“It’s very clear they can’t handle it”: Competitive Pokémon events have become a nightmare

I took a few years off from competing in the Pokémon TCG. After 2020, the vibe was just… Different. It went from a niche community of passionate nerds to a pandemic-fueled hype fest. And just like with the FGC, I guess I’m a bit of a gatekeeper. I missed the feeling that we were just there to compete, nothing more.

But when a Pokémon regional landed in Los Angeles (literally down the street from me), I felt I had to give it another try. However, it only confirmed why I’ve been wary of attending. Not only is it packed with a ton of new-gen fans, but The Pokémon Company can’t handle it.

It all started with signing up for the Los Angeles Pokémon Regional Championship. To give you an idea of the seasonal structure of the Pokémon TCG and VGC circuits, locals and Challenges are the smallest tournaments, followed by regionals, then nationals, then internationals. You want to accumulate Championship Points (shortened to a very sus “CP”) to qualify for the World Championship.

So regionals are a semi-big deal for those who want to earn points. I don’t care about qualifying, but I did want to try competing again. See what it’s like. I’d wasted money purchasing a semi-meta deck.

Well, it was closed.

I started competing in the TCG back in 2016, which is (gasp) 10 years ago. Christ. Anyway, events had caps even back then, and if you didn’t sign up in the first few days, you did risk losing out on competing.

However, since 2020, the tournaments have been closed almost instantly. The regionals have caps, but a lot more fans are interested in entering.

Long-time competitor Christina “Chia” Korsak (a Brawl champion I’ll be releasing a feature on later), told Esports Insider this has become the worst part of competing in Pokémon. She expressed frustration in the regionals selling out “in seconds.”

“This ruins a lot of people’s plans,” Chia said. “Like for [the North American International Championship], I got in, but my girlfriend didn’t. And I didn’t plan to room with others first ’cause she was gonna go. But now she isn’t ’cause the signup process is too extreme, and my other friends’ rooms are full. So even though I got in… Welp…”

Chia explained that one of her friends whiffed NAIC’s first round of registration openings, then the second, but got in on the third. Another friend whiffed all three, and he’s been competing at NAIC for years.

Caps have felt similar in size over the last couple of years, but the game keeps growing as more people join. And the events are not really scaling properly with them,” she said.

Anthony Kelly, another long-time competitor, was another player who whiffed all three registration drops for NAIC. He told Esports Insider that the event sold out in seconds. It didn’t matter how fast he attempted to react to the drop.

I didn’t even bother. Thankfully. I’ve attended in the past, but the event felt claustrophobic. The number of people piled into the convention center was unpleasant. What was once a very niche hobby had turned into a spectacle.

That’s the other issue I’m having: the size of events. The number of people attending shows a rise in popularity, but also shines a harsh spotlight on The Pokémon Company’s incompetence.

Back at NAIC, I remember waiting in massive lines just to check out various shops stationed in different conference rooms. And if you know how nerd groups are, you know it stank in those tiny, cramped rooms. I mean, if you even got in after waiting for 30 minutes just to check out some plushies.

The official Pokémon Center store was even worse. The line was over an hour long, even after picking a specific time slot. The way you were winding through into different pens felt very livestock-ish and annoying. This is what happens when most people attend Pokémon events as a fad rather than to compete. “

The same issue happened at Worlds last year as well. I remember many players telling me how disorganized and unfair this whole process was, since competitors didn’t have many time options since they were, you know, competing. Pokémon was letting a bunch of influencers take time slots over competitors, making it even tougher to find an opening.

But hey, at least I got to play some games last year.

At the LA regional, I didn’t sign up in time to compete. I missed that narrow registration thing. Fine. I’m rusty anyway. However, I arrived on Saturday with my new deck (and having paid money for a spectator badge) to find out there were no side events (friendly matches you can play).

After asking around, I discovered that the side events had been filled since 10 AM, when the event opened. There were so many people with spectator badges that there wasn’t enough room in the convention center to have more side events. I checked back a few times, but it never reopened.

Even worse, my boyfriend wanted to play some sides for VCG, which we found out didn’t even exist. The only option he had was a Challenge, which was a bit intimidating for someone who just wanted to have fun.

“There’s no reasonable explanation for them not to be running Pokémon events or activities besides the main event on Saturday,” Kelly said. “What is the point of a Spectator Badge if you cannot spectate or participate outside of the main event?

“Especially with a building as big as the Los Angeles Convention Center. It’s poor planning and awareness on Pokémon’s part.”

Chia felt similarly. While the fandom’s growth is not a bad thing (in theory), Pokémon is not really planning for it.

“It’s very clear the TPCI doesn’t know how to handle it, and they’re really dropping the ball on events, card economy, etc,” she pointed out. “For literally being the biggest media franchise in the world, it feels really sh***y to the fans ’cause so many legit fans get left out.”

I am personally not a fan of the growth, but maybe Chia is right. Maybe I only hate it because Pokémon has made it excruciating. The masses that show up to scalp merch at the Center, the huge lines at vendors, the side events filling up immediately… It’s a horrible experience, if you can even go at all.

Kelly wondered whether there could be two NAIC events in separate regions of the country to accommodate more players, allowing people to attend without the insane registration process. This would also make more room for side events and other activities. Sounds like money that the Pokémon Company wouldn’t spend, unfortunately.

He has been feeling like the competitive scene has gone downhill since he joined in 2016. More cheaters and more “horrible people” have joined. And that’s all part of a community growing. There are just more people in general, which means more opportunity for some to suck. And with Pokémon not really doing much to make it feel better, it does feel like the scene is worsening.

It feels like there is less focus on community and competition, more focus on cards, collecting, and being seen at events. There are more kids, more families. It’s not the same vibe.

As some would point out, it’s a kid’s game. Sure. But why do things for kids have to suck? It’s not like everything needs to be the Minions when Up and Flow exist. Things can be welcoming to children while still having actual merit.

I am not sure what the solution is at this rate. Larger event spaces? Larger event caps? More things to do at events? I’m not sure you can bring back that OG vibe, but it can definitely get better than it is now.