{"id":60809,"date":"2015-02-16T12:34:50","date_gmt":"2015-02-16T20:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=60809"},"modified":"2015-02-19T12:41:34","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T20:41:34","slug":"pokemon-regional-championship-draws-hundreds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2015\/02\/16\/pokemon-regional-championship-draws-hundreds\/","title":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon Regional Championship draws hundreds"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The tournament at the Pioneer Event Center in Lancaster Saturday drew about 500 competitors of all ages, from as far as Colorado and Utah. (Photo courtesy UAV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 Pok\u00e9mon, the now world-wide sensation, was first released in the United States in 1998. It\u2019s been almost 20 years since that release, and it wasn\u2019t until this past weekend that the Antelope Valley saw itself host a regional tournament that covered both video game and card game competitions.<\/p>\n

The tournament in Lancaster Saturday drew about 500 competitors of all ages from as far as Colorado and Utah. From die-hard players, who have been playing since the franchise first launched, to a new generation of players more than happy to talk your ear off about their favorite card, a diverse crowd gathered at the Pioneer Event Center (PEC) for the regional championship.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The goal for most players wasn\u2019t just to win; it was to gather Championship Points. (Photo by Jonathan Varela)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to event official Cathy Di Leonardo, the largest gender demographic traditionally consisted of males; but as of recently, female participation has been rapidly increasing. The largest age group Saturday consisted of Masters, which is made up of competitors ages 16 and over, Di Leonardo said.<\/p>\n

The competition consisted of winners and losers, but the goal for most players wasn\u2019t just to win. The goal for most was to gather Championship Points.<\/p>\n

\"Pok\u00e9mon<\/a>
Pok\u00e9mon merchandise was on display. (Photo courtesy UAV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Championship Points are a type of competitive currency that players use to be able to qualify for World Championships, which will be held in Boston later this year.<\/p>\n

For other players though, the competition was a place to talk, laugh, joke, and generally relate to other people who share the same interest.<\/p>\n

For those new to the franchise, the regional event offered a good place to learn. During Saturday\u2019s competition, attendees were able to participate in side events, where they learned how to enter the world of competitive Pok\u00e9mon. The event on Sunday offered a Community Expo for Pok\u00e9mon fans of all ages.<\/p>\n

A Pok\u00e9mon competition this large was a first for the Antelope Valley. However, Lancaster resident and Pok\u00e9mon Professor Ivan Pavlovich runs a smaller local league that frequently hosts events.<\/p>\n

For more information on the local league, visit the Facebook page for Vince’s Pasta & Pizza Pok\u00e8mon League here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 Pok\u00e9mon, the now world-wide sensation, was first released in the United States in 1998. It\u2019s been almost 20 years since that release, and it wasn\u2019t until this past weekend that the Antelope Valley saw itself host a regional tournament that covered both video game and card game competitions. The tournament in Lancaster Saturday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":60811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60809"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}