Pokemon 2011 Video Game Championships: a recap in photos

Nationals are now over in the 2011 Pokemon Video Game Championships, and win or lose, a delightful time was had by all.As we get ready for the international showdown among the globe's most elite Pokemon trainers at Worlds in August,it's time toreflect on the triumphs and defeats of the tournament thus far.

From the winning teams some obvious trends emerge for popular Pokemon team members - Thundurus, Tornadus, and Terrakion were popular choices as legendaries,while Chandelure, Amoonguss, and Hydreigon held their own as regular Pokemon. As discussed onBulbanews, this year's tournament was particularly interesting because Pokemon Black/Whitewas released such a short time agothatthe competitive battling community is still forming the full picture of proper strategy for this generation.Because of that,the VGCs gave us a lot of information to digest and analyze, and you canstudy it allfor yourself by watching the battle videos for each winning match on the officialPokemon VGC site.

Seattle

Above: The months of hard work that go into traininga team make for intense battles

Results:

Junior division
Champion -Henry Maxon
Pokémon Team > Basculin/Tornadus/Hydreigon/Terrakion/Thundurus/Scrafty

Runner up- Kevin Trac
Pokémon Team > Terrakion/Braviary/Zoroark/Haxorus/Chandelure

Senior division
Champion - Casiano Atienza
Pokémon Team > Zoroark/Landorus/Scrafty/Chandelure/Thundurus/Samurott

Runner up- Hayden McTavish
Pokémon Team > Haxorus/Whimsicott/Amoonguss/Volcarona/Terrakion/Bouffalant

Masters division
Champion - Robbie Miles
Pokémon Team > Hydreigon/Amoonguss/Krookodile/Jellicent/Conkeldurr/Thundurus

Runner up- Kacey Traver
Pokémon Team > Reuniclus/Amoonguss/Scrafty/Terrakion/Tornadus/Thundurus

San Jose

Results:

Junior division
Champion - Bernie Mora
Pokémon Team > Mienshao/Hydreigon/Golurk/Terrakion/Bisharp/Haxorus

Runner up - Gerardo Gonzales
Pokémon Team > Zoroark/Whimsicott/Jellicent/Volcarona/Terrakion/Hydreigon

Senior division
Champion - Aaron Traylor
Pokémon Team > Eelektross/Amoonguss/Krookodile/Landorus/Terrakion/Thundurus

Runner up - Richard Escalante
Pokémon Team > Conkeldurr/Tornadus/Scrafty/Jellicent/Bouffalant/Thundurus

Masters division
Champion - Paul Hornak
Pokémon Team > Whimsicott/Terrakion/Hydreigon/Vanilluxe/Scrafty/Thundurus

Runner up - Alan Schambers
Pokémon Team > Hydreigon/Terrakion/Tornadus/Krookodile/Thundurus/Amoonguss

Dallas

Results:

Junior division
Champion - Kobe Minchey
Pokémon Team > Scrafty/Terrakion/Eelektross/Chandelure/Hydreigon/Whimsicott

Runner up- Adam Salem
Pokémon Team > Amoonguss/Terrakion/Darmanitan/Reuniclus/Whimsicott/ Thundurus

Senior division
Champion - Kenan Nerad
Pokémon Team > Jellicent/Hydreigon/Conkeldurr/Eelektross/Amoonguss/Reuniclus

Runner up- Casey Minchey
Pokémon Team > Eelektross/Scrafty/Darmanitan/Chandelure/Whimsicott/Hydreigon

Masters division
Champion - Trista Medine
Pokémon Team > Thundurus/Eelektross/Musharna/Terrakion/Bisharp/Druddigon

Runner up- Len Deuel
Pokémon Team > Conkeldurr/Gigalith/Jellicent/Reuniclus/Amoonguss/Whimsicott

Atlanta

Results:

Junior division
Champion - Luke Lavin
Pokémon Team > Whimsicott/Chandelure/Hydreigon/Terrakion/Amoonguss/Jellicent

Runner up - Thomas Feezor
Pokémon Team > Terrakion/Whimsicott/Conkeldurr/Thundurus/Chandelure/ Amoonguss

Senior division
Champion - Natalie Kaspszak
Pokémon Team > Conkeldurr/Amoonguss/Eelektross/Krookodile/Thundurus/Tornadus

Runner up - Brandon Mitchell
Pokémon Team > Whimsicott/Amoonguss/Chandelure/Stoutland/Hydreigon/Terrakion

Masters division
Champion - Thomas Lamont
Pokémon Team > Haxorus/Tornadus/Musharna/Krookodile/Thundurus/Volcarona

Runner up - Harrison Saylor
Pokémon Team > Tornadus/Amoonguss/Chandelure/Terrakion/Bisharp/Conkeldurr

Next page: more results and photos, including Nationals

Next page: more results and photos, including Nationals