A gathering of monsters at the National Championships.
From our lofty vantage point in the hardcore gaming tree house, with its hand drawn "no gurls allowed" sign, stacks of dog-eared games magazines and lingering aroma of sour musk and Doritos, we tend to have a limited idea of what competitive gaming can be.
It's online multiplayer, right? Deathmatch and Capture the Flag; XP and headshots; frags and spawn campers. The legacy of the LAN match still casts a long shadow over our perceptions of how things should work, but that's not what happens at the Pokemon National Championships. Not at all.
Held in Hall 8 of Birmingham's cavernous NEC the mood is part fan convention, part sporting fixture and part community gathering. The competition part of the event is split into three groups: Juniors, Seniors and Masters. It's a refreshingly laid back event, open to anyone eager enough to get to Birmingham and join the queue early (there's a cut off at 256 entrants per group, otherwise it would probably last all week). But despite the laissez faire qualifying criteria, the match regulations are many and detailed.
Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-07-04-the-pokemon-masters-article
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