Take it Easy! Trainer! - VGC 2011 National Senior Warstory

Pro-Prologue

Prologue

lol, I was just kidding. We still have to introduce everyone included in this warstory before we start! (Also, for those that don't really know about "Team Seniors," we're not really a legit team or anything like that, lol. We're just a bunch of (very strong) Senior friends who chat together all the time and (IMO) have great personalities. It was great being around them at Nationals. Thank you Pokemon for giving us this division, it has made Nationals so much more enjoyable!)

First, the official members of Team Seniors that were at Nationals!

1. Jonathan - JRank
2. Aaron - Unreality
3. Gavin - kingofkongs
4. Natalie - Maski
5. Edward - iss
6. Henry - Snake
7. Enosh - Human
8. Dillon - Alphabet123

New additions while at Nationals:

9. Vincent - hitmonrocker
10. Kenan - Lucien Lachance
11. Bruno - Kid Kadbra

Those that were not able to join us at Nationals :

12. Jenny - Solace.
13. Tolan - Dimsun
14. Matt - TheCalmSnivy (also my sworn enemy)
15. Edward - Plusle
16. 7014gree
17. Matthew - Maestrol

Honorary Team Members:

Xana - Our beloved bot.
Jonathan - superpokemon67
Brendan - Babbytron

The first picture starts off with the two strong Seniors returning from last year! Me and JRank, or Jonathan, along with David Arnold, was the three Seniors under 15 last year. Also known from last year as Red Backpack kid, Jonathan is one of the most awesome kids ever, I had a blast hanging out with him the whole weekend. We did his classic Genie pose in this picture, with little Zheng smiling in the background! Jonathan was the first Senior I saw when I walked into the convention center on Friday, looking silly with his haircut. I almost didn't recognize you from that! (lol just kidding man) It was so great seeing you again, and you better come to Nationals next year as well buddy.

Our second picture is the picture of TEAM AARON, the strongest team out there! (With Natalie creeping out in the back) Aaron is also known as Unreality on the forums, and let me tell you, I am proud to be on TEAM AARON with him. Him and his dad are really incredible, and it was really fun being around you guys. TOO BAD YOU DITCHED THAT TAXI RIDE WITH US. I even got to hang out with him at the airport a bit before we left. He managed to finish in 4th place in Seniors - pretty awesome! Aaron is actually the funniest kid ever, he makes me laugh so much in real life and online as well. One of the favorite kids I've met through Pokemon for sure. He's also my texting buddy when we're both working/learning computer science from Google :D San Diego gonna be so fun dude :)

Our third picture is a picture of me with the only kingofkongs. He is the king of all kongs! Also known as Gavin, he's the biggest troll ever. He's a slave to Natalie, following her everywhere - even to her hotel room when she went to change! What a creeper. (Dead serious about that btw, lol) Gavin has a hilarious personality though, and he's the same troll in real life as he is online. He managed to pull a huge victory for Team Seniors when he snuck into the 16th place after Day 1. Of course, we all had to scream loudly right when we saw the pairings and had to hug the crud out of him :) Strong work dude. You better kill LCQ! (Also, this kid is flying to LCQ from his family vacation from Alaska. What a KID.)

The fourth picture is me and Maski, also known as Natalie! Natalie is so strong at this game - it's her first year, and she finished 1st at Regionals and made it into the Top 16 seeded 5th with a very high 6-1 record! She's also the coolest girl ever, considering she didn't mind hanging out with like 50 guys, especially when we were all in her hotel room! Her dad was really kind to allow us to chill in her room most of the time, even when iss broke two keys off the laptop. She was even stronger when she ran into Sunday in a DRESS AND HEELS. NO ONE ELSE CAN DO THAT MAN. ALSO KNOWN AS THE HEARTBREAKER <|3. But it's k I still love you, Worlds is going to be great. (FIGHT TO THE DEATH WITH SNIVY) <3 Maski

Fifth picture is with me and iss, being as Asian as possible. iss, also known as Edward, stinks at pictures and would rather play with his silly DSi. I don't even need to squint my eyes to be Asian because my eyes are so small but this only adds humor to the picture! I go to school with Edward. This nob couldn't qualify from 2 Regionals and LCQ. But don't worry, we still had a ton of fun this weekend. You better sweep the competition when we're not in Seniors in two years man. Also: way to break Natalie's dad's computer. NOB.

Sixth picture is of me with everyone’s favorite Junior, Snake! Snake, also known as Henry, is the strongest Junior ever. He hasn’t even lost an official VGC match this year yet. He also has such a bright personality and it was a pleasure meeting him. Because of Snake, I changed my team to the way it was for Nationals and it worked out so well. This kid is crazy good at this game, and he’s also crazy awesome. He’s not even a Senior yet, but is an honoree member of Team Seniors because of how STRONG he is. Way to go buddy, it was really great seeing you and Brendan getting along so well Sunday night. I hope you had fun hanging out with us, and San Diego’s going to be great!

Seventh picture is of me with Human, also known as Enosh. Human is excellent at this game, and quite honestly, I thought he would end up winning the whole event. Too bad that 0.0001% change of you losing had to happen -_-. In this picture, he has a NOB haircut. He also doesn’t know which camera to ever look to. This kid’s really buff too! Him and Kid Kadabra started wrestling in Natalie’s hotel room in a STRONG match. We had to play each other Round 1 in a crazy haxy game. I thought I would lose for sure, but pulled out a victory. It’s been really fun hanging out with you all this VGC season, see you in San Diego ;) (Also this kid taught us how to curse in Hebrew, and I still have not asked my mom to pronounce squirrel! Rage.)

