He used Trick Room, Rage Powder and Spore attacks. And a turning point came when he used Protect with his Bisharp, then took out his opponent's Terrakion with his Amoonguss' Giga Drain attack.
If that makes any sense to you at all, you may have guessed that we're talking about the new Junior Division National Pokémon Video Game Champion winner, Henry Maxon, an 11-year-old from Carnation who has been honing his Pokémon skills for about seven years.
The competition took place Friday through Sunday, July 8-10, in Indianapolis and drew more than 500 Pokémon video game players, family and fans from across the country. Henry qualified for the nationals by winning the regional competition held in Seattle in May.
What's next for Henry now that he's won the national title? Well, the world of course. He'll be at the World Championships in San Diego August 12-14. Along with an invitation to the World Championships, Henry won a Nintendo 3DS Game system, a 1st place medal and a bag of Pokémon swag.
"It feels great," Henry said via email before he got on the plane home.
Henry likes the game, he said, because "it's fun and open to anyone, but to be good you have to try hard instead of being lucky."
Though nervous about the World Championship, Henry is confident he'll do well.
Ruth Schubert is the managing editor of Seattle’s Child.
