Back to the end
Life changed drastically for most of us when out of nowhere, two years ago we began locking ourselves down as the world experienced the worst pandemic of our era. Something that seemed like a problem for about a few weeks at the time, turned into something that completely changed our daily lives and of course, completely stopped many of our plans. Just in summer 2019, we had a huge opportunity to attend Pokemon World Championship Held in Washington DC where it was finally announced that the next stop was London. As we all already know, 2020 and 2021 were the years where the competition had to be conducted remotely and, of course, the Pokemon community could not experience watching together. In reality in 2022 with a significantly different landscape, despite being threatened by the famous virus, we finally get to come together again to celebrate a great series of pop culture.
Some people think that social distancing is something that shouldn’t go away, much less a false security, but, while I agree with many of these points, I believe that there are very specific moments in which you There’s nothing like meeting someone who shares the same passion and taste. As I was saying, having gone to Pokemon Worlds two years ago I have a great taste in my mouth and, of course, very high expectations of what this new head-to-head version will be, which I’m happy to say. About you, a very check has been crossed. No doubt, the Pokemon Company threw the house out the window, knowing that the return of their community was definitely something to remember. In this special article, we’ll make a brief account of what was experienced on August 18, 19, 20 and 21 in the heart of the UK.
the champion
One thing I love about the Pokemon World Championship is that unlike any other major video game competition event, you rarely hear the word esports here, or anything similar. No, Pokemon Worlds isn’t going that way at all. Here, all the business of “professionalism” in competitive gaming not only exists, but we’re dealing with friendly encounters between players who simply do it for the love of the art. Yes, there are juicy prizes, in fact, this year more than $1 million was distributed in five disciplines, but we don’t have important sponsorships, questionable organizers or competitors who feel a lot of pressure because their careers may or may not depend on winning. Not having much can completely change the event, for example, an Intel Extreme Masters
As I was saying, Pokémon World Championships 2022 is divided into five different disciplines, two of which are completely new to the event. In addition to the classic trading card game, Pokemon Tournament and Pokemon VG which this time was Sword & Shield, Pokemon Unite and Pokemon GO debuted with great success with their first champions. From the Mexican side we hoped to see United representatives, but in the end they could not participate. Each competition was intense and in the end only one of them became the world champion. It is important to note that, as always happens, each “sport” was divided into three categories: juniors, seniors and masters, which are essentially age divisions.
Below we present you this year’s list of winners in a practical way where, without a doubt, I prefer the final between Portugal and Spain for the Sword and Shield Masters Trophy. What an exciting and close series that we had the opportunity to witness. It should be noted that like every year, the Japanese representation ended up with most of the awards:
Pokemon TCG
Junior Division Winner: Rikuto O.
Senior Category Winner: Liam H.
Masters category winner: Ondrej Skbal.
Pokemon VGC
Junior Division Winner: Kosaku Miyamoto.
Senior Category Winner: Yasuharu S.
Masters Category Winner: Eduardo Cunha.
pokemon go
Senior Category Winner: MEWeedle.
Masters Category Winner: DancingRob.
Pokemon Unite
Winning team: BLVKHVND and its members are: Kyriaos (Kihyun Lee), Overlord98 (William Byrnes), Slashcan (Sean Tucker) and Junglebook (Nicholas Jinku Kim) and Elo (Shi Yuan Huang).
Smallpox Tournament
Senior Category Winner: Reuben Staples aka Fruitprime.
Masters Category Winner: Davon Amos-Hall aka Shadowcat.
At least for me, watching the junior division competitions is always very interesting and fun, because it is impossible for me not to think how I was when I was eight or nine years old and my parents took me to a school football game. Did they take it seriously that maybe I wasn’t very interested -I just liked to stay at home playing video games-. What I get with it is that you see dads taking their kids to a Pokemon competition with the same enthusiasm instead of facing them off in a traditional game. For my generation, it seemed impossible that something like this could happen, and now that I’m completely involved in video games dedicated to covering what were seen as mere toys, I can’t help but be amazed. That is, without the real interest of the father or mother, it is impossible for these young children to participate in international competitions like Pokemon World, because let’s remember, the classification process is long and very complicated.
