----------------------------------------------------------------- The Tropical Mega Battle 2001 By Edo (edo_hrzic@hotmail.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Once again, the Tropical Mega Battle (TMB for short) was held in sunny, downtown Honolulu, Hawai'i, on August 25th and 26th. The place was the Hilton Hawai'ian Village. This year's TMB marked the third one for players of Pokemon around the world. Children from the United States, Japan, Italy, Germany, and other countries were invited to Hawai'i for a two-day extravaganza of battling, and inter-cultural exchange. The Pokemon Company was the host for the event. Wizards of the Coast, who does not run the Tropical Mega Battle, was asked to assist with the event, which they happily agreed. ----------| Day 01: Unlike the first and second years of the TMB, this year's TMB didn't have much to offer in the form of games. The first day was for touring of the different countries. What followed was a lunch, then later in the evening was free-battling from eight o'clock to eleven o'clock. Since I didn't know about that until later, I went to get something to eat at a local shop, then did some wandering around, whereupon I found Ron Foster (Pokemon card game translator, and currently the territory manager for Japan and Korea) and Michael Gills, who were chatting. They were waiting for the lunch room to close before a meeting was supposed to start in that same room. The meeting would concern the how to deal with problems of any sort that would happen on the second day's festivities. I waited outside the room for lack of better things to do, while I started with some other notes. While I was waiting, some Japanese individuals came out of the room, and sat a ways over to my right, talking amongst themselves. Then, after a short while, another Japanese individual came around. After talking to the others for a bit, he cam over and greeted me. The infamous Imakuni (no question mark since he was out of costume) once again remembered me. ["Long time no see,"] he said. ["Yes, it has,"] I replied. For around a half hour, Imakuni and I talked about various things. I asked him about some good cities in Japan. We talked about some other card games, which brought the subject to Harry Potter, since Wizards of the Coast just recently released it. I'm not a Harry Potter fan, but Imakuni asked if I had read any of the books. I hadn't, but he had read the first two. He was waiting for the movie to come out so that he could compare it to the book to see what was changed. I went back to my car to get a present for him - a Birthday Pikachu, whereupon I met Imakuni's significant other, Nori Yamamoto. All three of us talked a bit. The meeting finished, and Imakuni and Yamamoto had to go back to their rooms, so I went to get something else to eat before returning for the free-battle. A little after eight o'clock, I went to the free-battle room, where some people had already started playing. I waited there for a little while when I was greeted by an individual, who would be known as Steve Perucca. He had known me from the Internet, and the VS translations that he printed from my homepage. Mr. Gills also showed up to start playing against all challengers. I also met Jason Imperiale. The room was beginning to fill up, and I started taking some pictures. Mr. Gills then asked for me to take some pictures with his camera as well. I couldn't promise any good pictures, since my photographic skills are below-average at best. I took about ten pictures for him, and handed back the camera, as there isn't many pictures one can take of the same thing over and over again. Mr. Gills games weren't going so well, since the decks he was playing were based on the Modified format, whereas everyone else was using the TMB format. I decided to play my Ninetales- Fireblast deck (which was also based on the restrictions from the TMB, but not the fifteen Trainer card limit), but failed due to Mr. Gill's deck that was NOT based on the TMB format. Energy Removals hit hard, and I ran out of cards when using Professor Oak after Professor Oak to get what I needed. I was offered a card from his promo