Gaming

Inside the Ultra Competitive Yet Very Wholesome Sport of Pokémon Gaming

"It’s kind of like poker and chess combined," said a real-life pokémon trainer.
Koh Ewe
SG
Melvin Keh Pokémon tournament
Photo courtesy of Melvin Keh

In February, 7-year-old Singaporean Simone Lim was crowned champion of the Pokémon Oceania International Championships Junior Division. Her skillful gameplay and wide-eyed cuteness melted hearts everywhere and introduced many more to the world of competitive Pokémon gaming.

Behind Simone was her coach Melvin Keh, a competitive Pokémon player and real-life pokémon trainer. Unlike Ash Ketchum, Melvin does not actually catch pokémon. However, he does belong to a very niche gaming community that's both very wholesome and surprisingly ultra competitive.

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Besides being the coach to the new junior world champion, Melvin, 26, also has a long list of personal accolades — top 16 for the Pokémon World Championships in 2018 and 2019, top 4 in the Latin America International Championships in 2018, and top 4 in the Europe International Championships in 2019, just to name a few.

For Melvin, Pokémon isn't just an adorable childhood game. It's a way of life.

There are several variations to the game of Pokémon. You can play it as a video game (Melvin's expertise) or a trading card game. There are also versions like Pokkén Tournament, and Pokémon Go, among others. But in each version of the game, the gist is the same — you pit your pokémon against your opponents’, and you win the game when your pokémon defeat theirs.

VICE caught up with Melvin to ask what it actually takes to be a pokémon trainer, how he got into the scene, and who his favourite pokémon is.

Melvin Keh Pokémon championships

Photo courtesy of Melvin Keh.

Hi Melvin! So what are Pokémon competitions actually like?

So, there are official circuits organised by The Pokémon Company to promote their game. They push out events regularly and invite players from all over the world. There are local circuits, then regional circuits, where they pick some of the best players from the region and sponsor their travels to other regional tournaments.

In a tournament, you have six pokémon and you choose four of them to battle. During the team preview segment, you can see which pokémon your opponent has. Then you get about two minutes to strategise, where you decide which pokémon you want to bring.

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What’s the difference between competitive Pokémon games and playing it just for fun?

It’s very different. You have to keep up with competitive Pokémon games. It’s not like you can just learn one set of skills and use it forever. You can use it for one or two seasons at most before you have to upgrade.

There’s a very big fan base for Pokémon, but competitive playing is a subset of this fanbase. And we’re a very niche subset.

How did you get into playing Pokémon competitively?

I started playing competitively in 2014. After completing National Service in Singapore, I knew I had two passions I could pursue. There was the martial arts thing — I was into MMA. And then there was Pokémon.

When I first started playing Pokémon, my goal was just to have fun. As time went on, I kept winning and people started to notice me. I was invited to travel overseas for tournaments. And that’s how it began. When you do well during your tournaments, they sponsor you to go for the next one.

In the Pokémon community, we call this “snowballing.”

Melvin Keh Pokémon tournament

Photo courtesy of Melvin Keh.

How did you become a Pokémon trainer?

I’ve been coaching for about eight months now. When you do well, people notice. People started asking me if I could coach their kids. We’re such a closely-knit community that we all know each other. It’s very easy to find one another. Like for Simone, her dad asked me to teach her how to play the game.

There’s the option to go into full-time coaching in the future, but right now it’s not a sustainable career choice. There aren’t enough players to coach. So, I have a part-time job to supplement my income.

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This is a sensitive question but I’m going to ask it anyway … what do you think of Pokémon Go ?

There’s a misconception when I tell people I play Pokémon competitively. They’re all like, “Pokémon Go?”

It gets annoying because I constantly have to tell people that it’s not Pokémon Go. In Pokémon Go, you just swipe to catch the pokémon, and that’s all. For competitive Pokémon, there’s strategy involved. It’s kind of like poker and chess combined.

How much time do you spend playing Pokémon every day?

I don’t keep count of the hours, but I play about 30 games a day. The first thing I do when I wake up is to play my game. It’s a daily warm up routine. And the last thing I do before going to sleep, is to play my game. Practice makes perfect. Like everything in life, you have to practice to get good at it.

How is the competitive Pokémon community like?

We’re a very closely-knit community. In Singapore, I would say there are about 100 competitive Pokémon players. Everyone kind of knows everyone.

Conflicts do arise, here and there. People bicker online over trivial stuff. I try to keep myself out of the drama. But for the most part, we’re a pretty wholesome community. We see one another at these big events overseas. I bring them gifts from Singapore and they bring snacks for me as well. I ended up making a lot of friends.

Thanks to playing Pokémon, I travel a lot. Like a lot. All sponsored trips. I’m so blessed to be able to have such experiences.

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Do you think there’s a social stigma towards playing Pokémon competitively?

Right now, for sure. The scene in Singapore is steadily growing. Sooner or later, people have to take notice of it. But I still think there’s this stigma. Like some people ask me, “How can you make a living playing Pokémon Go?” and I have to explain to them.

People don’t usually say it, because it’s rude, but you can definitely tell.

Melvin Keh Pokémon World Championships

Photo courtesy of Melvin Keh.

What’s your favourite pokémon?

Hmm, I would say Pikachu! I grew up watching the shows, you know.

Some pokémon are definitely more popular than others. We had a poll recently for everyone’s favourite pokémon. Greninja ended up winning.

Do you have any advice for aspiring competitive Pokémon players out there?

Don’t give up. Sometimes it might seem like nothing is working, but you can always ask for help. People are happy to give advice. There are resources online.

People sometimes tend to have a defeatist attitude. But for example, during the International Championships, Simone only had one pokémon left while her opponent had two. She didn’t just give up. In the end, she won. You need to have grit.

The Singaporean players, we were all watching Simone play. We were all ecstatic when she won.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Find Melvin on Instagram.

Find Koh Ewe on Instagram.