A couple of days ago, I sent the following email to The Pokemon Company:
So where do you guys think are the most reasonable Canadian locations? Right off the bat I say Vancouver and Toronto. Maybe Edmonton?
And do you think they'd have a separate National tournament from the States, or would that only apply to other continents?
Any other thoughts?
I finally received a rather reassuring reply. It looks like they haven't forgotten Canada exists!Hi, this year I attended the Seattle Regional qualifier for the Pokemon VGC. I had a wonderful time, as usual, and I thank you very much for your efforts at making the tournaments a fantastic experience.
However, since last year, I have been wondering why there have been no Regionals in Canada. I actually live in British Columbia, and have made the drive to Seattle every year for Pokemon events, usually quite frequently for downloads. I also belong to an online forum that is heavily involved in the VGC, and many of them are from Vancouver or Toronto, and end up having to drive to Seattle and Newark (this year) respectively. To me it would make sense to have at least two qualifiers in Canada, in two major cities.
But there is probably a reason why there aren't, right? So for curiosities sake, what is that reason? Is it a cost problem? Considering the amount, of Japan qualifiers, I don't believe that is the reason.
So it's just a wandering question, and I appreciate that you took the time to read it.
All the best, Feathers.
So it's not this year, obviously, maybe not even next year. But there will eventually be locations in Canada. You hear that, Yeti? YOU WON'T HAVE TO SEE OUR SORRY CANADIAN ASSES IN SEATTLE EVERY YEAR.Sadly, what makes sense isn't always what is possible.
The Japanese events are operated by our parent company, which has significantly greater resources than we do. Their budget for their VGC events is substantially larger than ours, and the manpower available to them dwarfs what we have available to us. Comparing the Japanese VGC events to the US and European events is comparing apples to oranges.
We do have plans to expand in North America, and those plans do include Canada. Unfortunately, just not for this year.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Michael Liesik
The Pokemon Company International
333 108th Ave NE Suite 1900
Bellevue, WA 98004
www.go-pokemon.com/op
So where do you guys think are the most reasonable Canadian locations? Right off the bat I say Vancouver and Toronto. Maybe Edmonton?
And do you think they'd have a separate National tournament from the States, or would that only apply to other continents?
Any other thoughts?