Pokemon US Nationals

The Pokemon US Nationals was held this week, and there are a couple surprising things to talk about. One is the crazy fact that if you were born between 1998-2001, then you enter in the senior division. The SENIOR division. If you, like me, were born in the 80's, then you get to compete in the masters division, for any of us old fucks who were born 1997 or before. Aside from the overwhelming number of young children in attendance, the big surprise for me was the announcement that this year's Pokemon Nationals had the highest turnout and number of participants ever. Bigger than those legendary Nationals events from the late 90's, when Pokemon was supposedly at the height of it's popularity. Pokemon is more popular than ever, the fans aren't decreasing and dropping off, they are increasing, and bringing their kids.

Six winners emerged from the coliseum dust, and those six will advance to the even crazier 2013 Pokemon World Championship in Vancouver. These six will represent our glorious USA against the likes of South Korea, Japan, China, Germany, Canada, and the biggest Pokefan country of them all, Sweden. Here's a list of our red white and blue champs.

Video Games

Junior Division (born 2002 or later): Beau Berg, playing with Tyranitar, Garchomp, Zapdos, Cresselia, Hitmontop, and Scizor.

Senior Division (born 1998 to 2001): Paul Chua, playing with Politoed, Kingdra, Cresselia, Scrafty, Metagross and Thundurus.

Masters Division (Born 1997 or earlier): Gavin Michaels, playing with Ludicolo, Amoonguss, Landorus, Metagross, Volcarona, and Tyranitar.

Trading Card Game

Junior Division: Carson St. Denis, running a team Plasma deck.

Senior Division: Calvin Connor, running a team Plasma deck.

Masters Division: Edmund Kuras running a "Deck and Cover" Gothitelle/Accelgor deck.

Original Pokemon fans are all in their twenties now, and what is so cool is that they still attend events like this, and they bring their kids with them. Pokemon is all about bonding, and maintaining friendships even under the most dire circumstances. It's great to see that these fellow Pokedads and Pokemoms didn't let this franchise fade away with their childhood, but they embraced it as a way to strengthen the connection between themselves and their children. It just further establishes Pokemon as more than a card/video game, but as an experience that teaches important values, and improves the way you treat others. 

You know how much a shadowless, first edition booster pack from the original series card line will cost you? 250$ Jesus.

I could never play Pokemon competitively, it's simply gotten too complicated. Nature, breeding, I skip over all that shit and just try to catch as match as I can and cultivate a powerhouse team that can get me through Victory Road. These kids are hardcore, and put just as much time and effort into their craft as Magic, Starcraft, and DDR champions do. I can't wait till Vancouver, where not only will we see a new champion, but theres also going to be really big X/Y news revealed there too. Still pissed about the new fairy type, just saying!