BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
EDISON — With sage advice from his mom, Priti, to never give up, Parth Patel forged on after a loss in his first Pokémon competition last year.
This year, Parth, 15, an Edison resident, clinched first place in the senior division of the 2017 Pokémon Regional Championships held in Roanoke, Virginia in May, which earned him coveted championship points toward a potential invitation to the 2017 Pokémon World Championships in August.
“I began prepping for the Pokémon Regional Championships one month before the tournament,” Parth said. “The day I made [my Pokémon team], I went undefeated with that team for fifteen games until I lost my first game. From that game onward I wrote down everything my team couldn’t handle.”
Parth said his mom was by his side going into the Regional Championships
“Whenever I lost a round, she would always tell me to focus and try to forget about my losses and try to concentrate on winning,” he said. “My mom has been there every time I have lost or won in Pokémon. She is my number one supporter and my number one fan.”
Parth said he played more than 1,000 Pokémon games online before he knew he was ready for the competition.
The online games he played are called Pokémon Battlespot, which Parth said allowed him to battle anyone in the world.
“I play Pokémon about five hours on the weekends and one hour each day on the weekdays,” he said.
Parth said when one is playing in a tournament, one needs a positive mentality.
“When I was playing in the championships, it was very tough sometimes since in Pokémon you play a best-of-three match in which you have to win two games within three rounds to win a match,” he said. “Whenever I would lose one game, I would start focusing more as my mom advised me, since I would have to play perfectly and win the next two games to win the entire match.”
Parth said it was important not to get stressed and play his best.
“The number one goal in playing Pokémon is to believe in yourself that you can win,” he said.
The Pokémon Regional Championship was held May 6-7 with thousands of supporters in attendance.
Along with the coveted title and Pokémon Regional Champion trophy, Parth also secured valuable championship points that count toward a potential invitation to the 2017 Pokémon World Champions in Anaheim, California held August 18-20.
With more than 1,000 players competing for a portion of up to $50,000 in cash prizes, scholarships and merchandise, the Roanoke Pokémon Regional Championship is one of only 16 regional-level tournaments that took place across North America this season and are a critical step on the year-long journey to earn an invitation to the Pokémon World Championships.
“From inspiring displays of sportsmanship to creative new TCG (Trading Card Games) and video game strategies, the 2017 Pokémon Regional Championships have been some of the most compelling and competitive tournaments of the season,” said J.C. Smith, senior director of Consumer Marketing for The Pokémon Company International.
Each year, the Pokémon Organized Play tournament series draws hundreds of thousands of Pokémon players to compete at various local league events and sanctioned tournaments throughout North America.
For more information visit www.pokemon.com/play.