stack, and I picked up a Prerelease Clefable (though slightly marred on the back). I gave him a badge that I made with my own button machine at home. During the game, I talked with Mr. Gills about year three of the Pokemon League. He couldn't go into too much detail, but he stated that year three would be composed of tournaments. There wouldn't be any badges, but promo cards would still be given out. The second game was against Jason Imperiale and his Nidoking deck. I was doing okay at first, but my lack of playing and deck-building skills reached its peak, and I lost that game as well. I handed over another of my badges. Imakuni? showed up to play, and I watched a few of his games with the other players. He was using some of the new VS cards in his deck. The room closed at eleven o'clock and I retreated home for a good night's rest. The next day's festivities would begin around eight o'clock in the morning. ----------| Day 02: I arrived at the Hilton around eight-thirty, and a number of the staff were already in the conference room. It wasn't long before the remaining players and staff filtered in for the event to start. Johanna Cox, Wizards of the Coast Event Manager, gave me her business card so that I could forward a copy of this report to her before being released publicly. At first, Mr. Takahashi stood up and read that standard congratulatory speech for the players who made it to the event, which was in English. Keith Strohm then was given the microphone to also give his words of encouragement and congratulations to the players. The players were to hand in their constructed decks to the Japanese staff for checking, while they played in the first event. All of the players and their countries were called, whereupon they stood up. The first event of the day was the VS tournament; each player was given a deck of 30 VS cards in their native language! Since they are not available outside of Japan at the current time, it would make an excellent collector's item. For those that have some Japanese VS cards, most of the cards were available in the Japanese VS Movie pack (the one with Team Rocket's Tyranitar), except for the exclusive Tropical Breeze card (Flip 1 coin. If heads, remove up to 2 damage counters from each player's Active Pokemon; if tails, each player's Active Pokemon is now Asleep). For the VS decks, each player would play with only three Prize cards, to denote the smaller deck format. This should not be a surprise; it was the same with the Two-Player Pokemon Starter Set which is released by Wizards of the Coast. In addition, the first player would NOT draw a card during his or her first draw phase. Three rounds would be played of these VS cards. The first round went relatively smoothly, but when it was revealed that one of the cards has a misprint on it, as compared to the other countries' versions, the first round had to be re- played. This turned out to be a reversal of fortune; the three American players that had lost on the first round actually won on the re-played first round. This was not just the Americans; for most of the players, the ones that lost on the first round ended winning in the re-played round. When the VS games were completed, it was time for a lunch break. I was invited by Mr. Foster and Mr. Gills to join some of the Wizards staff for lunch. We went to a Japanese restaurant right next to the Hilton, where I has Katsu-Don (breaded pork and egg, all on top of rice). We all then headed back to the conference room, where the constructed deck event would be initiated. The decks were handed back to their respective owners. Some had to be slightly modified, as they were illegal. Those that needed to be changed were simply over the fifteen Trainer limit regulation. However, all the decks had been outfitted with gold- colored Pocket Monster card sleeves. Three rounds would be played, then the top eight would face off. As I was taking some pictures, I began to notice the decks. Some of them included Blaine's Fire Decks, Nidoking (Jason Imperiale's), Psychic, Blastoise (even though it was a restricted card in this event), Damage Swap, and some Water/Colorless decks, among others. One