Wesley Hollenberg Earns Fifth Place in Pokemon World Championship

The following story was submitted by Wesley Hollenberg, a young Northbrook resident who earned 5th place at the 2012 Pokémon World Championships in Waikoloa, Hawaii in August. 

When I starting playing competitive Pokémon two years ago, in fourth grade, I never dreamed I would compete in the Pokémon Worlds competition in Hawaii. The Pokémon trading card game (TCG) is a strategic game based on analytical skills. My goal for the 2011-2012 Pokémon season was to earn a top 40 rank in the U.S. — the requirement to qualify for the Pokémon world championships in Kona, Hawaii on Aug. 11 and 12.

At the end of the 2011-2012 Pokémon season, I was the 18th ranked Junior TCG player in the U.S.

I was nervous on the flight to Hawaii. I knew the pressure was on me to do well. My goal was to make the final 16. The pairings for the first round were posted very fast and my friend Xander Pero, who also qualified for the world championships, said that it would be a tough round when he saw who my opponent was. He said that before every round I won that day.

I was really nervous when I sat down at the table for my first round because I knew that all of the players would be the world’s finest. I played my first round against someone from the U.S. and took a serious lead and won. The next game wasn’t as easy. I played against a guy from Argentina and was extremely far behind. Even though he had the win in his hand, he made a mistake and I found a way to take the win right out of his hands.

After I had a two win streak, I was happy that could finally take a breather during the lunch break. My friend Xander also had a win streak, but both of us needed three more wins to reach the final 16.

After lunch I played one of Xander’s close friends. He said that I was going to lose again. She earned a lead at first, but I came from behind and won again. After that, I played a Japanese player that beat me pretty badly. The next round I faced another player from Japan and won. I got off to a giant lead and he couldn’t make a comeback.

I won the rest of my matches that day.

I looked at the final standings and I made the second seed, advancing to the final 16 in day two of the tournament. 

In my first match I played someone who took fourth at the U.S. National Championships. We played a match that had an hour time limit. It was a best two out of three style match so I could lose one game and still have a chance to win thematch. He won the first game. In the second game, I was extremely far behind, but stole victory yet again from the jaws of defeat. In the third game I took a huge lead where he couldn’t make a comeback, and won that match.

The next match was very hard, and I lost the first game. I made another comeback the second game. It all came down to the third game. My opponent used a card where it let him flip two coins and for each heads he could search his deck for a certain card. He got a tails on the first flip.

All I needed was for him to get a second tails and I would win the game on my next turn. He got a tails, but at the last second it rolled off his play-mat and landed on a heads. I immediately congratulated my opponent and wished him luck in his match in the final four.

The judges who watched our game told me that I was the classiest of the losers. A judge escorted me to the awards table where I got my prizes. I was given a $1,500 dollar scholarship, some special cards and a special bag.

I came home very proud of my 5th place finish and happy about my winnings. I will remember my Pokémon experience in Hawaii for the rest of my life.

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