Apologies for the late report. I thought I would be doing a group report but I guess I'm on my own haha. This report is mostly my adventure/highlights overall of Nats. I include some details of my matches but not to the extent of videos and such. Let's get this report started....
Thursday Morning:
I leave home at like 7 am and decide to take a fancy bus that would take me directly to the airport rather than a crummy transit bus. However, a fight (xD) soon starts between 2 drivers. Apparently the driver for some tourist bus doesn't want to move his bus even though he knows he isn't suppose to be there. The two argue but nothing is resolved. Enraged, the manager of the airport bus company pulls up his van (o man lol) and blocks the driver from leaving (I assume since he planned to call the police on him). With all this going on, my bus soon arrives and I'm off to the airport. I can tell this is going to be a rough morning (and I was definitely right!).
I finally get to the airport and get stopped by the TSA guy 984739 times because I kept alarming when I went through the metal detector. I already got rid of my watch, keys, phone, pokewalker, and coins yet I still kept alarming. It turned out it was because the aluminum from the trident gum I bought earlier that morning was causing the alarm to go off .-. On top of that the TSA agent tried to steal my gum when he hid it on top of the other mini buckets that you use to put your other personal stuff through the metal detector xD. On top of that the TSA person wanted me to open my luggage =O. The conversation went something like this,
TSA guy:“Sir what do you have in your luggage”.
Me: “Cards”
TSA guy: “What kind of cards”
Me: “Pokemon…..”
*Awkward silence*
Seeing as there were vendors at Indy I decided to bring along all of my unwanted packs/cards and sell them to help fund my trip. Anyways I finally get on the flight and I'm stuck with some asian lady next to me. She would not stop fidgeting and banging her body next to me. I wasn’t surprised when her coke ended up spilling on ti her lap. So now she and her sweater were drenched in coke. I took a minor spill but nothing to major and soon proceeded to transfer to another seat.
After a crazy morning/flight I was relieved to finally land in Indy. The first person I see is BC (Thanks again for waiting for me :) ) since he took the earlier flight and ended up waiting for me at my gate. We chat about our flights and he says ET went off and took the metro (they were both on the same flight). Between this time I meet up with my tcg friend and so I introduce them. Soon the Colorado Crew who plays the Pokemon TCG which I’m friends with comes and I’m able to get myself and BC a ride to Indy with them while I leave my other friend to wait for his other friend (who happened to lose his phone) and also happened to have his flight delayed so he ended up waiting there for another hour all for nothing =/. So yea after about a 20 min ride we get to the convention center. We thank the Colorado crew and we soon part ways. BC and I start to get hungry and and he mentions he has some coupons for food (more like over a dozen lol). We finally pass by a noodle shop which he happens to have a coupon for (buy one get one free, oh yeaaaa!!) and chow down there. After, I get BC to join me and we both sign up for the TCG Nats lol. We receive our Garchomp shirts (Garchomp>Dragonite from last year lol) and chill. Since nothing was going on he tags along with me and we go hang out with some of my tcg friends at their hotel rooms. I think we went to like 3 different rooms at like 3 different hotels lol. I finally dropped my stuff off in BontaKun's room where I would be staying for Thursday night.
I soon get a call from Huy that he just arrived in Indy and that everyone is about to meet up.
****The rest of this warstory will include a lot of fast forward parts since just to much happened between now and Monday and I'm to lazy to include everything lol*****
*Fast Forward*
I meet up with Huy and the gang and we all head out to Fridays. It was hilarious when the person at the desk who's last name we're under so someone mentioned Ha (Huy+Duy) so we were the Ha party (they didn't believe us at first haha) More people trickled in (Synre,Mingot+daughter) though I still don't get how Mingot got his food before everyone else lol.
*Fast Forward*
Friday:
So its the day of the lcq so I decided to cheer along fellow ducks+smogonites (I already had my invite from regionals). In the end Godudette,OD,Skarm, and PBB (as well as TR Jessie whom will be now known as Absol girl lol) made it through so the lcq was a success (besides other smogonites losing to hax or facing each other)
*Fast Forward*
Saturday:
So its Day 1 of Nationals. Everyone proudly wears their duck shirt, even those that didn't get past the lcq. I guess I'll describe my matches. I used standrd topogre+had abomatwo as my other team.
Match 1 vs: Michael Saravia
Nothing really to mention. We traded kills. I got lucky on some predictions. I win 2-0
Match 2 vs Stephen Morioka
He leads with Hariyama+Rayquaza and I lead with Topogre. He double protects. Next turn he arialace to ko my hitmontop and lowkick to kill my kyogre. Already I'm down 2 guys. However Arceus was on my side this match. I Spacial Rend crit his Palkia haban for the 1hko and I blizzard freeze his Hitmontop. It goes down hill for him. I win 2-0. Just goes to show you how hax can quickly change a match around.
