Sunday, October 1, 2023

No One Does a Tournament Like Pokémon

You’re reading the fifth chapter of my eight-day travelog recounting my unbelievable trip to Japan to cover the 2023 Pokémon World Championships.

If you already haven't, be sure to check out the other chapters:

Day 5 - Starting Worlds Off With a Bang

6:00 am - It’s a good thing I got some extra sleep last night because my alarm was set extra early so we could get good seats for the opening ceremony.

7:00 am - Lasagna for breakfast.

[Editor’s Note: I’m as weirded out by this as you all are. A quick Google search has, frustratingly, given me no further insight as to why regular lasagna would be available at a breakfast buffet.]

7:30 am - Our press group gathers up and we walk over to the massive tournament hall with hundreds of tables, a massive main stage, and a giant Pikachu inflatable hanging from the ceiling watching over us, always watching. We arrive inside just in time to see the competing players enter the hall to the sound of cheers and applause. It reminds me of the welcoming Olympic athletes get. We go take the seats that were held for us, off to the left side of the stage, and we wait in excited anticipation as a massive screen counts down to the start of the opening ceremony.

9:00 am - The crowd chants in unison like it’s New Year’s Eve, “Three… Two… One!” and the opening ceremony officially begins. To start us off, there’s an amazing Taiko Japanese drum performance. It’s booming and thunderous and I’m impressed watching them pound the drums with huge sticks, especially the one guy with massive biceps striking his oversized drum with what looks like a baseball bat.

9:10 am - As has become tradition, the President of the Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara walks out on stage to greet the players and tease some big news coming during the closing ceremony.

When he leaves the stage, a stylized video shows the Pokémon teams that won the various competitions last year, and the crowd shrieks in joy when Flying Pikachu makes an appearance–the seemingly awful Pokémon card that took down Worlds 2022.

9:15 am - We file upstairs to the press room, which is filled with tables, charging stations, and snacks and coffee. I help myself to an iced coffee and munch on a mystery cookie that tastes like a giant, brittle Cheez-It.

11:30 am - Cody from ScreenRant is on his laptop watching the first round of the TCG tournament, featuring a player with a Giratina VStar deck. He says he’s a big Giratina fan, and I just happen to have a Giratina deck with me, so I take it out and show him how it works. He geeks out over the sick Giratina card art and says he wants to buy the cards so he can build the deck himself. I highly encourage this decision.

1:30 pm - We’re brought to a media room for a chance to take pictures with Snorlax. It’s a huge, spherical costume that looks like it should be impossible to move in but the person inside is doing a legendary job at it. When Cody decides to dab while posing for his picture, Snorlax doesn’t miss a beat and dabs, too. Like I said, legendary.

3:07 pm - I go check out the tournament hall. Hundreds of players are seated across from one another, battling it out in Pokémon TCG, VGC, GO and Unite.

There are big screens set up for the crowd to watch, and I notice one section is broadcasting with Japanese commentators for the locals.

I walk by the TCG Masters play area to see what decks competitors brought this year. There’s lots of Chien-Pao/Baxcalibur, Lost Box, and Gardevoir; a few Arceus/Giratina, Urshifu/Inteleon, and Lugia; and a sprinkling of Miraidon ex.

3:15 pm - I head over to the side events area, where players sign up to play mini-tournaments and earn prizes, but I’m dismayed to hear they’re all sold out for the day. Another player tells me there’s barely any room for side events at this venue, so there’s a small number of openings that all get taken within minutes of opening up. This is a surprise to hear. At pretty much any Pokémon event, there’s always been more than enough room with no fear of missing out. I was very much looking forward to getting to play some games with people from all around the globe, as that’s the most fun and unique experience of being at Worlds. The Giratina deck in my bag feels a bit heavier.

3:47 pm - I bump into Mathew and Ryan, of Mathew and Ryan fame. They’re on their way to watch some Pokémon Unite at the main stage and, probably noticing how sad and dejected I look, they welcome me to join them.

