Melksham boy set for Pokémon World Championships in Hawaii

A ten-year-old boy from Melksham has qualified for the prestigious Pokémon World Championships, which are due to start on 16th August in Hawaii.   

Tommy Davis, who attends Aloeric Primary School, is due to take part in the competition in Honolulu, playing 400 other children from across the world for a chance to win the top prize of £50,000.  

“It is a very exclusive event,” says Tommy’s dad, James. “It’s an invite-only competition and to get there, you compete throughout the year at local events and regional events and earn points, which add up to a tally. Tommy needed to score over 300 points to qualify for the World Championships, where he has been invited by Pokémon Company International.”  

Tommy’s Pokémon journey began during one of the Covid lockdowns. “For his seventh birthday, he asked for Pokémon cards from his family. He was given two starter decks and he was like, ‘Well, what do I do with these?’ He then asked me how to play it, so my wife, Holly, and I had to sit down and learn to play the game so that we could then teach Tommy. We then incorporated it as part of our lockdown routine, where we had family tournaments.    

A Pokémon round consists of three games, with each round lasting around 50 minutes. “Everybody builds a deck with cards that you buy from the shop, you can design your own deck and include any card you like, there is a list of legal and non-legal cards. You play against your opponent and by knocking their Pokémon out with yours, you then take prizes,” explained James, who now runs Pokémon play and tutorial sessions in Toy Moon on Bank Street.  

To qualify for the championship, Tommy has been playing in Pokémon tournaments locally and nationally. “He started attending a weekly gathering at Bath TCG, casually competing against other children and even adults,” says his mum, Holly. “He then started attending a second weekly event at Melksham’s Toy Moon. By the age of eight Tommy was attending competitive events, including regional and international competitions in Liverpool and London. He came in first place in Cup competitions in Bath, Bristol and Cardiff and second place in the Worcester and Swindon Cups.”  

There are three categories of groups that can compete. “Juniors are primary school-aged, seniors are secondary school age and masters are adults,” explained James.  

In the championships in Hawaii, Tommy will play against other children who are the ‘best in the world.’ “He will then be shuffled up and then play someone else; if he keeps winning, he then ends up in the top 64, who will go through to the third day of the championships,” says James. “It’s quite challenging for a 10-year-old when you think about the brainpower and concentration required. He will also be playing against other children where there will be language barriers, if there is a problem with the game, they have to communicate it themselves to the judges, they have to speak to the judge and talk through it. For children, it’s so fantastic to develop their maths, English, communication and social skills. 

“It’s major, you don’t actually realise how big it is until you go into the world of it. He’s playing the card game but at the championships, they also do the video game and Pokémon Go.  

Before Tommy left for Hawaii, he prepared with lots of hours of practice. In one practice session, he played a seven-hour game against adults at Toy Moon, to practise playing for long periods of time. “Tommy has just got this flair for it with the numbers, the memory, it’s just mad. We are very proud, it’s amazing,” added James.