, Mamoswine, Duraludon
It was by coincidence, really, that I picked the four Generation VIII Pokémon for this team. Zander's team contains only one, however, but that one was brought over too. As for the music, I had it set to Random for a while, but the Gym Leader theme never popped up, so I forcibly set it to that just for this one match. I've since put it back to Random. (Maybe I'll have Hop's theme too, at least the first one, as that has yet to come up online for me. Hop's second theme has come up at least once though.)
The first thing I thought when this battle began was that I wasn't going to let that Charizard run amok on my team; that big guy had to go. Once Charizard was gone, I felt safer bringing out Eldegoss. Eldegoss, as you might have seen, has Energy Ball and Pollen Puff, which leaves room for two more moves. You'll see one is a status move via Max Guard, but the other one...well, I'll let you figure out how I got Eldegoss to do that Max Move that I'm sure took my opponent completely by surprise, which was something I wanted to do ever since I had decided on Eldegoss's moves. Because of that, I'd say Eldegoss got to do more in this battle than the other three Pokémon I brought here, and not just because she was my subject for Dynamax this time.
Despite the early lead, though, Zander was able to catch up. Duraludon proved to be the most troublesome Pokémon on their side and forced it to a 2-on-2, then a 1-on-1, and this match wound up coming down to the wire even more than the other ones in this session. Even before those Defense boosts, Duraludon has 2 weaknesses and 9 resistances, making it tough to take down if you don't have a special attacker ready (or even if you do if sufficiently prepared).
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