I began taking part in the Pokémon Buying and selling Card Sport (TCG) round 10 years in the past, once I was seven. My older brother, Marco, had already been taking part in with my dad for years. At first, the three of us simply performed at residence. For me, Pokémon TCG is a household exercise – it retains us shut. I suppose that’s vital, particularly these days when everyone seems to be on their cellphone.
I’m from Iquique, a metropolis within the north of Chile. Now we have a robust Pokémon group right here, and several other native retailers host tournaments. The sport is two-player, and entails every individual making ready a deck of 60 playing cards – every card represents one Pokémon, with totally different skills and powers. You then battle your opponent along with your playing cards; whoever has the extra highly effective mixture of playing cards is the winner.
Throughout Chile, Japanese tradition has change into ingrained in our personal – anime, Pokémon and manga are very fashionable right here. There have been plenty of Japanese exhibits on TV once I was rising up. I watched Naruto, Dragon Ball and, of course, Pokémon.
I travelled to Santiago for my first match once I was 10. I received to the ultimate. Earlier than I began taking part in Pokémon TCG, I’d not travelled a lot; now, I’ve been to tournaments in São Paulo, New Orleans, Buenos Aires and, most just lately, Hawaii, the place the 2024 world championships befell.
We started saving up for Hawaii a yr earlier than the competitors. My brother got here first in a match in Brazil and received some cash, and as one of many high gamers in Latin America, he was additionally awarded funds to go to the world championships.
My dad, Marco and I set off to Hawaii in August final yr – it’s the furthest we’ve ever travelled. On the primary day, we needed to wait three hours to examine in to the match, then we queued once more on the Pokémon centre, which sells merchandise. I received some plushies, together with a scuba-diving Pikachu unique to Hawaii. Then we focused on watching video games and strategising towards our opponents.
Marco is a greater participant than I’m – he’s among the finest on this planet. However the recreation additionally entails luck. I didn’t really feel overly emotional through the three-day championships – I used to be simply having a lot enjoyable. My dad taught me to not fear about profitable or dropping, however as an alternative to focus on taking part in properly and sharing nice experiences with my opponents.
I took half in 15 video games all through the competitors – every can last as long as 50 minutes. Within the ultimate, I hadn’t actually ready deck, so by no means anticipated to win. However my opponent made a mistake, I gave it my finest shot, and it labored. My dad would say I’m being too humble.
We didn’t have time to have fun my victory as I had a flight to catch – I used to be simply given the trophy after which rushed to the airport. However once I received again to Chile, we organized a barbecue and had about 30 associates over – in fact, we performed some Pokémon. A number of weeks later, we acquired an invite to the presidential palace. Athletes get invited to fulfill the president – even ones who play area of interest sports activities!
I wasn’t too taken with going, however noticed it as a possibility to encourage youthful youngsters to play. I used to be the primary Chilean to win the Pokémon championships. We don’t win many issues as we’re such a small nation.
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When my dad and I received to the palace, we had been informed Chile’s president, Gabriel Boric, needed to attend an emergency assembly and couldn’t make it. As an alternative, we chatted to the secretary common, the international affairs minister and the ambassador of Japan, who had been within the social influence of the sport.
Instantly the door opened and Boric walked in, and mentioned: “Hey cabros (guys), how are you?” He requested to see a few of my playing cards, and advised we take just a few selfies. It didn’t really feel as if I used to be speaking to a president, however simply hanging out with one other card participant – he performs the Magic the Gathering card recreation, which is analogous in format to Pokemon TCG.
I don’t care about defending my title – nobody has ever received it consecutively. I simply play to have enjoyable. Anybody expectantly can win. When you have deck, and it’s your day, who’s to say you possibly can’t change into the subsequent Pokémon champion?
As informed to Charis McGowan
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