Eighth picture is me staring at Alphabet123, known as ABC or Dillon in real life. This kid is so tall! (and he claims we're just short sobu) Dillon managed to make it through LCQ with a standard team, and trolled Nationals using his incredible troll team and managed to even go 3-4. This kid is incredible. He also has the coolest Magikarp shirts. (KARP KARP KARP) ALSO I PISS HIM OFF ON IRC WHEN I DECLARE MY LOVE FOR MASKI (IT'S K HEART BROKEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT ANYMORE). Good meeting you dude, you had the coolest team at Nationals by far. Also grow shorter :(

Ninth picture is with me and one of my best friends in Pokemon, Vince. (Also known as hitmonrocker on the forums) Vince and his mom are incredible in every way, and spending time with them at any tournament is always such a pleasure. We managed to avoid each other at the Washington DC Regional until the finals and played in an incredible game. For those that don't know, we've basically known each other since 2008 when we were both Juniors and qualified for "Worlds" from the New York Regional. I've gotten to know both Vince and his mom a lot more, especially this year. Vince is also an incredible player! It is always an honor to be with you guys, and I can't appreciate enough how great it is knowing you guys :)

Tenth picture is with me and Lucien Lachance, also known as Kenan. To be honest, most of us in Team Seniors disliked Kenan online because of the way he acted sometimes. He would later prove to be the COMPLETE OPPOSITE in real life. What happened is we met him in line for registration on Friday morning, when Jonathan points out the fact that he saw Lucien. We're all like GASP and I finally decide to go up to him, and ask for a picture. After we exchange words and our group leaves, I commented on how he was actually totally chill and a complete bro. Team Seniors agrees with me, and we MAKE AN EXECUTIVE decision to let him into our group. Thank goodness we did! Kenan is so social and cool and chill and awesome (and has cool hair) and made the weekend a LOT more fun. I love this kid so much, and you/Jonathan have to Top 2 Dallas next year, lol. (It was also his first year of playing in VGC! Way to go, buddy.)

The last picture with me and a Team Seniors member is with me and Bruno, also known as Kid Kadabra. Bruno was the coolest kid I met that weekend, and is actually the exact opposite of someone who you would expect to play Pokemon. Seriously. This kid is ripped, lol. (He took off his shirt in Natalie's room for a moment and I couldn't help but go O_O) He's a total bro and incredibly chill, and the best part about it is that he is open about playing Pokemon! (UNLIKE OTHER PEOPLE COUGH JONATHAN) If you ask me, him and Kenan were the two most socially awesome people I met that weekend. (Of course, everyone in our group was awesome, but these two are such bros!) I love our picture too. Mainly because my hair looks nice, lol. Along with the fact he has an awesome smile, is wearing the sick Smogon shirt, has a bag of Chinese food in his hand, and ABC is creeping in the background. It was so awesome meeting you dude. Hopefully you'll be at Worlds LCQ :D

And to finish off, some of my favorite group pictures from the tournament.



I spend a good 3 hours packing the night before Friday for Indy, mainly TCG cards that I planned to sold. Throughout the week, I kept on checking the weather for NY, and it said scattered thunderstorms for Friday. Well, hell, that can’t be good. My flight got canceled to Nationals in both 2008 and 2009 (like I always complain about to people). Couldn’t let that happen for a third year in a row! My parents randomly find my baby videos and we watch those for a good couple of hours before I finally go to sleep at 2, hoping for the best tomorrow.



We wake up at around 7, when TDS/Simon comes over. (For those that don’t know, since both me and my brother won Regionals, we had an extra flight as our dad couldn’t come due to work. So we took Simon along with us! Turned out to be a pretty good decision, seeing how he did :D) I looked out the window and the weather looked pleasant – I just hoped that it would stay like that for the next few hours…

We quickly got to the airport and checked in. Finally got onto the airplane and flew out without any delays or problems, thank goodness! The plane ride to Indy was only around one and half hours, so it went by really quickly. We landed before noon, which is when I find out Aaron would be ditching us for a ride to the hotel. SOB ;_:

We quickly got onto a taxi and departed for the hotel… that is until our taxi driver said that the address we had of the hotel was apparently wrong and wasn’t in the downtown area??? Um… okay. I didn’t want to confuse him or my mom anymore so I just told him to drive us to the convention center, considering the hotel was right by there. I actually saw Mingot and his daughter while we were on the taxi and approached the convention center and I was like freaking out in the car, lol. We checked into the sick hotel and head out to check out how things were going on down at the convention center.

I walk into the convention center and the first person I see is the one and only... Jonathan! Except I was unsure if it was him or not because he got a nob haircut, lol. But I soon do confirm it was him, and he tells me his story of how he got haxed out of the LCQ :( Such bs for such an awesome team, but next year is yours buddy. We walk around the room, and talk tons. He comments on how excited and energetic I am, and I'm like YEAH MAN, DAS THE ZHENG MODE! We finally being to meet up with more of Team Seniors as they slowly come in. Eventually, our group grew to me, Jonathan, Natalie, Aaron, Dillon, Edward, and BABBYTRON. We head out to the "league play" section of the hall. What basically happens is you register and are given a number, and you battle people either in VGC or TCG. You then head to the front of the desk, and both people are given a prize :D I GO THOUGH SEVERAL TOUGH ROUNDS BUT PULL OUT MANY VICTORIES.

In game 1, I defeated the 2nd Place finisher in TCG from Worlds last year (he lives in my area) in a quick one turn. it was a good game, both teams played hard, but in the end, it was him who got zheng'd. we go up, but bs card hax hits us and I get nothing good :(

game 2 was the game that was never meant to happen, I had to play fellow member of TEAM AARON. My scissors didn't even get a chance to hit his rock, because of bs rock paper scissors hax. But I couldn't accept defeat, so I quickly lied about who won the game while Aaron stayed CONFUSED and PARALYZED. there was nothing he could do. I got a pretty rare card while he got stuck with a rainbow energy. sorry man, you got zheng'd too :(

After Game 2, I realize that I am too strong for all these other nobs. There is no one stronger than the Zheng! I head out, and this is when we meet the one and only ENOSH. (Who, according to cosmicexplorer/Danny, has a NOB hair cut. I think it was a strong haircut, it gave him power) Enosh introduces himself to the rest of Team Seniors. Vince soon joins our group too, and this is when I know that we have become a powerful group, equipped with much strength. I think Henry joins us as this point too? I take many pictures of all of them (most are the pictures I used in the prologue) to remember all the good memories we would have!

