POKÉMON
Super effective
This year’s Pokémon European International Championships showcases esports’ softer side
Arriving at London’s Excel exhibition centre, as one of the 10,000-plus visitors to the Pokémon European International Championships, you’d be forgiven for missing the esports stage where the game itself is being played. It’s tucked away at the rear, behind a bustling showfloor dotted with fairground-style games and giant plush toys being coveted by excitable children and misty eyed millennials alike. Meanwhile, the coveted Pokémon Centre pop-up requires attendees to register in advance for the opportunity to spend their money.
“It’s basically a mini convention tied to the international championships,” says Joe Merrick, owner of Pokémon fansite Serebii.
“There’s way more people just showing up cosplaying, something which in the past The Pokémon Company frowned upon, but now they’re actively encouraging.” Yet for all that it might feel like stumbling into an anime fan event, this is the biggest in-person Pokémon European Championship to date, with over 4,500 players from around the world. One family we speak to have flown in from Pennsylvania so their 11and 15-year-old sons can compete; elsewhere on the leaderboards you’ll find representatives from Mexico, New Zealand and Brazil.