The Glory of Pokemon Nationals

The whole family is exhausted and emotionally drained from the weekend wonder of Pokemon Nationals....Yes, there is such a thing, for the Pokemon Card Game, and it is huge.

There was a new attendance record of 950 participants, all with good rankings in his or her state, and in three different age divisions. My kids were participating in the Junior and Senior divisions, and anyone over 16 participates in the Masters division. I am amazed, but the grown ups are the largest division by half.
The kids were majorly excited. The youngest had been the state champ in his division, and had earned a travel stipend to come. The older one has won several other events during the year and also ranked well enough for decent pairings.

Dan got the convention pass when we committed to it in the spring, and spent the whole day with them. I have family in the area and hung out with them. Next year, should we do this again, we will split the duties. It was high emotion time for all the kids there. There were a lot of kids who were used to winning in their leagues and tournaments who did not do well at all with the heightened competition. The main prizes were scholarships for $5000 and $3000 and $1000, so it wasn't just for bragging rights. The winners also get invites and travel and lodging for Pokemon Worlds in Orlando, FL this year.

Dan said that there were some really high pressure parents there, really focusing on that getting to Worlds and win win win. There were a lot of stressed out kids, either getting consoled or given boisterous pep talks.

Our kids were just happy to be there and strategizing for next year. The older was 4-4 and the younger 3-5 in the long long day of prelim rounds that went from 10am to 10pm. I dropped them all off at 7:30am to get in line to make sure they even got in. They had moments after a loss where they were disappointed, but they kept at it and kept a good sportsman attitude. Both felt like it was a good showing for their first time there.

It may take a few days to make it back to normal. Just like with any huge competition, time is needed for decompression and regrouping.