One Cochrane man is on a mission to be the very best, like no one ever was.
Jacob Wilkins has joined Team Canada for the World Cup of Pokémon VGC. The competition is set to feature over 700 players from 60 countries around the world.
“This is the fourth year they've done the World Cup of Pokémon,” says Wilkins. “Each country is able to select a team of up to 12 players that are the best Pokémon players in their country.”
“It was a pretty rigorous try-out process this year. There was 80 players that are all pretty accomplished Pokémon players that went through the tryout process and then I managed to claw my way through it completely undefeated."
"I beat some players who were previous top-world players along the way, and I guess the team managers saw my performance there and figured that there wasn't a way that they could not put me on the team.”
In a Pokémon video game tournament, players battle head-to-head on the Nintendo Switch. Trainers use teams of Pokémon, following specific rules like team size, level limits, and move restrictions. Players compete in multiple rounds, with the winner determined by best performance across battles.
Wilkins is only the second Albertan to ever make the cut for Team Canada.
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“I started casually playing a bit in 2016, but I didn't really start completing at all until 2020 when I qualified for the Players Cup, which was a big international tournament.”
“My first real run at an event was at the Toronto regional last year where I was the the 55th player. I was in the top 64 bracket and I think 5 Canadians above me in Canada's biggest regional ever.”
“This year, I figured I'd make a push, and they kept throwing harder and harder opponents at me. I kept just running right through them the whole time so it worked out pretty well.“
Wilkins and the 13 other players on Team Canada are set to take on Venezuela, Honduras and Uruguay in the opening round of the virtual competition.
The World Cup of Pokémon VGC will be streamed live throughout the month on Twitch.