Best, shop
Yes, the contests were exciting and very exciting, however, we all have to admit that there is something really special about Pokemon related merchandise that can make anyone go crazy. As is tradition, a full Pokémon Center was installed at the Pokémon World Championship 2022, the largest in history according to organizers, which was packed from day zero. I say day zero because the doors were already open on Wednesday the 17th before the competition started. We had the chance to arrive at the event on Tuesday night the 16th and the following morning, with huge lines already forming with fans willing to mortgage their homes to get what is on sale this year. ..
Undoubtedly, the great attraction was the commemorative products of the event, ranging from classic t-shirts and stuffed animals, for example, to skateboards worth more than £300 pounds sterling, which is just over $7 thousand. pesos mexican Something that really caught my attention was that on this occasion, three different product lines were launched to celebrate the Pokemon World Championship 2022 in London, each with its own personality, such as Pink, which was completely urban and very colorful, or London, which was all of these. British boarding schools were styled.
In our case, we were able to enter the store until the 18th and despite the large number of people, we found a perfectly well-stocked place where you can still find everything despite the fact that a large number of participants have huge bags full of merchandise. What a surprise we had the next day and especially the last day. It was clear that the company underestimated the thirst of the participants to spend, because basically you went to completely empty shelves or where there were only sizes like XXXXL that surprisingly later disappeared completely.
Of course, the issue of hoarders was the order of the day. I believe that at this point, the company was wrong, since its only measure was to limit five identical products per customer and a total of 100 different items. That certainly didn’t stop you from seeing dozens of people carrying mountains of commemorative Pikachu plushies that, a few hours later, were already selling for triple their original price on sites like eBay, and which were sold out in stores. It is always a shame that many of these people in attendance, who wanted souvenirs for themselves, had to leave empty-handed.
Activities out of competition
One of the big questions I hear when you talk about an event like the Pokemon World Championships is, “Besides watching the competitions, what else can you do as a non-participant?” Well, the reality is that yes, indeed, the main attraction of the events is watching the games, but especially this year, it was noted that the organizers put special emphasis on having a diverse meeting so that everyone can have a great time.
In addition to special workshops where experts teach you the basic rules of the TCG and where they give you your first deck, we had things like Pokemon Square, which was a space that was installed outside the convention center and where basically a Pokemon fair was held. Meet Pikachu and Eevee for a photo, get a “tattoo” or what not, enjoy some cookies in the form of a Pokeball, there were some activities in this place, which can be accessed even if you don’t have accreditation. Event Officer.
Apart from all the above, it is worth noting the way the cable car next to the event area was themed. Both the station and the gondola that allow you to cross London’s famous River Thames look like an exit from any of the Pokemon game regions. It was something like walking for a few minutes on one of the sets used in the Detective Pikachu movies. A truly special experience that closes with a beautiful boat trip for all the international press and it allows us to see the beauty of the British capital at night. Likewise, one of the nights, it was used for a special screening of Pokemon: The Arceus Chronicles, the new movie in the series that will be released on September 22 on Netflix. Look forward to our review soon.
As I’ve already mentioned, the Pokemon World Championships are much more than just a competitive event, or something that could be confused with an esports meeting. No, here we’re looking at something very close to a BlizzCon-type community convention. Speaking of which, it caught my attention that with the energy and fashion that the cosplay scene has taken on around the world lately, it’s very hard to find someone who dresses up here.
Another great event
I couldn’t be more grateful that these types of gatherings are finally becoming a reality again. As far as it seems when the Pokémon World Championship 2019 ended in Washington DC, it was announced that the stop in 2020 would be London. Even further back when the epidemic was getting worse and worse and these conferences with thousands of attendees seemed like another era, another time. I love that when the opportunity came and the necessary care was taken, the Pokemon Company decided to pick up with such vigor and right back where everything left off.
My advice is that if you ever have the chance to attend one of the Pokemon Worlds, don’t hesitate for a second and do it, you really will have an incredible time. Now we can only hope that in 2023 and for the first time in history, the event will be held in Japan, specifically in the city of Yokohama.
