Dear Pojosama, Here is something you might like to put up. It doesn't really fit into your other categories, but is the sort of thing I like to read on your site and others. Let me know if it suits you. -------------------------------------- To all, I am a sailor in the US Navy. I have been playing and collecting Pokemon with my son since it came out last Christmas. My son is four years old, and is learning to count and make sensible trades with his collection. He is a sharp little cookie. I find it a little intimidating to play with the kids down at the local hobby shops, as I have to make sure I don't overwhelm some of the younger players while not getting the stuffing beat out of me by the older ones! I am pretty old, but have not been told (yet) that I am too old to play! Most of my opponents are either adults, teenagers or cocky youngsters. My most satisfying experiences are when I am able to teach a younger player the game, or put a braggart in his place. The biggest downers are when players cheat. A lot of players complain about "Pokeparents", but I have only seen one, and he had a complaint about the alleged poor quality of a foil card his son had pulled from a booster pack. Even though I suspected his indignation was a sham, and his claim a scam, I sent him away with a First Edition Clefairy rather than watch him rant and rave at the poor, overworked staff of the WOTC store. My ship visited San Diego recently. I jumped at the chance to visit the local game scene, and here is what happened. The first time we pulled in was in late October. I immediately went to Hazard Center's Game Empire. But,as usual, it was hopeless. Unless you are a roleplayer, a wargamer (and a regular), a videogame fan or play Legend of the Five Rings, there is little room for you as a gamer there. I recall spending entire days, a couple of years back, painting miniatures for young Warhammer players while waiting (in vain) for Magic players to show up. Years later, I wait in vain for someone to show up to play Pokemon. I spent six hours there before giving up in disgust. I found out through my friends back home about a WOTC shop in the area. But it had to wait until next time... The second time we pulled into San Diego, I decided to check out that WOTC Game Center, in Mission Valley. I took off about 0830 on Saturday morning. First the walk from the ship to the gate, then a short ride on the bus to downtown San Diego, then a wait for the Trolley to Mission Valley Center. It is one stop past Hazard Center. The trip was worth it. While the WOTC store had a larger playing area than the one in Kitsap County, they could only handle about 55 players. It was okay. Everyone got a chance to play, the Gym Leaders handled folks quickly and expeditiously, and the parents seemed content to read paperbacks or watch the games while the kids went at each other with gusto. For my registration, I paid only a dollar, as I already had a book. Thing is, they wouldn't allow me to buy another book or just pay the five bucks so I could get the Aerodactyl promo card. Resigned to my fate, I was pleasantly suprised when the Gym Leader handed me a promo Aerodactyl anyway! My good luck netted a new card for my son! The WOTC Center sponsored League play on Saturday from 1030 to 1230 and from 1430 to 1630. You could play in only one of these slots. Play was my main goal, but I also wanted to pick up a few new Fossil cards for my little boy. However, I found it difficult to trade with the kids down there, for the same reasons as I did with the kids back home. They don't know what they want, and if they do, they always seem to want too much for what they offer. And even if they don't want too much, it's tough to get them to make a decision. The kid is almost always surrounded by his friends, and anxious to be seen making a good trade (which usually means stealing me blind) versus "getting punked" (getting ripped off by me). There doesn't seem to be a middle ground for these poor kids, where we both come out happy and neither feels ripped off. My ultra-rare Japanese "Here Comes the Rocket Patrol!" sparked some interest. I was offered a bunch of American foil cards (actually, about six) for it and probably should have taken them. But I didn't. I got the distinct feeling that this kid was too eager, trying to hurry me into the trade, which made me suspect the card was worth more in the area than he'd let on. I'd already sat through four hours of kids bragging to each other how much they'd ripped "some stupid kid" of his best cards. Not wanting to get "punked" myself, I held off. Maybe some other time. No one offered cash, unfortunately. When it came to play, I was doing the usual eggshell dance. I mean, I had to go really easy on some of the kids I played. The first young man to do battle got only a single Jigglypuff out versus one of my milder decks (the Roundup Waltz). My Wigglytuff mercifully finished things quickly, but before I could set up for the second match, he got up and left without a word, glaring at me as if I had cheated or something. After the first three players, I stuck to adult opponents. I lost just one of six matches, using a different deck each time. My Raindance variant nearly decked itself against a Psychic deck featuring Mr. Mime - fortunately for me, Gust of Wind appeared at just the right times. My Yellow Peril deck ran fast, but I discovered it lacked staying power when it ran into Clefable. Zapdos just can't handle being slapped around by his own 100-point attack. It didn't help that I had populated the bench with pretty much all the "Big Zs" the deck had. Gust of Wind, boom! Gust of Wind, boom! Add the prizes he was picking up each time I "Buzzap"ed with Electrode, and it was small wonder I had to concede! I am considering replacing that deck's Kangaskhans with Clefairy and Clefable, just to see if they're as effective for me as they were for my opponent. He handed me my only loss of the day. One of my adult opponents was a quiet, self-assured fellow. Wanting to give it a test, I ran my improved Haymaker (the Hitmonchans were swapped out for Fossil Magmars, the Fighting energy for Fire energy) against a deck which featured, of all things, Psyduck! Needless to say, Magmar suffered, and if it had not been for really poor coin flips on my opponent's part, he would have been an early casualty of Fury Swipes. Each time I would retreat Magmar, he found himself willy-nilly Gusted back into the hotseat! I managed to finish the match in my favor with a couple of Scythers, but that quirky deck gave me more trouble than I thought possible! I wish I had asked to copy it - I respect effective decks which make extensive use of oddballs like Psyduck. I was disappointed to find that some of the players thought nothing of the occasional cheat - or at least they tried various tricks on me. One "accidentally" drew more than one card, on more than one occasion, getting a good, long look at the top cards of his deck. I caught one young man dipping his prize cards below the table and looking at them before putting them down. When I noticed this, he was in the process of re-shuffling them for the second time because he didn't like the cards which had ended up as prizes. Another kept dropping his hand below the table each time he drew a card. I don't know if he had cards in his lap or not, but I have seen this trick done by Magic players who DID. Yet another "accidentally" drew nine cards on his opening hand, then when caught, selected two and buried them. The fellow at the table next to me thought that if you used the second or third attack listed on a Pokemon's card, the damage and effects from the first and second listed attacks were included! I don't know where these kids get these variants on Pokemon play, or the desire to cheat, but I suspect the local school lunchroom is the culprit. A couple of kids expressed relief when they discovered that players at the Game Center didn't play for "keeps" (the winner taking the loser's discard pile)! After playing my little heart out, and trading for what I could (Kabutops is not popular trade bait around here, it seems), I made for the mall Burger King. There, I ordered two kid meals, snagging two different Pokemon toys for my little son (Koffing and Tugapie). Afterwards, I stopped at a Starbucks, where I met a little boy (Alex) and his dad, who'd just come from the Pokemon movie. Dad highly recommended it, and the little boy was very proud of his promotional cards! The promotional cards were a mixed bag. For art, Pikachu is the best, followed by MewTwo and Electabuzz. I even saw a few of these cards in play at the Game Center! But the Dragonite card was just plain silly-looking. It looks like they dipped Barney in orange paint! I traded some cards with Alex, and while he got the better of me (he got at least two foils and a First Edition Dragonair), he also was a happy little boy. I cannot wait until I get home, to help my son John with his newest additions! Regards, Steven Satak Centurion13@hotmail.com ssatak@emh1.lincoln.navy.mil Regards, Steven Satak