I Wanna Be The Very Best at Pokémon

03/06/2018 Orange Appeal

Andrew Munoz competes in the 2018 Pokemon Regional Championship Tournament in Costa Mesa Saturday, March 3. (courtesy of Jeff Stratford)

Players battled at the 2018 Pokémon Video Game Championships (VGC) Regional Championship in Costa Mesa on Saturday, March 3, to reach the title of Master.

Battles took place in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. Players were permitted to use any Pokémon except for Mythical Pokémon and the most powerful Legendary Pokémon, according to the event’s website.

I had the opportunity to compete in the tournament but sadly, I didn’t make it very far. It’s not that I wasn’t serious or anything, it’s just that I forgot how to play Pokémon. The monster I used was a water monster that has electric and ground moves that could counter my opponent.

Yeah, I was left feeling uneasy about that.

I asked my opponent Erron Sanchez what I did wrong in our match?

“You did nothing wrong,” Sanchez says. “I just needed to take out the biggest threat to my monsters, but if there was a moment I guess it had to be when you didn’t switch out your monsters.”

Sanchez said new players can’t avoid making this mistake.

“You can’t all the time, but there will be moments where you can,” he said. “Competitive Pokémon involves a lot of psychology.”

He said it comes down to the player’s level of experience.

“Remembering your monsters’ weakness, the match-ups, moves, etc., along with when you’re in actual battle, that mental part will either sleep or awake mid-match,” Sanchez said.

Players who gain the most points that allow them to enter into this year’s World Championship event.

Brandon Meckley, from Austin, Texas, won the video game championship tournament with a score of 2-1 against Michael Groshans, from San Francisco, earning him the title of Masters Division Champion. Meckley will advance to the World Championship in Nashville, Tennessee later this year.

 

Margaret Fara, a 32-year-old mother and wife, shared it was her first time at the event.

“I think this is wonderful for my boys, I don’t mind the noise or how crowded it is,” Fara said. “I think something like this should happen more often. And even if I were to get board there are other parents here, so yeah.”

I believe the experience I had participating in this tournament is something that every Pokémon and non-Pokémon fan should get to experience. It’s not all about wining but more about bringing the community together, including kids, online players, competitive players, and parents.

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frank kalaleh