3:50 pm - We find seats and see we’re in the middle of a match between Latin American North team Entity7 and Japanese team Oyasumi Makuro, which is being shown on a giant screen while fans clap and cheer. I see Snorlax in a baby costume booty-slam a Rayquaza. God, I love Unite. The home team takes the win 2-1 and the crowd applauds enthusiastically.

4:00 pm - I ask Mathew and Ryan what it’s like to come to Worlds in Yokohama, and they say that when they think of Pokémon, they think of Japan and how much the games evoke it. This is their first time attending Worlds. They say that even though they’ve never been before, it’s clear to see it means a lot to the Japanese people, and they’ve been enjoying their infectious enthusiasm for the event.

4:21 pm - We part ways and I move over to see what’s happening on the TCG stream. By the way, I’m incredibly impressed that the main stage is showing four different Pokémon games at the same time, all on one looong screen that runs the entire length of the arena, yet you can only hear the commentary for the game you’re sitting in front of. Technology!

The TCG match is Lost Zone Box versus Chien-Pao/Baxcalibur. LZB is a slow and methodical deck that’s all about putting cards in the Lost Zone to activate powerful effects like Mirage Gate and Sableye’s Lost Mine, whereas C/B wants to take big knockouts by flooding the board with lots of Water Energy, Rain Dance style. The C/B player, Bastian Silva, convincingly takes the win 2-0, giving him a 5-0 tournament record. It takes six wins to move on to the next day of the tournament.

7:15 pm - The first day of the competition has come to an end, and we’re whisked off to another event. This time, it’s an outdoor live show where five dancing Pikachus take the stage and are joined by dancing Lucario, Zeraora, Cinderace, and Greninja. There’s lots of lights and music and pyrotechnics. The many kids in the crowd are loving it. I dig it, too, but it’s so surreal watching Lucario break it down with a group of backup dancers that I wonder if the heat has finally gotten to me and I’m starting to hallucinate.

7:45 pm - Turns out all of it actually happened, so, health crisis averted.

8:00 pm - The night’s not over yet. We’re taken to a theater for the world premiere of the new animated web series, Pokémon: Path to the Peak. Andy Gose introduces it. He’s the Senior Director of Media Production at The Pokémon Company International, whom I recognize from the interview I did with him a month previous at San Diego Comic-Con about Ash and Pikachu’s retirement and the launch of Pokémon: Horizons and the debut of Captain Pikachu. He says he’s so happy to be able to have the world premiere here, in the birthplace of Pokémon.

8:05 pm - Path to the Peak absolutely blew me away. It follows the journey of a young girl named Ava who learns to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game and decides to attend tournaments so she can one day become World Champion. It’s essentially The Queen’s Gambit but with Pokémon cards. It’s cute and sweet but never saccharine. There are lots of self-aware jokes and it has a sharp sense of humor. I appreciate how Ava isn’t necessarily perfect from the start. She has to learn how to be a good sport, even when her opponent is not. Best of all, the dialogue is full of TCG jargon that us competitive players would actually say, and while many of the battles feature starter deck-level cards, they still feature strategies that any pro player would use, like mounting an “Iono to 1” comeback. I dare say I loved it.

9:00 pm - The screening ends and I bump into Andy on the way out. I tell him how much I liked it, especially how authentic it was, and he says that’s all thanks to Mia Violet, who he gestures to nearby. I recognize her as a successful Pokémon TCG veteran, who now works for Pokémon. She tells me she was a consulting producer on the series, and suddenly it makes sense why everything was so spot-on. I congratulate both of them on a job well done and head out.

9:10 pm - On my way out, I bump into Frosted Caribou and Taco, and they invite me out to karaoke. I’m beyond tired and really shouldn’t…

2:20 am - I get back to my hotel and collapse on the bed. I fall asleep praying I still have my voice when I wake up tomorrow.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for a report on Day 6 of my trip, where the competition really heats up!

Check out our other coverage on Pokémon Worlds:

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