Libertyville girl scales pinnacle of Pokémon: the world championships

As the last millennium was winding to a close, a 1999 Time magazine cover warned of the latest “addiction” threatening our children — “Pokémon!”

“Beware of the Pokémania,” screamed the headline on a story about the Pokémon fad, which included trading cards, TV shows, video games, candy and clothing as part of a capitalistic empire that Time branded “a pestilential Ponzi scheme.”

That's all news to Gwen Edgar, an 11-year-old Libertyville girl and Pokémon video-gamer who got an email Thursday that reads, “Gwen Edgar! The quality of your play this year has secured you an invite to play in the 2015 Pokémon World Championships!”

Gwen will be among the top Pokémon players gathered Aug. 21-23 in Boston for the world championship of all things Pokémon. Most of the competitors are boys, but that doesn't matter to Gwen.

“I have 13 plushies,” Gwen says as she gathers her favorite stuffed figurines of Pokémon characters. “Some people say that's too many, but I disagree.”

The girl, who will be a sixth-grader in the fall, went into this month's national tournament in Indianapolis ranked 25th in the junior division. Only the top 24 players get the invite to the “Worlds.” Choosing among hundreds of Pokémon characters, all with different strengths and weaknesses, competitors build teams and battle against each other. Gwen made the unusual choice of bypassing the popular Pokémon character of Thundurus to choose Jolteon, whose Volt Absorb Ability allowed it to heal in the face of Thunderbolts and Thunder Wave attacks and counteract the damage generally caused by a Life Orb.

While complete gibberish to non-Pokémon people, Gwen's strategy propelled her to a 5-2 record, catapulting her to a seventh-place finish and an 11th-place ranking.

“I lost only two, which made me really happy,” Gwen says. “I made it to World Championships.”

Created in the mid-1990s in Japan, the Pokémon empire is as popular as ever at Fremont Public Library in Mundelein, which hosts dozens of young (and some not so young) players and parents every Saturday afternoon as part of the free Ace Trainers League. They compete against each other in the Pokémon card game and on Nintendo gaming devices.

“I talk to people about Pokémon all the time,” says Rebecca Bruce-Cartwright, 41, organizer of the local Ace Trainers League, the largest in the Chicago area. “It's one of my great passions.”

Bruce-Cartwright's sons, Samuel, 11, and Calum, 8, also are going to the Worlds, competing in the card game and video game, respectively. Ace Trainers League member Evan Smith, 11, of Long Grove won junior Nationals in the card game and is headed to Boston with his sister, Alyssa, 13, who competes in the senior division.

“We have super-casual players, and we have elite players,” says Bruce-Cartwright, who lives in Mundelein. Those Saturday meetings generally draw 50 to 60 players during the winter months. Ages of players range from 5 to the late 20s, with some parents also competing, she says.

Gwen Edgar discovered Pokémon through the TV shows and her older brother Thomas, who at 14 is “no longer into it,” the girl says. Unlike some video games with set characters, the Pokémon games let players “breed” Pokémon characters, hoping to get an offspring with all the best characteristics.

“At first, she wanted me to do her battling,” Irene Edgar says of her daughter. “Now, that's not a problem because she knows way more than I do. She creates all her own teams.”

Each of Gwen's characters has myriad moves and moods, and so does each of her opponents' characters.

“It's a lot like chess but with more variables,” Bruce-Cartwright says, adding that the complexity doesn't scare away kids. “I have children who come every Saturday, eager to play for three hours.”

For details, email AceTrainersLeague@gmail.com, check out the group's Facebook page or visit pokemon.com.

Instead of being a disruptive addiction, Pokémon is a blessing, Bruce-Cartwright says, especially for kids who might not have the easiest time fitting into the usual sports teams and other kid social events.

A Pokémon event is “a safe place for quirky, awkward kids,” she says. “And pretty much everyone in Pokémon is quirky.”

While Gwen plays the flute, dances, sings in the choir, does crafts and is a voracious reader, Pokémon has introduced her to kids from different schools and towns.

“It's very exciting because she's made several friends,” her mom says. “And she put together this goal to make it to Worlds, and she's worked hard to get there.”

Gwen first competed last August, when she went online and found a tournament three days later. It was just a practice tournament, but she won her division. On Feb. 14, her dad, Michael, and brother stayed behind, while her mom accompanied Gwen to a regional tournament near St. Louis.

“I kept my mom and dad apart on Valentine's Day. I'm so evil,” jokes Gwen, who came in third.

She also did well in a handful of local tournaments and another regional event in Madison, Wisconsin, before placing at Nationals. Even as she explains the path she took to make it to Worlds, Gwen occasionally sneaks a glance at the gaming device in her hand, where her thumbs are leading her team into battle.

“I'm just playing this game because it's fun,” she explains.

The World competition is “the pinnacle of Pokémon,” says Bruce-Cartwright, who used to be a political science professor. “And we all have fun, which is pretty important, too. Pokémon has something called ‘Spirit of the Game' — fun, fairness, honest respect, sportsmanship and learning. This is the heart and soul of Pokémon.”

Gwen says she's excited about a chance to see Boston's Freedom Trail and put forth her best Pokémon team.

“It took me a while to get good,” Gwen says. “Even though I won my first tournament, this team now is so much better. It's awesome.”