It is now when we go on to cheer our Masters playing in the LCQ - The ducks, the csmugs, Papa Zheng, and most importantly, DAD RANK. We see most blow through the competition, until Rounds 3 and 4. I note that Papa Zheng destroys everyone with my team and was the first one to make it through, I knew that my team would be strong. More people make it through LCQ, including Greysong, DukeTheDevil, 3lmo, TR_Jesse, Mr. Arnold, and several others. While the rounds are going, I noticed that DAD RANK would have to play... the one and only MINGOT??? Jonathan smacks himself in the face while we hope for the best... and DAD RANK WINS??? NO WAY :D Unfortunately, he would lose next game, but still a strong performance by a strong parent. Way to go, Mr. Rankin :D

After we watch most of LCQ, we go out to play some MAFIA in the open gaming room. I still don't understand how this nob game works but Natalie was obviously excited over this and I didn't want to dream crush all her hopes and dreams, so we play. She runs off with Gavin to get some napkins, which totally made me go wtf???? what could you possibly do with napkins??? It concerned me that they went off ALONE (one of many times over the weekend) and I used Wish to protect Natalie. But I knew it wasn't enough. I was not a pwrful trainer yet, so I went to see what they were doing!! They were actually writing on napkins though so I'm like kay and I go back.

Oh yeah, we were also doing sum musicals before this! But Edward was being a total nob and dc'd on like all of them, jerk face :( ANYWAYS we get ready to play mafia but Vince was a nob and looked up when he wasn't supposed to so we decided this would be a weak game to play, and switch to a game of NINJA. I knew that this was a strong game for me, because my people are ninjas. The power invested in me would make me victor.

But not really, because I didn't know when we started so I was eliminated very quickly. I knew that it was just bs hax, because I had the game with me. I'm pretty sure someone kicked someone else here instead of using their hands??? Oops. We decide that we are all tired of losing so we move to the outside of the open gaming room, in the hallway. It is then when the best moment of the weekend happens to me.

Some little kid was walking around and was screaming "WHO WANTS TO BUY MI UNOWN C CARD????" Since I saw that this boy had some serious swag for a lil' kid, I decided to approach him and ask him how much the card was? He tells me 5 dollars with confidence and I'm like... dud dat card is worth 2 cents, and you want 5 dollars?? I offer him what is in my pocket - 3 cents and a piece of lint, but that was not good enough for him. He storms off angrily and I sob a bit, knowing that now I will never be able to buy an Unown C for 5 dollars ever again.

Not being able to spend my 5 dollars, I knew that I needed to blow it off somewhere. So we decide to head out to the legendary Steak and Shake! We would soon learn though that was not legendary at all. It took us like 30 minutes just to get seated, and the waitress that came by to tell us about the situation was being a big poo about it. She kept on saying "y'all" and was being very mean about the fact we were a large group :( I was like, it's okay, the other group can sit first (referring to the group of Ducks that were there at the same time as us) and she replied with a "no kidding, they are going to sit before you! they have been here before you!" (even though we were there at pretty much the same time??) It was funny because we managed to get seats first and the score is 1-0, Aaron 1, Steak and Shake 0.

When we sit down, Gavin realizes he doesn't have his DS. WHAT?! We freak out a bit and he runs back to the convention center to try and find it. This would be the first of many DS's gone missing throughout the day... We manage to fit 6 people on a table of 4 and squish everyone together. Then, we ordered our food. It took them like 45 minutes to make one of the smallest burgers I have seen, but it was full of power and gave me strength. Cheap burgers are always good. Babbytron told me that McDonald burgers are better though?? He pretty much hated his meal, because he couldn't drink his shake (he had a cut on his finger and couldn't hold it) and the bit that he did manage to drink tasted terrible with his burger. Since I knew I needed more power, I ate his burger too and drank his shake.

Gavin finally returns, and him and Vince order some food... but it takes like another 20 minutes for the food to come out. We do some hardcore multi-battles before half our DS's run out of power, and Jonathan managed to get two pictures of our adventures there. (Taken by Henry and Jonathan) Although the service was pretty poor, I enjoyed the food and fries very much and we still had a great time. After Steak and Shake, we go back to the convention center to do some more league play and meet more people, also to wait for registration (from 4-6). This is when we would meet two of my most favorite people from the weekend - Lucien Lachance, also known as Kenan, and Kid Kadabra, also known as Bruno. I think we meet Bruno first and we comment on how sick of a shirt he has. (He also surprised me because this kid is hella buff and chill, the opposite of someone you would expect to play Pokemon...) We all get registered at the same time, and I noticed how we have 5 Regional Champions in our group. So powerful. After we register, we are about to walk out when Jonathan comments "dude... that's Lucien..." We all gasp for a moment, and ponder on whether we should go and attempt to troll him (if you guys didn't know, most of us found Lucien really annoying online... thank god you were the exact opposite of that in real life :D) I go up and ask, "are you Lucien?" He's like "YEAH!" and I think to myself (this kid is actually pretty cool!). I get an awesome picture with him (he got a pretty crappy one sob) and leave with an awesome impression of the kid.

We decided that our legs were all tired as crud and that we wanted to just hang out in someone's room, so we head out to Natalie's room and just chill there. Henry leaves the room at one point and later texts me that he can't find his DS... crap. We're all like :O and quickly scramble to rebuild his team and give him an extra game in case he couldn't find his DS/game. The lost and found was also closed at the convention center at this point. (Fortunately, the DS was at the lost and found the next day and we managed to get it back :D) Hours passed, and before we knew it, it was already 10. Natalie decides to completely rebuild her team and use one very similar to my regional team (including Quick Guard Terrakion :D), which she mentions in her interview! We help her out with team ideas before everyone heads back to their own hotel room to get ready for the big day.

Back in my room, I remind Brendan that no matter what happens the next day, to just try his best and have fun. After a disappointing finish last year, I knew that both of us wanted to do better, but I tried to not let it get the best of me and just have as much fun as I can. Friday was probably one of the best days, if not, the best day with everyone and it started Nationals in an excellent way. It's pretty awesome, meeting so many people you have been friends with online :D I try to calm my nerves before getting a good nights sleep.

