By Nina Huang
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Filipino American and owner of Tabletop Village, Brian Myers, is proud to have sent a group of 30 Pokémon trainers to compete in this year’s Pokémon World Championships (Worlds). Several highlights included Logan Bailey, age 11, nabbing second place and $30,000 and Edison Chen, also age 11, getting seventh place and $15,000 in the junior division of the Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament. Jake Koster placed in the top 32 and was awarded $5,000.
From left: Logan Bailey, Cobey Huh, Edison Chen, and Prince Williams (Photo by Brian Myers)
Worlds took place over three exciting, match-filled days in Honolulu, Hawai’i, from Aug. 16–18, 2024. This global capstone event of the 2024 Championship Series season featured heated competition between players from across the world in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon Video Game Championships, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.
Each trainer’s journey to this point has been fraught with challenges, intense competition, and relentless determination.
“When I made it to Top Eight at the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships, it made me feel very accomplished,” said Chen. “Going into round eight, if I lose another game, I would be eliminated from the tournament. However, I was so determined that I won the next four rounds straight. Over the summer, I stayed in Taiwan to practice against their players and hone my skills. When I came back to Seattle, it was great to have a different group of people to practice against at Tabletop. Playing against players from Asia and players from the United States gave me a better understanding of what to expect at the Worlds. At Worlds, my final record was nine wins and three losses. All my losses were to players from Japan. So, next year I am determined to travel to Japan to practice so I can improve myself more.”
Myers explained that Worlds is the last event of the 2023-2024 season. They have to compete in a series of events in which they have to gain enough points to qualify. In order to qualify for Worlds, all of the kids that were there had to travel to different states and compete in different regional events. Every one of the kids who placed went to international events and played in cities such as London, Sao Paulo, and New Orleans.
Myers explained that the card game changes every quarter.
“The way the card game works is you can construct your own deck of 60 cards and you play against one other person. If you win enough times, you get to go to Worlds,” he said.
With the video game, you make your own team of five Pokemon and you battle against another trainer. There is also Pokemon Go that’s still popular where you can battle other trainers.
Pokemon Unite is a five-on-five game similar to League of Legends, which is a team e-sport game.
Since Tabletop Village opened, they have participated in three Worlds, Honolulu being their third. The first year was in London and they sent about six people and last year, they sent 15 people to Japan.
These trips are mostly self-funded by the competitors, but Myers said that the top players in the world get paid to play. There are several players from Seattle who are listed on the global leaderboard. Myers’ own son, Polaris Altarez, was in the top eight last year.
“A highlight was the amount of young people to be qualified this year and the amount of families that came to support them. The amount of joy and fun that the kids got to have together was incredible,” Myers shared about this year’s Worlds.
As a native of Hawai’i, it was extra special for Myers to get to go back and bring the village he built in Seattle with him home. After the tournament, he and several families stayed in the North Shore together, hung out at Waimea Bay, ate at the shrimp trucks, and got Matsumoto Shave Ice—all the things Myers did growing up as a kid.
Myers and his family opened Tabletop Village in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (C-ID) in 2020; they previously owned a taekwondo gym in the same location. Altarez started playing Pokémon when he was 5 years old. He liked it a lot and they were looking to do something new. Up until he was about 10 years old, they didn’t have a place where he could play in Seattle.
He said that in Japan, there are Pokémon stores everywhere where people can play the game, but in the United States, most of the stores were dedicated to Magic the Gathering, which typically catered to an older white male audience.
“We felt like there was a need to have our own space, so we created our own space,” he said.
Myers and his family take the game seriously, and they’re good at it, too. Altarez placed eighth in last year’s Worlds. Myers shared that as soon as his younger son, Cyrus, turns 6, he’s going to start competing.
Now, Tabletop Village teaches over 300 kids in their afterschool program and are also in 18 Seattle schools. Myers shared that teaching kids how to play Pokémon also teaches them math, reading comprehension, and social and teamwork skills.
The store has become a central gathering spot for players, fostering a sense of camaraderie and competitive spirit. Their space allows kids to play Pokémon several days a week and they can play longer compared to other stores.
“We have a very strong community; the village has about 250 players. It’s a traveling village that goes to all these places together. It’s very distinct and different because sending 30 people to the World Championships is an astronomical number. Nobody sends 30 people from the same store to a tournament,” Myers said.
Having seen an increased demand, Myers plans to open Tabletop Village in Denver sometime next year.
Next year, the competition will be held in Anaheim, California and Myers hopes to bring more than 30 competitors. Although the number of competitors who can qualify will be cut in half, he thinks it’s completely doable and he hopes that Tabletop Village can send 40 out of the top 75.
“I’m looking forward to being in Anaheim; it’s closer so it’s like we get to play in our backyard,” he said.
Nina can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.
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