Match 3 Aaron Zhang
Nooo I had to vs Aaron :( I decide to change my team to abomatwo figuring he might have a different team but he ends up using misa room again =/ He predicts me and wins 0-3.
Match 4 Steven (don't remember his last name)
This match I just wasn't smart :( I make a poor move and get slaughtered. I think it was a 0-3 also.
Match 5 Johnathan Rankin
He leads with Palkia Weavile and I leads standard Topogre. I get lucky on some predictions and I think I win 2-0.
Match 6 Mike Papagianis (Yea I can't spell your name either lol)
Darn so Skarm and I have to face each other :( It comes down to my 3 guys to his 2 and he ends up exploding. And he gets a crit Shadow Force on my Kyogre so I can't even attempt to try and hax a Blizzard on his Giratina lol 0-1
Match 7 Allen Liu
He leads with Jynx Wobbufett =O I end up winning cause I get a crit Blizzard+freeze+ and a crit iceshard to seal the game. Otherwise he likely would have won.
So I end with a 4-3 record. LOL at Tad making that scene about Rory making it as 16th seed. I was happy a lot of Ducks made it in topcut and I would get to cheer them all on the next day :)
*Fast Forward*
Sunday:
Everybody cheers for the top 16. I got to record some matches so expect to see them on youtube at some point. Biggest highlight of the day was when the power went out during top 4, and the pita incident lol. Oh and the ALAKA chant haha. So after the finals are over Huy, Duy, Godudette, PBB, BC and I head back to the room and just chill and pack for tomorrow. We also stayed up till 12 AM watchin Season 2 episodes and making fun of all the characters haha.
Monday: The end :(( So Dubs+Andrea drive me, Huy, Duy over to the airport. We chill with them before goodbyes+pictures. I chill some more with Huy and Duy at their Gate before our goodbyes.
I would like to thank everyone who I met/hung out with whom made that weekend the very best like no one ever was....
Huy, Duy, Godudette, BC, PBB, OD, IPL, Fishy, Evan, DM, Rory, TAY, Synre, ET, chaos, 616, Jesus, TTS (Fake Dan :P), Fish, Arti, Mingot +daughter, Skarm, Bontakun, DM, TAD, BI, Dubs, DarkWatch, Alaka, Tyler, Mattj, Cybertron+anyone else I forgot, you guys made the day awesome :) O yea and I have to include Nick McCord, he made the whole event very enjoyable with all of his commentary up until the finals :) I also got a chance to meet Hagridtwin so it was nice to meet you.
Also special mentions for people who helped me with my team:
Huy, Godudette, Skarm, Ditto (Thanks Ditto, shiny Mewtwo was awesome!)
Thursday Morning:
I leave home at like 7 am and decide to take a fancy bus that would take me directly to the airport rather than a crummy transit bus. However, a fight (xD) soon starts between 2 drivers. Apparently the driver for some tourist bus doesn't want to move his bus even though he knows he isn't suppose to be there. The two argue but nothing is resolved. Enraged, the manager of the airport bus company pulls up his van (o man lol) and blocks the driver from leaving (I assume since he planned to call the police on him). With all this going on, my bus soon arrives and I'm off to the airport. I can tell this is going to be a rough morning (and I was definitely right!).
I finally get to the airport and get stopped by the TSA guy 984739 times because I kept alarming when I went through the metal detector. I already got rid of my watch, keys, phone, pokewalker, and coins yet I still kept alarming. It turned out it was because the aluminum from the trident gum I bought earlier that morning was causing the alarm to go off .-. On top of that the TSA agent tried to steal my gum when he hid it on top of the other mini buckets that you use to put your other personal stuff through the metal detector xD. On top of that the TSA person wanted me to open my luggage =O. The conversation went something like this,
TSA guy:“Sir what do you have in your luggage”.
Me: “Cards”
TSA guy: “What kind of cards”
Me: “Pokemon…..”
*Awkward silence*
Seeing as there were vendors at Indy I decided to bring along all of my unwanted packs/cards and sell them to help fund my trip. Anyways I finally get on the flight and I'm stuck with some asian lady next to me. She would not stop fidgeting and banging her body next to me. I wasn’t surprised when her coke ended up spilling on ti her lap. So now she and her sweater were drenched in coke. I took a minor spill but nothing to major and soon proceeded to transfer to another seat.
After a crazy morning/flight I was relieved to finally land in Indy. The first person I see is BC (Thanks again for waiting for me :) ) since he took the earlier flight and ended up waiting for me at my gate. We chat about our flights and he says ET went off and took the metro (they were both on the same flight). Between this time I meet up with my tcg friend and so I introduce them. Soon the Colorado Crew who plays the Pokemon TCG which I’m friends with comes and I’m able to get myself and BC a ride to Indy with them while I leave my other friend to wait for his other friend (who happened to lose his phone) and also happened to have his flight delayed so he ended up waiting there for another hour all for nothing =/. So yea after about a 20 min ride we get to the convention center. We thank the Colorado crew and we soon part ways. BC and I start to get hungry and and he mentions he has some coupons for food (more like over a dozen lol). We finally pass by a noodle shop which he happens to have a coupon for (buy one get one free, oh yeaaaa!!) and chow down there. After, I get BC to join me and we both sign up for the TCG Nats lol. We receive our Garchomp shirts (Garchomp>Dragonite from last year lol) and chill. Since nothing was going on he tags along with me and we go hang out with some of my tcg friends at their hotel rooms. I think we went to like 3 different rooms at like 3 different hotels lol. I finally dropped my stuff off in BontaKun's room where I would be staying for Thursday night.