It was finally time to do some work. We wake up in the morning, not feeling like P Diddy. I jam out to some JBieber, my hero, reminding me to NEVER SAY NEVER. The theme song of champions. Such soothing music. The family heads out to the convention center without having breakfast (I can NEVER eat during a big competition), meeting Aaron, Natalie, and Henry along the way. Our group, full of CHAMPIONS head out and line up. I decide that there is too much bs line hax and that I really don't want to bother lining up, so I just go around and talk to people. It takes like an hour for everyone to get registered and we start 30 minutes later, only building the suspense in everyone. They post a picture of everyone's name, along with table numbers. People think those are matchups and I have to explain to everyone that we are not battling those people! Team Aaron adds a new member here - Aaron Cotton, who represented Team Aaron by finishing a solid 1-6 in Swiss. A solid addition, if you ask me. Me and Aaron talk and just hang out. We then see Tyler's sister and Natalie both walk out of the battle zone, and me and Aaron are like "omg wut did they get DQ'd??" Turns out they both felt sick, Natalie even had to throw up x_x After getting all of our nerves out, they finally post the pairings and I see...

Aaron Zheng (0-0) vs. Enosh Shachar (0-0)
Brendan Zheng (0-0) vs. Henry Maxon (0-0)

...you've got to be kidding me. I have to play the person I'm most scared of Round 1, and Brendan has to play Snake? Me and Human are raging, and at least trying to get our battle onto the TV (it would have been great, our match was pretty awesome/haxy awesome). I hope for the best, knowing that we both might have to start the tournament with a loss. I suck it up, realizing at least we won't have to battle until at least the next day.

Round 1: Enosh Shachar / Human

Facing Enosh Round 1 was a huge disappointment for me. The game would probably end up going to hax, and we had one of the most haxiest matches I have ever had in my life. I managed to save this battle video, so here is the number: 57-53008-06004. Let me describe it for you, turn by turn so you can see my thought process.

Turn 1: I lead with Terrakion and Tornadus, and he leads with Musharna and Terrakion. I Rock Slide, and Terrakion avoids the attack. He Rock Slides back, and I Acrobatics the Musharna down to the Sitrus. He flinches with Musharna.

Turn 2: I Tailwind (I have no idea why) and Rock Slide again. Rock Slide misses Musharna and hits Terrakion. Terrakion flinches, while Musharna uses Moonlight. (Had Musharna used Trick Room at this point, I would have lost)

Turn 3: I taunt the Musharna while using Rock Slide, getting a crit against Terrkaion and flinching him while Musharna cannot set up Trick Room.

Turn 4: Rock Slide double misses while I target the Terrakion with Acrobatics for the KO. He KO's me with a Psychic and ironically gets a useless critical.

Turn 5: He sends out Thundurus and I send out Jellicent. He uses Thunder Wave against my Jellicent (I was debating on whether to Taunt or not here, but decided to just go for the offensive strategy) while I used Acrobatics and Water Spout leaving Musharna in deep red and and killing Thundurus.

Turn 6: Tailwind ended the last turn. He sends out a Landorus to replace the Thundurus. I finish Musharna off with an Acrobatics and he uses Rock Slide to finish Tornadus off and leave Jellicent in the middle of yellow. Jellicent remains fully paralyzed this turn.

Turn 7: I send out Amoonguss and Protect with Jellicent and Spore with Amonguss while he uses Earthquake and brings Amoonguss to a bit over half. I just pray that there is no one turn sleep the next turn.

Turn 8: Amonguss gets a Giga Drain off, but Jellicent stays fully paralyzed. Fortunately, Landorus stays alseep

Turn 9: Landorus stays asleep and I Giga Drain + Ice Beam for the KO and the victory. Freaking intense and haxy game - I would have lost for sure had I not gotten a few of those flinches along the way.

After managing to beat Enosh, it took off a lot more pressure off my chest because I consider him to be one of the best Senior competitors that was at Nationals. Brendan lost against Snake (as I expected), and I just hoped that it wouldn't bring his confidence down.

Win: 1-0

Round 2: John Cook / Epic Demise

After a close victory against Enosh, I go up to my table and start conversation with my Round 2 opponent, John. It turns out he was Epic Demise from skarmbliss, and made it through the LCQ the day before! I get ready for a good battle and hope for the best. Looking from team preview, I begin to get a bit nervous - he has a Jellicent, Scrafty, Tornadus, Thundurus, Terrakion, and Bisharp. Focus Sash Bisharp is a HUGE problem to my team and I know I need to get rid of it as fast as I can. Sadly, like most of my other battles, I can't remember much of this match other than the fact that there was a LOT of switching going on in the first few rounds. Since his Bisharp had a Dark Gem, I think he Sucker Punched my Chandy, bringing it down to its Focus Sash and I got to Heat Wave for the KO. After KOing Bisharp, the rest of it wasn't too hard. It took a lot of time though, and the battle was really close and it went back and forth. Good game man!

Win: 2-0

Round 3: Dominic Mori (I think)

Dominic comes up to me and says "Hey, you're the guy that won the DC Regional, right?" I say yes, and he's like "Woah, no way! I really wanted to battle you today." Dominic was incredibly nice and awesome, and he was probably the coolest opponent I played the whole day. Our match was relaxed and fun at the same time. Unfortunately, I don't remember most of the match other than the fact that it was actually incredibly close, even though his team seemed kind of random. (Quick Claw Samurott, I think). Had Samurott used Aqua Jet, I think I actually would have lost because it was my Thundurus and Chandelure against Samurott and something else. After winning in a close game, I wish him good luck in his next few games and tell him it was awesome meeting him! He took the loss very well and was awesome about it :)

3-0 now. Only two more games away... But i was in the same position as last year. Couldn't choke now, had to continue doing what I was doing. I hadn't even had one easy match so far, at least my wins weren't just flukes. It was also during this time where I got to meet a lot of the Ducks, including Firestorm and DM, who are so awesome and chill!

