Gotta Catch ‘Em All

I took my step-son to a Pokemon Regional Championship in Vancouver on Sunday, after reading about it in the paper. Later in the year, we’re getting the World Championships, which I had misread and assumed it was set for Sunday. Like Michael Bluth, I didn’t know what to expect. It was a crowded room with probably over two hundred people in attendance of all ages. They were holding a Video Game and Trading Card competition simultaneously, with three age groups apiece. We’d gotten there a little late and couldn’t get in to the First Round of the Video Game competition. I wasn’t even expecting to enter my son in the games, as I thought we could just hang out and watch. In the Second Round, he was ready and won his first battle against a girl sporting a Victini hat that could only be won as a prize at the games. He also won a door prize, along with his opponent, which was a pencil and stickers. Door prizes got better each Round, and everyone got a trading card each Round. The first card was a rare one with a special foil graphic for competitive games. He lost the next Round, won the Fourth, and lost the Final, placing him in 20th out of 25th, with an automatic First Round lost. Still, 2 out of 5 games wasn’t bad for someone showing up out of the blue. I looked at his team and saw he was battling with monsters I’d raised in White and traded over to Black 2.

As for the others in attendance, it was a cornicopia. For some reason there was a group of four girls in weird cosplay. They were dressed like half-steam punk/half-furries with tails and top hats. I couldn’t tell if they were original costume ideas or some obscure characters from an anime I’ve never seen. Nervous teenaged boys hovered around them. I also swear I saw a blind kid playing the Pokemon video game. I didn’t even know how that was possible. He had a cane with him and glasses, and he had to be led around, but I saw him playing it. A lot of other players had the Victini hat, and I wanted one. I was hoping there would be booths where I could buy merch. I need a new hat for my bald head.

Kids kept coming up to me because they saw me playing my old DS Lite and White while I was waiting between Rounds. My hearing’s shot so I couldn’t really understand what they were asking, plus I haven’t played Pokemon properly in over two years. I haven’t even touched the 2’s.

My son, for some reason, had his friend’s version of Pokemon Black, and I brought it with me. I was able to download a new Pokemon as a Mystery Gift on both my game and his and my son’s game. I was worried the games were going to strecth on late but we were done around 2 p.m. for the Video Game competition with a lunch break.