I soon get a call from Huy that he just arrived in Indy and that everyone is about to meet up.
****The rest of this warstory will include a lot of fast forward parts since just to much happened between now and Monday and I'm to lazy to include everything lol*****
*Fast Forward*
I meet up with Huy and the gang and we all head out to Fridays. It was hilarious when the person at the desk who's last name we're under so someone mentioned Ha (Huy+Duy) so we were the Ha party (they didn't believe us at first haha) More people trickled in (Synre,Mingot+daughter) though I still don't get how Mingot got his food before everyone else lol.
*Fast Forward*
Friday:
So its the day of the lcq so I decided to cheer along fellow ducks+smogonites (I already had my invite from regionals). In the end Godudette,OD,Skarm, and PBB (as well as TR Jessie whom will be now known as Absol girl lol) made it through so the lcq was a success (besides other smogonites losing to hax or facing each other)
*Fast Forward*
Saturday:
So its Day 1 of Nationals. Everyone proudly wears their duck shirt, even those that didn't get past the lcq. I guess I'll describe my matches. I used standrd topogre+had abomatwo as my other team.
Match 1 vs: Michael Saravia
Nothing really to mention. We traded kills. I got lucky on some predictions. I win 2-0
Match 2 vs Stephen Morioka
He leads with Hariyama+Rayquaza and I lead with Topogre. He double protects. Next turn he arialace to ko my hitmontop and lowkick to kill my kyogre. Already I'm down 2 guys. However Arceus was on my side this match. I Spacial Rend crit his Palkia haban for the 1hko and I blizzard freeze his Hitmontop. It goes down hill for him. I win 2-0. Just goes to show you how hax can quickly change a match around.
Match 3 Aaron Zhang
Nooo I had to vs Aaron :( I decide to change my team to abomatwo figuring he might have a different team but he ends up using misa room again =/ He predicts me and wins 0-3.
Match 4 Steven (don't remember his last name)
This match I just wasn't smart :( I make a poor move and get slaughtered. I think it was a 0-3 also.
Match 5 Johnathan Rankin
He leads with Palkia Weavile and I leads standard Topogre. I get lucky on some predictions and I think I win 2-0.
Match 6 Mike Papagianis (Yea I can't spell your name either lol)
Darn so Skarm and I have to face each other :( It comes down to my 3 guys to his 2 and he ends up exploding. And he gets a crit Shadow Force on my Kyogre so I can't even attempt to try and hax a Blizzard on his Giratina lol 0-1
Match 7 Allen Liu
He leads with Jynx Wobbufett =O I end up winning cause I get a crit Blizzard+freeze+ and a crit iceshard to seal the game. Otherwise he likely would have won.
So I end with a 4-3 record. LOL at Tad making that scene about Rory making it as 16th seed. I was happy a lot of Ducks made it in topcut and I would get to cheer them all on the next day :)
*Fast Forward*
Sunday:
Everybody cheers for the top 16. I got to record some matches so expect to see them on youtube at some point. Biggest highlight of the day was when the power went out during top 4, and the pita incident lol. Oh and the ALAKA chant haha. So after the finals are over Huy, Duy, Godudette, PBB, BC and I head back to the room and just chill and pack for tomorrow. We also stayed up till 12 AM watchin Season 2 episodes and making fun of all the characters haha.
Monday: The end :(( So Dubs+Andrea drive me, Huy, Duy over to the airport. We chill with them before goodbyes+pictures. I chill some more with Huy and Duy at their Gate before our goodbyes.
I would like to thank everyone who I met/hung out with whom made that weekend the very best like no one ever was....
Huy, Duy, Godudette, BC, PBB, OD, IPL, Fishy, Evan, DM, Rory, TAY, Synre, ET, chaos, 616, Jesus, TTS (Fake Dan :P), Fish, Arti, Mingot +daughter, Skarm, Bontakun, DM, TAD, BI, Dubs, DarkWatch, Alaka, Tyler, Mattj, Cybertron+anyone else I forgot, you guys made the day awesome :) O yea and I have to include Nick McCord, he made the whole event very enjoyable with all of his commentary up until the finals :) I also got a chance to meet Hagridtwin so it was nice to meet you.
Also special mentions for people who helped me with my team:
Huy, Godudette, Skarm, Ditto (Thanks Ditto, shiny Mewtwo was awesome!)