Win: 3-0

Round 4: Kristan Mosquito / Mosquitox216


I check the pairings when I realize I'm playing yet another name I recognize. Kristan comes up to me and seems really nervous, he kept on saying "Man, I'm going to lose." I told him to relax and our battle soon started. I think I ended up choosing my standard leads (Tornadus/Terrakion) with Amoonguss and Thundurus in the back. I believe he leads with Thundurus and Scrafty with Hydreigon and Tornadus in the back. (I can't remember exactly, help me out Kristan :P) I take the quick lead, and in the end, it's his Tornadus and Hydreigon against my Thundurus and Amoonguss. I Spore his Hydreigon, but what causes me to lose is that he has a one turn sleep and wakes up the next turn x_x. Amoonguss goes down, and it's my Thundurus vs. Hydreigon and Thundurus. I go for the obvious Hidden Power Ice on the Hydreigon (I expected him to double target me anyways) but he Tailwinds and Protects. I go down next turn and he immediately says "Bad game" and apologizes for the one turn sleep, but I tell him it's not a big deal and to not worry about it. He would later become the number one seed for Sunday, so I'm glad one of my losses was to a great player. Even if Hydreigon staid asleep for one more turn, I'm not sure I would have been able to pull of a victory.

My 3-0 streak finally ends, and I'm at 3-1 right now. I'm still feeling okay, because I just had to win two games out of three to move on, and my loss wasn't just because I got completely outplayed. Brendan's also 3-1 after this round, after beating Grace Arnold. (They get paired at EVERY tournament, I swear lol) I wish him luck before we both go on to our next matches.

Loss: 3-1

Round 5: Lauren Metcalf / Green Hornet's sister


(For those that don't know, Lauren and her brother both qualified for Worlds in the Juniors division last year, and her brother finished in the Top 8 at Worlds. Another great family that plays Pokemon :)

As I go to sit down, Lauren sighs and says "I'm going to lose this battle." Just like my last match, I chuckle and tell her to not worry about it, and to try her best. (I honestly hate it when people say they're going to lose because I always manage to end up losing, lol) She tells me to win all my matches to have a high resistance, and I wish her good luck before we start.

I look at her team and I think it looked like Trick Room, so I lead with my TR counters - Chandelure and Jellicent. I think she leads with Musharna and Hydreigon. I double target the Musharna with Shadow Ball and kill it off before it gets to do anything, while Hydreigon Dark Pulses my Chandelure and brings it down to its Focus Sash. It's 4-3 now, and I'm feeling pretty good. It seems like I have the obvious advantage now, and she brings out a Eelektross. I expected her to Dark Pulse Chandelure and hit Jellicent with Eelektross, so I switched out to Terrakion to hopefully get the Justified boost and protect with Jellicent. Everything went wrong this turn though - I completely mispredicted and she went for the Dark Pulse and Discharge (on her own Hydreigon?). It would have been fine, had she not paralyzed my Terrakion. Crap. I try to remain my focus as I still have a chance, and Rock Slide + Water Spout I think. Rock Slide manages to miss Hydreigon and hit Eelektross for about a third, and I sigh. I then realize that I screwed up really bad when Hydreigon hits first, and I realize it's actually Choice Scarfed. Jellicent goes down as I bring out Tornadus. My Terrakion gets fully paralyzed the next turn, and I know that the battle is lost. It's my Chandelure against everything in the end, and with a Choice Scarf Hydreigon on her side, it's over. I sigh disappointingly - Had I not gotten paralyzed, I might have won, but accept the fact that now I have to win out to make it to Day 2. She apologizes throughout the day, and although I'm pretty bitter about that loss, I tell her that it's no problem and there's nothing that she could have done to prevent that. I wish her good luck for her next few rounds and get ready for my next match.

I know that the next two rounds are going to be tough and bitter - whoever wins manages to keep on going while the loser is most likely eliminated from the tournament. I try to keep my confidence up and not choke like I managed to last year. I would have to win the next two games. I'm really disappointed with myself because I suddenly dropped to the lowest performing Senior on Team Seniors, most were 4-1 at this point. My mom could see that I was really frustrated at this point, and told me that it was okay and to just try my best the next game. I remain relaxed and hope for the best for Round 6. Duy lends me his ducks shirt to give me a boost the for next two matches. Thanks Duy ILY<3

Loss: 3-2

Round 6: Zach Ross

I can't really remember my opponent or this game. I just remember seeing a standard (or maybe Trick Room) team, but lead with my standard Tornadus and Terrakion. He lead with Jellicent and Amoonguss, and I Rock Slide and Acrobatics. Rage Powder takes the Acrobatics, Rock Slide does around half to Jellicent, and he sets up Trick Room. When he sees Amoonguss go down and Trick Room go up, he comments "Yes, this is going great." I remember being really nervous at this point, because I know I have to stall TR out. To be honest, I thought that I would have lost once Trick Room went up because most of my Pokemon don't even run Protect. (Scarfed Terrakion, Sub Tornadus, no Protect on Chandelure) I also remember his Jellicent having a Quick Claw, which activated TWICE in a row (which didn't matter, because I did some good switching and Subbing/Protecting) However, I didn't have much trouble stalling it out as he was down a Pokemon the whole time from the beginning, giving me an advantage, and pull off a victory.

Winning this round boosted my confidence a lot - I was only one game away from achieving my goal! At the same time, I was nervous considering I was at this exact same position last year and choked game 7. (In all fairness, I just got completely outplayed last year against TTS/Danny) My brother comes up to me and tells me he had just won against Tyler's sister, and I'm like :O. He's guaranteed to make it to the next day at this point, and considering he had played three great players (Henry, Grace Arnold, Tyler's sister), his resistance was crazy high too. Of course, I gave him an encouraging hug, told my mom the good news, and congratulated him on doing so well. (I honestly did not think he would be able to win 5 straight games after losing the 1st game. He continues to surprise me!) I talk and hang out with friends before the last pairings are posted.

