STANWOOD — Josh Ferris had played Pokemon video games for years before the day his dad cleared the magazines from his office. While tossing the periodicals into the recycling bin, Phil Ferris found an article about the 2008 Pokemon video competitions.
Curious, father and son looked online to learn about the 2009 competitions. They found out a playoff was scheduled in less than a week in Seattle.
Although he’s an experienced player, Josh had only six days to prepare.
That was the start of a fast-paced summer for the 12-year-old Stanwood Middle School student.
In the video game competitions, participants bring along their own copies of Nintendo’s Pokemon Platinum game. There are 493 Pokemon video game characters to choose from, and Josh had to study all the strengths, weaknesses and abilities of each to decide on the six characters he would use to win, Phil Ferris said.
Josh placed eighth in Seattle, behind winner Cade Rowan of Lynnwood, David Hernandez of Marysville, Michael Xi of Mill Creek and others.
Josh and his dad decided to attend the San Francisco regional competition to see if he could still earn a spot to the national competition in St. Louis. Josh won first place in his age division in San Francisco, earning himself a position at the national competition, along with free airfare and lodging.
The first day at nationals, Josh won all five of his games, which earned him an invitation and a paid trip to the world competition in San Diego. The second day he lost a close match in the first round and finished in eighth overall. David and Michael were then eliminated from competition in a national playoff.
Josh met up with Cade and Will Juvet of Marysville at the world champions Aug. 13-15 in San Diego. Josh and his dad were accompanied on the trip by mom Melissa and sister Tristin.
Josh was one of 31 competitors and played against Pokemon national champions from Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France.
He ended the competition as the 12th ranked player in the world, with Will coming in 13th and Cade 14th.
“It was a lot of airplane flights, but it was a pretty cool summer,” Josh said. “It was fun to meet kids from all over the world. I’ll probably try again next year.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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