problem that came up during play was Blaine's Charizard, which is different in the Japanese version. The original Japanese card's first attack discards only the Fire Energy cards that are not used to pay for the attack's energy cost. Non- Japanese ones discard all of the Fire Energy cards attached to it, thus doing more damage. The top eight came down to: Sheng Zheng, Michael Perucca, Jorge Figueiredo, Ryosuke Araki, Andy Diedrich, Dillon Jarman, Jason Imperiale, and Michael Baia. The top eight players would play in a three-round, single elimination tournament. In the end, it would come down to Jorge Figueiredo and Andy Diedrich for the final battle. As I was handed the decks for the other contestants, and proceeded writing them down, I was unable to watch the match commence. But Jorge's Rocket's Zapdos, a key card that helped him win other games, came through for him and let him win the event. The decks for the remaining six finishers include: -----| Sheng Zheng 1 Mr. Mime 3 Pokemon Breeder 1 Cleffa 1 Gold Berry 2 Steelix 1 Professor Elm 2 Dark Blastoise 3 Professor Oak 1 Blastoise 4 Computer Search 1 Wartortle 1 Double Colorless Energy 1 Dark Wartortle 1 Metal Energy 1 Squirtle (BS) 1 Darkness Energy 3 Squirtle (TR) 2 Full-Heal Energy 3 Lapras 2 Rainbow Energy 3 Onix 16 Water Energy 3 Articuno -----| Michael Perucca 3 Blaine's Growlithe (L.20) 1 Item Finder 3 Blaine's Arcanine 1 Super Energy Removal 4 Cyndaquil 1 Time Capsule 3 Quilava (L.21) 3 Gust of Wind 3 Typhlosion (L.55) 2 Blaine 1 Cleffa 2 Professor Elm 1 Ditto 2 Professor Oak 1 Dratini (BS) 3 Computer Search 1 Dratini (TR) 1 Double Colorless Energy 2 Dark Dragonair 18 Fire Energy 1 Dark Dragonite 1 Elekid 2 Pikachu (N1) -----| Ryosuke Araki 1 Elekid 1 Pokemon Trader 1 Rocket's Zapdos 1 Super Energy Removal 1 Cleffa 1 Energy Removal 1 Tyrouge 1 Focus Band 1 Electabuzz (BS) 1 Item Finder 2 Electrode (BS) 1 Gust of Wind 1 Voltorb (BS) 1 Pokemon Breeder 1 Voltrob (TR) 4 Professor Oak 1 Lickitung (J) 4 Computer Search 1 Sneasel 1 Double Colorless Energy 1 Magmar (F) 1 Potion Energy 3 Charizard 1 Metal Energy 4 Charmeleon 1 Darkness Energy 3 Charmander (BS) 2 Full-Heal Energy 1 Charmander (TR) 2 Rainbow Energy 3 Recycle Energy 6 Fire Energy 5 Electric Energy -----| Dillon Jarman 1 Scyther (J) 3 Pokemon Trader 1 Wooper 4 Professor Elm 1 Pikachu (N1) 1 Nightly Garbage Run 1 Electabuzz (N1) 3 Computer Search 1 Elekid 1 Professor Oak 1 Chansey 2 Gust of Wind 1 Cleffa 1 Item Finder 1 Magmar (N1) 1 Double Colorless Energy 4 Cyndaquil (L.21) 1 Darkness Energy 4 Quilava (N1) 2 Full-Heal Energy 3 Typhlosion (L.55) 16 Fire Energy 3 Blaine's Growlithe (L.20) 3 Blaine's Arcanine -----| Jason Imperiale 4 Nidoran M 1 Item Finder 4 Nidorino 1 Gold Berry 3 Nidoking 1 Super Energy Removal 1 Scyther (J) 2 Gust of Wind 3 Oddish (TR) 3 Computer Search 3 Staryu (BS) 3 Professor Elm 1 Cleffa 4 Professor Oak 1 Pichu 1 Darkness Energy 1 Double Colorless Energy 5 Water Energy 18 Grass Energy -----| Michael Baia 1 Chansey 1 Super Energy Removal 1 Scyther (J) 4 Pokemon Center 1 Ditto 2 Pokemon Breeder 3 Lickitung 4 Switch 2 Sabrina's Psyduck 1 Professor Oak 2 Sabrina's Golduck 3 Professor Elm 3 Abra (TR) 1 Double Colorless Energy 1 Kadabra 23 Psychic Energy 3 Alakazam 2 Rocket's Mewtwo 2 Mr. Mime -----| Victor Crusner (NOTE: Victor was not a top-eight finisher, but was very close. His deck is included at his request.) 3 Rocket's Mewtwo 1 Pluspower 4 Onix (N1) 3 Switch 3 Steelix 2 Nightly Garbage Run 3 Rocket's Hitmonchan 3 Professor Oak 3 Computer Search 1 Metal Energy 4 Rainbow Energy 15 Fighting Energy 12 Psychic Energy At the conclusion of battle, the players were instructed to meet for the outdoor dinner and award ceremony. Just as the room was clearing out, I traded with a Japanese individual, getting a Japanese ANA Marill and ANA Togepi, along with the Japanese movie Igglybuff and Tyrogue, and finishing off with an Ooyama's Pikachu. I made my way to the green, and as I was waiting, and Japanese woman by the name of Junko Hanna from the Pokemon Company stopped me and said, "You must be Edo." "Uh, yes," I replied. She said, "My name is Junko, from the Pokemon Company. I've