t was the summer of 1999 when my sister and I were assigned the task of babysitting our niece and nephew for the fabulous price of absolutely nothing. I won't lie — it's difficult to spend your first summer as an eighteen-year-old with much lower-leveled characters at fourteen, eight and four. This is what made that summer awesome.
We learned Nintendo was sponsoring a Pokémon tournament at the mall, and we were instantly sent into complete Pokémon fandom. In short, we went nuts. Every single episode of Pokémon was watched, the Poké Rap memorized, and our Pokémon were taught any unusual attacks we could manage, all for the glory of the Pokémon Summer Training Tour.
The big day arrived and three of us were dropped off: little sis, my niece and myself. We stood in a long registration line eating "pre-fight doughnuts" as we checked and re-checked our Pokémon. Hundreds of children flooded the mall and I quickly realized I was one of the oldest competing.
The tournament was made up of three cups: Pika, Poké and Prime, each with a specific level range. Each cup was organized in a double elimination format but with only two battles. Out of those who won twice, one lucky kid was selected to challenge a fearsome Gym Trainer/NOA Game Tester.
A hush fell over the crowd and my niece was selected. She approached the man in his Nintendo polo and self-assurance swept across his face. My crew exchanged glances. He had no idea. It began and he was going easy on her. We laughed as our darling eight-year-old niece destroyed him. Broken and ashamed, he challenged her twice more to redeem his honor. She wielded her Alakazam as if they were one entity. Brutalized, he gave her a black cap with a Poke Ball embroidered across the front as a sign of his defeat. The eight-year-old had won.
We learned so much that day. From camaraderie amongst fellow gamers to supporting each other in times of anxiety and frustration, we were there for each other. Most importantly we learned that Pokémon offers all manners of strategical maneuvers that would otherwise fail against a more weathered gamer. Most people will scoff at you for selecting an army of Magikarps, but once your enemy realizes Magikarp was really just a Charizard all along that moment is now yours.
It's funny that you say that "Magikarp was really just a Charizard all along" because I was 14 when I went to this same tour in Kansas City.
The game tester I fought had nickn-named his Mewtwo "Chansey" so when we were picking a team of 3 vs 3 on the screen of a tv using Pokemon Stadium as a fighting platform, I saw he picked "Chansey" first so I chose my Gengar to go first thinking I'd have psuedo-immunity.
Boy was I wrong, I lost to that game tester. Kudos to your niece