A personal view of the Pokémon VGC UK: Difference between revisions

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blurb=Okay so the UK leg of the Pokémon Video Games Championships have taken place, and the winners Ruben (first place, from Spain) and Ashley (second place, from England) have been awarded their prizes and gotten home and back to their normal lives. I hope that everyone else who attended also went away feeling the buzz of success for what they have achieved. }}

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Okay so the UK leg of the Pokémon Video Games Championships have taken place, and the winners Ruben (first place, from Spain) and Ashley (second place, from England) have been awarded their prizes and gotten home and back to their normal lives. I hope that everyone else who attended also went away feeling the buzz of success for what they have achieved. I also hope that they enjoy their Tepig stylus and activation code for Play! Pokémon.

 

Once the doors had been opened and the queue slowly began to move forwards and we all began to make our way into the hall there was a little shock to the system.  

When I got inside the hall, I was surprised to see just how little there was to occupy people waiting to take part. For all those who had arrived early like myself to be apart of the event for the first time it seemed just a little sparse. I do not know why, but I had some-how come in my mind to expect more. I was expecting to see boards hung from the girders and maybe a few 'life-sized' cardboard cut outs.

I do have to say that the huge inflatable Zekrom and Reshiram with their flashing tails were truly magnificent and something that nearly everyone wanted their picture taken with. While the inflatable Tepig, Snivy and Oshawott were nice, as were the walking suits of the aforementioned starters and Pikachu who all wandered about the hall to meet and greet people.  

Yet the problem I felt and many others seemed to have too was, once you had your picture taken with the few set pieces and walking Pokémon you had little else to truly keep you occupied for the day other then finding people willing to do battle with you.  

The few things that had been set up for competitors were a single table with the trading card game, and a knock-out competition that gained more interests from the younger participants as they ended their time in the competition and those who were there wanting to use their hacked Pokémon (which to the trained eyes about me there seemed a few).  

There was the excitement of a down loadable challenge in the form of a Battle Test which kept many people occupied for a long time as they tried to get themselves onto the Battle Board, yet you could not keep this on your card for future play.  

There were no true give-aways in this years competition except a secret Extra-Link power. With no special event Pokémon and no toys for people to buy, many of the people I spoke to were feeling a little disappointed as they had come expecting at least something they could call their own to add to their games. Many commenting on the shiny Eevee from the year before. I had to agree that it was a shame. People wanted something that made you feel special about being there, something you could use in battle that would be recognisable other then the (personally quite cool) Tepig stylus you got for entering the competition, and yet even there to have had a choice of starters would have been nice. This was though the only thing I thought could have been better, everything else was fantastic.

For many I spoke to there was a concern about how well their teams may stand up in the competition, but the truth was most of the competitors there were still learning the ins-and-outs of all the generation 5 Pokémon too and could therefore be brought down by something that will next year be seen as an outstandingly blundering mistake. So this year many had come feeling it was a more even footing for both newcomers such as myself and veterans, like a woman I spoke to for whom it was her third year attending.  

I was surprised in my own naïvety, but so were some others, to find so many players were using the legendaries Tornadus, Thundurus, Landorus, Cobalion and Terrakion. Three of these were used in the final of the Masters Rounds by the winner. I personally found it a little odd given that so often I see long lists of all the Pokémon that are not allowed to partake in competitions often consisting of Legendary Pokémon due to their power, but this time there were only four – Kyurem, Zekrom, Reshiram and Victini. The choosing of these particular four seemed a little strange to me as almost anyone could have had at least one of these in their teams if they had only completed the main story.  

When it came to my turn to battle I was seated with a man wearing an Electivire hoodie that he had made himself. We shook hands, and from that moment my five minuet white wash was just a mix of nerves and laughter as my team that had finished White, was obliterated by just his Hydreigon and Eelektross combo. It may have only taken five minuets, but the memory will last a long time, I was out in the first round.

As to the Pokémon I saw; Hydreigon was the Pokémon I faced most often, cropping up repetitively in teams to use Draco Meteor and put an end to my team. Eelektross, Jellicent and Scrafty also featured heavily in the teams along with the odd flying legendary, I assume people had predicted an army of Hydreigon facing them and had gone looking to counter its incredibly destructive power, while having their own on team. I only fought Zoroark and Chandelure in one team, and one Haxorus, all of whom I had believed I would see far more of in the competition.  

As I talked with some of the competitors I was engaged in several conversations over the anticipated Ruby and Sapphire remakes and what people were expecting from next years competition when the flood gates are opened once again and people are free to choose from over 600 Pokémon, maybe even the full 649 will be allowed next year and we could have a truly legendary battle on our hands. Some people were already making plans for their teams, and the sad thing I noticed was how often they would refer back to generation one, two and three Pokémon as though the next two were of a lesser value. I was worried when in a competitive battle Garados and Tranatar are viewed as more of a threat then a team of two Hydreigon teamed together.

The final of the UK Masters Round was a real joy to watch and I was so disappointed that my cameras battery died half-way through as I would have loved to have had a copy of the final.