been to your website. I read the earlier Tropical Mega Battle Reports that you wrote." Of course I was embarrassed about it. "How did you find my webpage?" I asked. "Well, it's famous, after all. I went there from the Pojo." Ack. I guess I'm more well-known than I thought. The awards ceremony began shortly afterward. I took a seat at the table occupied by Mr. Gills, and Steve Perucca. After words of encouragement and satisfaction by Mr. Ishihara and the CEO of Wizards of the Coast, the awards were given out. Jorge Figueiredo, winner of the constructed tournament, was asked to say some words about the event, but it all consisted of "Yes", "No", and "I'm embarrassed" answers. The top three finishers were given medals. All of the contestants were given prizes. After the main awards, a special commendation was given for two distinct players, recognized as "The Most Impressive Players." The Wizards of the Coast staff picked one Japanese player, and the Japanese staff picked one non-Japanese player. Wizards of the Coast selected a young man by the name of Hiroshi. He was selected by the Wizards of the Coast staff for doing his best to communicate in English with his opponents. Victor Crusner was chosen as the non-Japanese Most Impressive Player, as he displayed an intense "fighting spirit" to his opponents. Dinner commenced, where there was a large buffet waiting. During dinner, singers and dancers provided entertainment. At the close of dinner, a Fire Knives (the fire batons) Dancer displayed his skill. The free-battle room once against opened from eight o'clock and eleven o'clock. There, I battled Mr. Perucca and his Blaine deck, and realized that the non-Japanese version of Blaine's Charizard was too powerful. I gave him my badge after I lost. After that, I played against one of the Japanese staff. He used a Donphan deck, and it really hurt when he played a Chaos Gym on his first turn. All I could do was say "Ow" in Japanese. I also lost to him, and gave him my badge. As I waited for Imakuni? to show up, I also got to play against Mr. Ooyama and his Muk deck. I won this time, and gave him a random English promo card, and my badge. I also got him to sign my Ooyama's Pikachu. Imakuni? showed up, and as I waited in a line (of sorts) to play him, Mr. Perucca started a booster draft. The Japanese players were quite interested, as they had never played in booster drafts before. Since they were so interested, Mr. Foster got Wizards of the Coast to donate two boxes so that some Japanese players could play a booster draft. I played against Imakuni?. And then his Imakuni?'s Doduo came out. I have to admit that, regardless of how weird the songs he sings are, he is an incredible singer. He had to sing whenever he used the attack on the card. When he was playing me, he started singing, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas"...in English. It was quite embarrassing, but entertaining nonetheless. I won this time. I got an Imakuni? bendable figure, and gave him my badge, along with two random promo cards. I also got my Imakuni? card signed by him. I then proceeded to give out the remainder of my badges, seemingly at random. I gave one to Mr. Akabane, Mr. Ishihara, Ms. Rui, and Ms. Hanna. Ms. Hanna laughed quite bit when she saw the badge, and gave me an English Neo 2 Magnemite in return. The Japanese booster draft concluded, and the prizes were handed out. The first-place winner was given a special bag by Mr. Ishihara. Since it was after eleven o'clock, the room was being cleaned out. I told Mr. Foster that I had to leave, since I had a final exam in a college class the next day. He relayed that to some of the Japanese staff, and one of their jaws dropped. I explained that the exam was going to be easy, so not to worry. Overall, it was another exciting experience at the Tropical Mega Battle. I would like to thank the Wizards of the Coast staff, including Ron Foster, Michael Gills, and Johanna Cox for making me feel welcome. I would also like to extend my thanks to Mr. Ishihara, Tomoaki Imakuni and Junko Hanna for extending their friendship. P.S.: Oh, and by the way, I got around a ninety percent on that exam.