Win: 4-2

Round 7: Anthony Tran / reuniclusking

This match meant everything to me - If I won, I was guaranteed to make it through, but if I lost, I faced elimination. (I realized that even if I lost, I would have made it through since my resistance was so high) Still, I needed to put all my effort into this battle. This kid can talk a LOT. Normally, I enjoy talking to my opponents too, but I was too concentrated on doing well so I didn't respond that often. Kenan tells me that he bluffs Trick Room (Now, before you think that it was a douche move of him to do, Anthony apparently screamed out a lot of Kenan's strategy during the tournament and ruined a bunch of surprises he had so decided to get back to him). Although I trust Kenan 100%, I didn't want to go into the battle with ANY potential advantages that would mess me up, so I assumed he still ran Trick Room. From Team Preview, I see 6 Pokemon that all seemed to run under Trick Room (including Scrafty, Chandelure, and strangely, Crygonal).

I can't remember much of the battle, but I lead with standard Tornadus and Terrakion. Terrakion, using Rock Slide, was a monster and did most of the work. I remember getting a flinch turn 1, which probably helped me a ton (but I'm not sure if I would have lost anyway) Rock Slide OHKO'd Crygonal, which surprised me a lot. I managed to pull off a 3-0 victory, and he seemed pretty pissed and angry at the same time. I told him that there was still a chance that he would make it in, and he shrugged it off and walked out. Meanwhile, I was relieved that I just managed to pull off a victory and ensure that I would at least get to play the next day.

Win: 5-2

Everyone competing from Team Seniors (except Dillon, who used that awesome troll team) made it through (Natalie, Enosh, Me, Aaron, Vince,) and we would soon find out that...


The standings after the seven rounds of Swiss. Solid job well done, Team Seniors!

GAVIN WOULD MAKE IT THROUGH AS THE 16TH SEED. HELL YES! To my surprise, my Round 7 opponent also made it through! (I was happy for him because he seemed so excited for this tournament, and I really didn't want to knock anybody out of the Top 16 the last round). We all gather to take pictures, check in for tomorrow, etc. It was a great day for all of us, and during this time, we create the brackets and see that it is almost perfect for most of us. We knew most of the Seniors that made it through, except my opponent, Casiano the next day. (winner of Seattle Regionals) The worst matchups were Gavin vs. Mosquito and Enosh vs. Vincent, but some of us would have to play against each other, of course.

In the Juniors division, most of the Juniors we knew made it through. (Henry, Lil' Zheng, Tyler's sister, Grace Arnold, mudkipmaster, etc.) As we stay to hang out and watch some Masters battle, Babbytron and Mommy Zheng head out the the hotel room to get some rest and sleep in, while the rest of us hang out as a group.


After a successful morning, we were all hungry and decided to go to lunch at the mall. But Natalie had an interview! Being the nice people we were, we all decided to wait and talk with the Masters who were about to begin. Being the lazy butt I was, I didn't have time to EV/move set the Pokemon TDS gave me, and did it while he was in line. He then comes up to me and I convince him to use the same team he used for LCQ, considering he did so well with it, and I knew it was a solid team. It was, after all, TEAM ZHENG! I'm glad he stuck with it, considering he finished in the Top 4 ;)

We stay for the first two rounds, where I posted updates and photos to my Twitter to let everyone back at home know how everyone was doing! Natalie comes back and tells us she didn't get to do her interview, but we were like ffff and decide to go out to the mall anyways. It's all good though, we got our food AND Natalie got her interview :D I ordered some terribly salty Chinese food (yet so good) We also see a Japanese stand called Maki, we knew that this store was destined for Maski!

Eventually, half of us heads back (and passes a room titled Human Affairs... too bad Human wasn't with us when we were there :[) while the other half apparently got lost and ended up at Victoria's Secret. (lolwut?) We finish end up watching Masters, including the most amazing game between Huy and Mike. I gotta say, that game was probably the most incredible and hilarious thing I have ever seen at a VGC event, and shows what this game is all about. For those that want to see what happened, check out this video. I was pretty surprised that Mike L. actually allowed this and even joined in the battle, haha. It was hilarious because Nick kept on teasing both of them. My favorite parts of the battle:

1. Huy stands up and walks over to Mike to see what his moves were.
2. Huy and Mike decide to go '09 and '10 style by standing up and playing. Who needs chairs?
3. Nick comes over and takes over for Mike. "I'm going to Rage Powder and Protect!"
4. Huy and Mike switch games and battle for each other.
5. Mike L. and Daryl (is this how you spell his name) battle for Huy and Mike respectively, where Daryl ends up winning against Mike.

Even though the winner of this match didn't seem like match, TTS/Danny later tells me that had Huy won this match, he wouldn't have been able to squeak in as the 16th seed and finish 2nd. Who knew how big this match actually was? :o

After the incredibly interesting match, Masters finally ends and our group decides to go to Natalie's room to hang out again. Once of the best moments happened here - Bruno calls me (with Enosh and Dillon) and asks where we are, and I tell him to come into the JW Marriot. Apparently, he didn't here the JW part and went to the OTHER Marriot, across the street from us. They kept on knocking on room 523 in the other hotel, and while we were all confused out of our mind, they thought we were trolling them. I'm just like aaljksdfhljkasdf at this point, but they finally manage to find their way to the hotel room. Bruno almost tackled me when he walked into the room, lol. We do some hardcore battling and Sankey Cup while hanging out and talking about strategies for tomorrow. At one point, we decided to all pile on Natalie while she was sitting down, lol :D The best part of being in the hotel room when Enosh and Bruno get into a wrestling match, it was freaking incredible. I'll upload the video of them and link it here when it's done uploading. At one point, I think I smack Bruno's butt :D Edward also managed to break two keys off Natalie's DAD'S work laptop, and we're all like ._. Me and Aaron got kicked out of the room (WHY I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING) since there was a ton of noise and we were all making a ruckus, lol. Also, we managed to ditch Jonathan sadly and he was raging at us about it on IRC, lol. Sorry buddy :(

We all head to Steak and Shake again to have some cheap, solid food. We get seated quicker this time, but the service was... less than acceptable, lol. Our waitress comes up and asks us what we want... and manages to drop her pen and scream "Sh*t." We're all like :OO and she's like "err sorry for my language." Most of us order burgers and fries while I get spaghetti. (Less then good, I hated the beans included in it >_<) Our food FINALLY comes, and I'm like :D That us until I realize the waitress didn't get me a fork for my spaghetti?? So I ask for a fork and I see her go look for one... she looked in the bin where all the used forks were?? Wat ._. It takes her literally 20 minutes to get me the fork, and I start eating just by sucking it, lol. My fork finally comes and I'm like YAY:D. The waitress then manages to break a plate and drops it to the floor while cleaning another table next to us and I laugh really hard inside, lol. AS AARON SAID, THE RESULTS ARE IN. THE SENIORS SAY NO.

