Last weekend was the Pokemon Pre Release Celestial Storm
weekend!
Saturday: The day started at 5:30am that morning. It was
up and getting ready. Almost, it was back to sleep for an additional hour in a
tub nap. Then two packets of Simple Truth Cranberry and Cinnamon Oatmeal with
Simple Truth Organic Milk. I cleaned out my Pokemon backpack the night before.
However I still organized and got ready with binder pages for holding cards I
would collect. I grabbed my keys and drove off to our local game store. When I
arrived there were people standing outside of the store. It was not until after
10:10am that we were welcomed into the store. The store was nice and cold with
the air conditioning! I got in line to change my Pokemon Pre Release
reservation from Sunday to Saturday. I also bought a Pokemon XY Evolutions
Venasaur and Chessex 6 sided dice. I saw my friend and former league
coordinator Aaron! We talked about the new cards we wanted out of this
expansion set. Then after sometime it was time to start the Pokemon Pre
Release! I took my seat and Jonny, my friend and the Pokemon Pre Release
coordinator went over the rules. I got given my Pokemon Pre Release box as it
was the last box left after everyone from the other table had selected from. I
started opening and building my deck when we were allowed to start. I
immediately went after the Mudkip, Marshtomp and Swampert Pokemon from the
Hoenn region! Swampert deals base 80 plus 20 for every water energy attached!
For base math assuming all 3 water energy are attached for the attack, you are
looking at 140 calculated damage! Then after the allotted 30 minutes to build
our 40 card decks it was time to battle! The first battle I lost to a Manetric
without a bench to work with, basically an automatic loss. Then the second
battle I forget what it was against. I lost anyhow. The only win was the third
round, it was a bye! That means I did not play. The bye was in part created by
Alex, also a friend and another player dropping out. The other player dropped
out due to his car’s gas tank leaking fuel in the parking lot. The fire
department came in. The final score was 1-2 win/loss record. I traded for more
Swampert line, Ludicolo and Articuno GX Full Art. I traded away Magcargo,
Manectric, Nuzleaf, Seedot and Scizor GX. These were several individual trades.
Saturday Afternoon: I did not realize until Jonny told me
that a second round Pokemon Pre Release was happening this afternoon. I was on
the fence about going for a second round. I was thinking it was going to be a
long day without lunch. All I had were Luna Bars or food bars to stave off the
hunger. Then I asked Aaron if he was going to play the afternoon round. He said
he was! At that moment did I decide to sign up for part 2! Jonny also said we
were going to take approximately an hour for lunch. I used that window of opportunity
to run home and grabbed lunch. I grabbed chicken nachos, Acai juice. Then at
2PM rushed back to the local game store. I was late everyone had their decks
put together. I got handed a Pokemon Pre Release box and started building. I
got extremely fortunate to get the full Swampert line in my starting plastic
pack. I also got an additional Mudkip in the booster packs. The rule of 4 does
not apply to Pokemon Pre Releases according to the rules packet. It was team
Mudkip 5, Marshtomp 2 and Swampert 2 lineup! However this was instead a Pokemon
unofficial side tournament. I asked Aaron and ultimately got the answer to be
yes for ignoring the rule of 4. My opponent was already waiting because I was
late. The first battle I won using Swampert and 5 water energy attached dealing
180! Then I moved on to the second round. I was playing against Sam, a player I
know from Pokemon League. He also was playing the Swampert line. I kept joking
with him that his evolutions did not show up for the team to battle. I won that
second round again with a Swampert! The final match was against my good friend,
Aaron. I felt like Ash Ketchum having to battle Richie in the Indigo League
Season 1 of Pokemon the Series on TV! We shook hands and agreed this would not
get between us. Unfortunately this round did not go according to plan. My fault
was not putting out my prize cards. I might have got tripped up by being asked
to record the battle? He also locked me out with Amnesia with Swalot. Swampert
only has one attack Hydro Pump. I had Kyogre partially set up on the bench. I
lost this battle because Aaron took a prize card when we found out I forgot
mine. It was an interesting battle to say the least. I received my prize
support for this unofficial tournament. I was very happy once it was over to
have placed 2nd place! I got 2 booster packs after winning each round and 3
additional packs for 2nd place, in addition 3 packs for playing the Pre
Release.
Sunday: I texted Jonny last minute to see if there was
still space for Sunday’s event. I registered again for this event. I played the
Metagross line from my plastic pack. I first round lost. The second match was
close with a Cacnea, Septile and Swampert. Ultimately I lost because of
Cacnea’s ability to poison on contact. I won the last battle against Metagross.
My record for the day 1-2.
Overall, like my previous post I said was Pokemon Pre
Release Weekend! I literally lived up to that statement! 3 Pokemon Pre Release
Celestial Storm events in one weekend! It was an awesome time! I was happy to
see Jonny, Aaron, Alex and everyone! They are always so supportive! Saturday
was an extremely long day ranking in 12 hours from 5am – 5pm of Pokemon and
preparations! It was a long day up with 19 hours total into tomorrow. I like
going to Pokemon Pre Releases and trading for the water Pokemon I am after. The
best part is having friends at these events, trading, talking and having an
awesome time! I look forward until the next Pokemon Pre Release. I also might
be going back to Pokemon League here. I need to play Swampert in a full legal
60 card deck with the rule of 4 in effect! I want a rematch with Aaron!
(Again all the details might not add up. It is what
happens when you write the replay from memory next week.)
-JP
