Pokémon Master Head To Japan

There's a new champion in the Pokémon universe, and he heralds from an unusual realm: Orlando, Fla. Chris Darling, 20, bested more than 36,000 registrants across the United States and Canada in tests of Pokémon knowledge to be crowned Nintendo's Pokémon Emerald Ultimate Frontier Battle Brain. On April 30, Darling sent his Pokémon into battle at the Pokémon Emerald Battle Tower (Seattle's landmark Space Needle) and defeated 12 other finalists to win a trip for two to the new Pokémon The Park 2005 in Nagoya, Japan.

"My heart was beating so hard when I was battling," Darling said. "I expected myself to lose three times." Yet a last-second twist of fate and a move admittedly made in "desperation" helped Darling seal the victory.

Darling has had quite a momentous week. He became a Pokémon champion, took his first-ever plane flight to attend the event and even found time to take his finals at the University of Central Florida, where he is a history major. Darling has been a Pokémon fan since the international phenomenon debuted in the United States in September 1998, with the Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue games. He was surprised to find half of the finalists were 18 or older. "I thought I was going to be the only 20-year-old person here," he said.

Contrary to the stereotype, video games like Pokémon have helped Darling become more outgoing, said his father, David Darling. "Socially it's helped him," David Darling said. "He can walk into one of the game stores and the kids recognize him as an expert. It's helped him mature." For photos and complete details about the competition, log onto emerald.pokemon-games.com.

The Pokémon Battle in Seattle coincided with the May 1 launch of Nintendo's new Pokémon Emerald video game for Game Boy Advance SP. The game, Rated E for Everyone, includes the most challenging Pokémon Battle fields ever, and seven new competitors called Frontier Brains. Players also can link with their Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen games as they try to collect a series of symbols. Plus up to four players can link up with a Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter to battle or trade with their friends.

"Just as our champion, Chris Darling, faced tougher and tougher competitors, so too will the millions of Pokémon fans face greater and greater challenges in this new game," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications.

Nearly 150,000 Pokémon fans pre-registered to buy Pokémon Emerald, demonstrating the continued popularity of the worldwide phenomenon. Pokémon games typically sell more than a million each. Last year's Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen sold more than 2.4 million combined. More than 136 million Pokémon video games have been sold worldwide.

Recent News

Latest News Stories

Cool Sites