It's okay though, we all had a great time eating dinner together and the food was still pretty good! Eventually, it was 9:30 already! Gosh, time flies so fast when you're with friends. We all head out and disperse to go into our own hotels and get ready for tomorrow. Since me, Natalie, Kenan, Aaron, Henry, and Jonathan (the other one) were all in the same hotel, we stuck together. At one point, we pass by a bunch of guys smoking and they ask us if we're here to play Pokemon and I'm just like "CRUD NO ONE RESPOND LET'S GO" inside, but Kenan's like "YEAH MAN :D." Fortunately, they were just TCG players, lol. Gave me one hell of a scare though. I mean... it was late at night, with a baseball game finishing up and a fraternity convention going on. We make it safe back into the hotel, and me, Aaron, and Henry head into Natalie's ROOM to look at some PO logs and talk a bit more about our opponents tomorrow, and finally all head back into our rooms to get some rest before the last day.

Saturday was a great day for me and Brendan. I managed to pull off the comeback and was seeded the second highest 5-2, under Enosh, and Brendan was seeded second, right under Henry! That meant they wouldn't even have to play against each other until the finals. Could they pull it off? :o I tell my brother what a great job he's done, and how close he is to making it to Worlds. Me and babbytron get some rest and get pumped for the last day.

We all wake up early in the morning and head down to the convention center (once again, without eating breakfast) and finally sit down to get ready for the matches. I wore my blue Cookie Monster shirt, the shirt of a champion. (BLUE COOKIES???) To be honest, I was so nervous at this point and nearly threw up, ugh. My opponent walks in later and I wish him good luck. Skarm/Mike also gave me a quacker at some point, for even more luck!! I walk around with the ZHENG'D OUT shirt Mitch/IPS and Elliot/3lmo made for Regionals for some hard core intimidation, but was way too big on me so I take it off eventually. The finalists slowly come one by one, and Natalie comes running in with a dress, lol. My brother's opponent was the last one to arrive, and for a while, Mike hangs out with him and talks with him. Guess he's taking over ALL the battles now... We all eventually arrive, and I wish the several Senior and Master friend around me good luck. (Including Greysong, Wolfey, and fellow Team Aaron member :D) Our matches finally start. *cue Final Countdown* (I swear, if I hear that song one more time, I will explode ahsdlkjfas)


The day before the finals, Human mentions that my opponent might have a Samurott and a Zebstrika, and I go "wtf??" Zebstrika actually scares the crud out of me, because going against non-standard teams are always tough. (GO GO GO TEAM DAN FOR USING HIM :D) But once I look at his team, he has a really standard team, including the three genies and some others.) I don't remember either game detail by detail, but I lead with my standard leads and managed to flinch Landorus turn one with Rock Slide while setting up Tailwind. I didn't have much trouble with both games, and I apologized for the flinch hax in the first game. He says it was okay, and I move on to the Top 8. More of my friends eventually begin to filter in (Aaron, Enosh,Wolfey, Greysong, TTS, Henry, BABBYTRON :D), but unfortunately, not all of us would be able to make it through. Gavin lost to some crazy hax against Mosquito, and Natalie timed out once in her game which cost her the game. Vincent would lose to Enosh in two close games. This was hard matchup for me to look at, considering both were such great friends of mine. The rest of us would have to avenge those knocked out! Tyler tells me that my brother destroyed his opponent - apparently she used Hammer Arm on Jellicent??? lol... Glad that we both made it through, I gain a lot more confidence and get ready to play Brandon in my next few games.

Going into this match, I was pretty nervous considering everyone on Team Seniors was saying how good Brandon was. He really was a great player. Brandon was one of my toughest opponents I had during the weekend. Since he might be going to Worlds, I'm not going to post his team, but he used one very unique Pokemon that caught me off guard. I managed to win the first battle by purely out playing him. In the second game, I predicted him pretty well in my mind (including his two leads), but due to fear that he would out predict my prediction (mind games lol), I go for the most obvious moves the whole time and lose 2-0. The pressure's on in the 3rd game! This game means everything to me now. We both get some luck on our sides - Rock Slide misses (I think it missed in game 2 too), but I get a VERY lucky one turn sleep and manage to Spore half his team and slowly sweep him. With that, we shake hands and I move on to the Top 4.

Since my match was one of the last ones to end, I see that Aaron, David, and surprisingly, Phillip (Mosquito's friend) had made it through along with me into the Top 4. Phillip apparently haxed Enosh to death in their two matches and won in two VERY lucky games. Seeing that Enosh had just been knocked out, I realized that I actually had a solid chance of winning the whole tournament now! (My goal was to just get into the Top 4 to qualify for Worlds and get the free trips.) Meanwhile, in Juniors, my brother managed to pull a victory against Grace Arnold (after losing Game 1) and advanced too! (GOOD STUFF. The whole family would now get to go to Worlds for free!) Snake and mudkipmaster also advanced. Fortunately, Brendan wouldn't have to play either of them for his Top 4 match. I would later find out that his opponent actually finished in the Top 8 at Worlds in Juniors last year :O

I wish all the Top 4 Juniors/Seniors (masters was still going on at this point) good luck as we being to start. The Juniors started while me and Brandon were still playing, I think. I had pretty much lost all the pressure on me going against Phillip. (Not saying that he is a bad player, as he is very solid but I would much rather play him than Enosh from a competitive stand point.)

