Once again, me and my fellow Pokemon Players had to deal with some unnecessary discrimination over something not that serious. In the end, we stood our ground and was able to compete in the 2018 Pokemon Korea Winter Tournament. But let me not get ahead of myself. Grab some tea and read a tale of the heroic Waygooks defeat Korean Discrimination Empire.

For the non gamer’s out there, the Pokemon Tournament has two tournaments. The Trading Card Game and the Video Game Tournament on the Nintendo 3DS. Players would compete to earn the chance to go the Pokemon International Tournament. Now I love playing Pokemon but I’m not on the level of competitive players. I’m a heavy casual player of the games. I like battling and having fun. The 2018 Winter League would take place at the Hyundai Department Store on the 10th Floor in Pangyo, Seoul, South Korea.

Back in the 2017 Autumn League Tournament, I went there to have fun and meet other foreigners and battle with Korean Players. I had a blast despite going 0-10. With the Winter League coming up on January 28th, I spent the earlier part of the month breeding and strategize for the 2018 Winter League.

I wanted to make sure that no matter the score, that I was going down fighting. Plus I wanted to show the Korean players, young and old, that yes there are Non-Koreans who play and know how to fight.

When it came time to register online on January 23rd, I knew they may try to pull a “no foreigners allowed” rule so just in case, I took a picture of my registration. Sure enough just two days later, they added that rule. What got even crazier they started calling and or emailing players. Using Naver Translator this is what it said:

“Hello, I am Pokemon Korea.

Thank you for applying in advance for the Korean League 2007-18 WINTER GAME.

Welcome to the Korean League 2007-18 WINTER GAME.

Prior to the competition, only Korean athletes are allowed to participate.

The competition is conditioned as follows :

・ A person who has Korean nationality

・ Nintendo 3DS software officially released by Nintendo Korea

And I want to share with you the Pokémon Ultramoon and the Pokémon Ultramoon.

Who owns the Nintendo 3DS Series main body

The Pokemon events are carried out according to the rules that are specified in each country.

If not, I regret to inform you that I can not participate in this contest.

Please reply by e-mail to be fully informed of the qualification for this competition, and please visit the competition reception area on January 28 to receive your certificate.

Contest Date : January 28 (Day)

Place of competition : Torfas Hall on the 10th floor of the Pangyo branch of Hyundai Department Store

Time to receive a certificate : 10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Additionally, it has been confirmed that with the current four techniques, the game will stop at a live event.

” Water Sporter “, ” Powertrack “, ” Forest Appellation ”

The above 4 technologies will be banned from use in this contest.

Please clear the above 4 technologies before participating.

Be careful to avoid losing the used part if it is stopped using the word.

precautions

※ Only Korean nationals are allowed to participate in this contest.

※ Please bring the ID card you can check.

※ If you visit after the receipt of the athlete’s card, you may experience a disadvantage such as a delay in entering the stadium.

※ Before you visit the competition hall, make sure to register a battle team in the battle box of the Poketmon Center PC in the game.

※ The Company is not responsible for any disadvantages caused by the Regulation.

For more information, please refer to the Korean League 2007-18 WINTER Special Page.

(http://pokemonkorea.co.kr/kl2018/#4)

Thank you.

Pokémon Korea Dream”

This made me want to go there and show off. In the game of course. So on the day of the event, me and six others arrived to sign up. It was going fine until one our friends wasn’t able to play. They said that he wasn’t allowed to play because he wasn’t registered. Despite the face that he had photo of his registration. There was a line forming at the registration and we did not move. It took us an HOUR for them to cave and look for the information. Apparently they “could not find it” in the system. They finally gave him a score sheet and we were on our way.

Despite that encounter, the event itself was a blast. Now none of us was expecting to go far in the tournament, but we were gonna fight like hell to win some battles! I was able to go about 1-9. My goal was to win at least one battle and I was good. Many of the battles were extremely close. Word got around about what happened and many of the Korean players sided with us. They agreed the last minute rule was wrong and it doesn’t reflect the Pokemon culture. Many of the players were excited to play with foreigners. I had a couple of guys and a kid come to me for a battle. The boy stomped me with him having 5 Pokemon and me with 0.

The event itself was an enjoyable one and I cant wait for the Spring or Summer League. Next time I’m going to shoot for 5 wins…..or realistically it’ll be 3 wins. But what do y’all think? Finish your tea and Ill see you in the next post.