WASHINGTON – A giant yellow mouse that can harness electricity, a blue turtle that uses water to beat his enemies and a man dressed up as the video game character Red were just part of the crowd at the Pokémon World Championships last weekend.
More than 650 competitors from at least 30 countries competed in the world championships of both the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the Pokémon video games, playing as either Juniors, Seniors and Masters based on their age.
Pokémon is a massive media franchise spanning video games, trading cards, a cartoon and more that began in 1996 with the first games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green in Japan. More than two years later, the franchise came to America and it’s been going strong ever since. In October 2013, the latest editions sold more than 4 million copies worldwide in the first two days after its release.
Andrew Brown, 22, from Indianapolis, embodied the spectacle as he joined other players who dressed up – or cosplayed – as their favorite characters. Brown cosplayed as Red, the protagonist of Pokémon Red and Blue, the first games to reach Americans.
Over 800,000 fans who couldn’t make it to Washington were able to follow along through a live stream of the event via the platform Twitch.
This year’s video game tournament was unique because of the gameplay elements. Players had to play using Pokémon X or Pokémon Y, the most recent editions of the game, and had to use Pokémon caught/bred in those games and present in the games’ regional pokédex; meaning Pokémon moved forward from older games were not allowed.
This meant players had to create teams and could not take advantage of move-pool options from prior generations. This helped keep things fresh.
At the same time, for some veterans it could cause trouble. Enosh Shachar, a Masters Division competitor from Tenafly, N.J., placed 12th in the tournament. His worst showing at the championships in the five years he’s played competitively. Shachar placed as high as third place in the Senior Division in 2011. Shachar was eliminated in the sixth round, right before the final bracket, in a tiebreaker that came down to opponent’s win percentage.
In previous tournaments Shachar liked to use Thundurus, a flying electric type that is both fast and powerful. Because of new restrictions on allowed Pokémon, Shachar couldn’t include him on his team this year.
Although older Pokémon were limited, a new element was the use of mega-evolutions. In the Junior Division, both champion Kota Yamamoto of Japan and runner-up London Swan of the United States used Mega-Kangaskhan and its ability to attack twice in a turn. Senior Champion Nikolai Zielinski of the U.S. also used a mega Pokémon to sweep Mark McQuillan of the United Kingdom 2-0. Se Jun Park of South Korea was the Masters Division champ.
Each champion received a trophy as well as scholarships and other prizes. Pikachu, the mouse, has been the mascot of the franchise since it began. Photo courtesy of the Pokémon Company International
Mega-Kangaskhan, unveiled at last year’s world championships, was a popular part of teams this year. This year’s reveal, Mega-Slowbro, could be similarly popular in next year’s tournament. Mega-Slowbro is part of a new wave of mega-evolutions being introduced in the upcoming Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, which are scheduled for a global release on Nov. 21.
Aside from the competition, meeting others in the Pokémon community was a big draw.
“Yes they’re here to win, yes it’s a competition, but at the end of the day, … they have created friendships through Pokémon,” said Rob Novickas, a spokesman for The Pokémon Company International.
Colin Salotti, 19, of Egg Harbor City, N.J., a moderator of a Reddit subreddit called r/PokemonTrades from New Jersey, was part of a group of reddit.com users who gathered at the event to put faces to web-personas. True to his subreddit, Salotti joined others in collecting as many of a specially distributed Pokémon called Aegislash that they could to share with r/PokemonTrades. “Not everyone can make it here,” he said.
“It’s the community, at this point. That’s what perpetuates my interest,” said Norman Jen, a New York City fan.