The games against Phillip were pretty one-sided, sadly. Hardly anyone even watched our game due to the fact the David Arnold vs. Aaron game was going on, and both are big names in Seniors VGC! I think in game one, Phillip lead with his Tornadus and Scrafty while I lead with Terrakion and Amoonguss. I used Rock Slide the first turn (which got hit by FO) and Spored the Scrafty, while he set up Tailwind. (I was afraid of using Rage Powder, and didn't want to risk the fact he might have been faster than me.) The next turn, I Rage Powder and Rock Slide, I believe, and bring Tornadus down to like 5%. He Acrobatics my Amoonguss, and Effect Spore activates and burns him, lol. I think I eventually get to set up Tailwind and win the first game. In the second game, I go for the similar strategy, seeing how much Spore helped out the first game. Mosquito got this sick picture of half of Phillip's team asleep, lol. I win in a good game (a bit haxy, I remember getting a flinch early on) and congratulated him on a job well done.

At this point, I like melted inside, lol. My brother and I both made it to the finals at Nationals! I couldn't even believe this was happening. I saw that Aaron lost to David in a bunch of good games, and it would me vs. David again in the finals! (I had to play David in a great game at Regionals too). It seems like the Arnolds always end up playing the Zhengs! (Brendan played Grace in '10 Nationals, they also played at '11 Regionals, in swiss in '11 Nationals, and in the Top 8 at '11 Nationals. I had to play David both at Regionals and Nationals this year!) We see that Wolfey and TTS make it through the finals - EAST COAST, BEAST COAST. Me and Brendan head out to get something to eat before returning for the final matches.

amazheng

Shit, unreality beat me at First ¬¬

dud if it wasn't 3:30 AM in Israel right now I would leave a real comment. but it is dud and I'm not going to read all of it.

EDIT: sorry my team scouting should have been info for the other Aaron. My mistake.

"and me, Aaron, and Henry head into Natalie to look at some PO logs"

best warstory ever

hush up i fixed that >:(

Those that were not able to join us at Nationals :
14. Matt - TheCalmSnivy (also my sworn enemy)
jajajajajaja
epic story, looked like so much fun
gonna find a way to go to worlds

yes
yes
yes

^ looks like you got maski all excited.

also i'm glad to see that all of my training paid off. you done did good kid. congrats.

Cybertron said:

Dan told me to wear his ducks shirt :)

Click to expand...

YES POWERFUL AND XL SIZE DUCK SHIRT :)

AARON

there could have been no other Seniors finals than you v David Arnold in my mind. Both of you made it clear that you could play with the big boys last year and came tantalisingly close (and probably would have destroyed me and a few of my opponents too if you got the chance). I'm so happy you got the chance to take home a national championship and that there's still one more year I don't have to play you in Masters.

DC may have been small but p sure that 5/6 of the top two in all divisions came from the Chantilly, VA regional (everyone but Snake). Clearly the strongest regional of all. So great to see you CONGRATULATIONS to you and BABBYTRON who i'm sorry to say kind of stole the show from you especially in terms of being absolutely the most adorable thing i've ever seen trying to wear that ducks shirt.

Here's to another championship next year!

Great Read, I got auto-logged out twice while reading (i only refreshed twice) due to the fact that I was editing this for you. Good luck at Worlds man.

Edit: Yeah, it took me around and hour and a half to read this, you're welcome 9.9

Great strong warstory, <3csmugs
Also, that was my skarmbliss shirt that Snake decided to wear, but it's ok, I wasn't mentioned at all anyway :(

Good luck at worlds and I hope you get the girl!

EDIT: it was also fun beating battling you Sunday. GG, even though you didn't care about it lol.

Good job at Nationals. Rain teams rule............ Bye.

Excellent story Aaron, it was good to see you again at Nats. I look forward to seeing you at worlds, hopefully we will both do well! I'm glad all the Seniors had such a great time at Nationals as well, but I hope that in the future we will all be able to hang out together more often =D

Win worlds get the girl

Babbytron takes a shirt from Duy actually, and it looked so adorable on him! (I know some people took pictures of this but I couldn't find any, sobu.)

Click to expand...

:3

Really glad you did a warstory about everything rather than just the battles. So glad to see Team Seniors had so much fun. Like I've said before, it really makes the Seniors division worthwhile IMO although I really wish they'd expand it a bit to include people to the end of high school. You were all a blast to talk to the few times I did. I hope to see more of you all next year!

I agree with this warstory, except...

WEST COAST BEST COAST

Congrats, Aaron! You and your brother are officially the new dominant dynasty in town! (Sorry, Ha brothers, but VGC 11 standings have spoken.) I wish we had gotten to see all of you seniors a bit more at Nats, but I really liked how you formed your own group. Like many people said, the seniors are now "mini-us."

Keep up the awesome work and I look forward to seeing you guys in CA. <3

kingofkongs is right. WEST COAST BEST COAST
anyways, congratulations nationals champion Aaron and please dont apologize to duy for blocking out his face


PS: MORE BABYTRON

lol, I love how you post a 200,000 word story, complete with pictures and whatnot, and then say "I'LL FINISH THIS WHEN I HAVE TIME"

Last year I didn't know you too well and we didn't really chat at all, but it was great to meet you finally! Team Seniors strongth, shows me Smogon is heading in a good direction.

kingofkongs said:

I agree with this warstory, except...

WEST COAST BEST COAST

Click to expand...

+99999
Team Seniors REPRESENT
Hope to see all of u at Worlds!
P.S. how do I make my trainer card say "TAKE IT EASY! TRAINER!"
Currently, mine says Behold my BALL SAWK jajajajajajajaja

Congrats man we all knew you had it in you i'm freaking out about worlds against santa babbytron and mudkip and i can't wait to chill again cya and i know my picture skill suck xD

Great warstory! Congrats on winning.

Finally this baby's up! Haha, I told my mom '"mom mom Aaron's a duck now!" after seeing your Duck shirt and she's like "really? He shouldn't have accepted" remembering how Dan beat me last year :x Her and her hatred towards the ducks :) lol.

Great warstory btw and I shouldn't have to tell you how hyped I am that you won Nationals and I know you and Babbytron will go on to do excellent if not win again at Worlds! :D And awww, I didn't get a mention in Team Seniors :( Oh well, I suck anyway and was never a member :/ lol. Great job man again man, and I hope I can get to have all the fun with you guys next year when I storm my way through the Masters and come in top 4 ;)