Pokemon League
Borders Books
September 4 & 11(continuing for 4 more Saturdays)
Glendale, CA
Kids ages 6-15

I brought my 8 year old daughter, Jessica, to Borders
in Glendale 2 weeks ago (so she can play other people
other than me).  This was not DCI sanctioned and I
thought it would be more structured but it wasn't.
Aside from that, the atmosphere of trading and playing
was at a high level and she had a great time - just as
I did watching her, while sitting at the edge of my
seat on her every move. 

35 kids were allowed to sign up for all Saturday's
events but they let more play.

These kids are smarter than I ever thought.  And my
daughter, Jessica, pulled off some unique moves I
never knew she could think of.

Like, Switching a Paralyzed Hitmonchan with a
unpowered Scyther, then retreating the Scyther with
the same Hitmonchan and using Special Punch to knock
out the Electabuzz that started that whole mess.

Or, holding on to a Double Colorless (I could see her
hand) for who knows how long, because she was getting
battered by Dragonaire.  Then she Scoops Up a helpless
Kangaskhan, and pushes a half powered Chansey up to
active with 3 damage counters on it, slaps the Double
Colorless on Chansey and knocks out Dragonaire for the
win. Both had 1 prize left up to that point.

So, here's her deck:

Jessica's Electric Punch v2.0a
(Electric/Fighting)

Energy
4 Double Colorless
12 Fighting
9 Electric

Pokemon
3 Scyther
4 Hitmonchan
4 Electabuzz
2 Chansey
1 Kangaskhan
3 Jigglypuff

Trainers
3 Bill
2 Prof. Oak
3 Plus Power (Jessica's Favorite)
1 Scoop Up
1 Super Energy Removal
4 Energy Removal
3 Gust of Wind
1 Switch

3 games played on
SEPTEMBER 4, 1999

Game 1 vs Electric/Fire
Jessica used Hitmonchan and Jigglypuff for the most
part of the game and knocked the kid out with ease.
The kid was 9 years old.
Overall Record 1-0

Game 2 (Electric/Fight)
This game was more of a challenge.  She played a boy
(I think his name is Chris) about 12 years old who
plays in tournaments and knew exactly what he was
doing.  I was sweating watching them play.  He had a
Haymaker like Jessica's except he had Clefairys and
Clefables instead of Chanseys.  They seemed to draw
the exact cards at the beginning, both facing off with
Electabuzz.  They traded blows with Electabuzz and
Hitmonchans when he finally started to gain advantage.
Later, Jessica pulled up a Jigglypuff and to my shock
she used Lullaby instead of Pound against a
Hitmonchan.  I don't know why she does this! UGH!  She
LOVES using Jigglypuff because she can use Lullaby.  I
had a long talk with her about that after the day was
through.  She gets lucky with coin flips and finally
retreats in order to get Scyther up.  Prizes were
traded until she finally got the advantage and went on
to win with Scyther.  This game lasted about 35
minutes and Chris commented that she was the best he's
played.  He was upset at himself because he didn't pay
much attention to the game.  Both were exhausted. 
This was Chris' first loss in about 20 or so matches.
Overall Record 2-0

Game 3  (Psychic/Colorless)
Jessica played a 15 year old boy named David.  The
promoters were pushing older players on her to test
her skills.  David was a good kid, aggressive with his
play and used a Dragonaire/Alakazam/Clefable deck.  He
used it with some serious skill.  Jessica drew
advantage really fast and slowed his evolutions.  She
had a 3 prizes left to his 5 when he finally got
Draonaire and Alakazam with a pretty heavy bench.  He
started to charge up gaining advantage and taking her
energy.  Jessica never encountered such a threat.  She
really looked worried and didn't like Draonaire taking
all Scyther's energy and 3 of her double colorless.
David had about 6 cards left in his deck and Jessica
had about 10.  After about 30 minutes of stressful
play, It was down to 1 prize each and Jessica pulled
off the move I mentioned above with the Chansey and
Kangaskhan Scoop Up.  It brought a tear to my eye
(just one). A proud papa! David rolled over on his
back and couldn't believe it.  I mean, the guy was
coming from behind and I thought for sure he'd win.
Jessica pulled the wool over both our eyes.
Overall Record 3-0

4 Games played on
SEPTEMBER 11, 1999

Game 1  (Fight/Colorless)
An easy win on a deck made up of Duduo and Dudrio and
Hitmonchan.  The boy was 13 years old. It was an easy
win.  Jessica exploited the Fighting weakness of the
deck.
Overall Record 4-0

Game 2  (Fight/Colorless)
This was against Game 1s friend (age 14) who seemed to
have an identical deck but this time a Scyther came
out. She made one serious move at the beginning when
her Hitmonchan was getting battered by a Scyther.  She
used Special Punch with 3 Plus Powers to knock Scyther
out overcoming its resistance.  It was another quick
win.
Overall Record 5-0

Game 3 (Electric/Fight)
This was against her rival from last week Chris.  His
dad told me that Chris came home talking about a girl
that demolished him.  He wanted a rematch.  Again,
they both drew identical hands.  Hitmonchan vs
Hitmonchan.  He got the upper hand because Jessica
couldn't draw any energy cards.  She had hand filled
with Pokemon, and no Trainers or a Scyther.  She had
to use Kangaskhan, Chansey and Electabuzz but their
weakness' was her demise.  When she finally came up
with a Scyther it was too late.  He really beat up her
deck and game plan.  Win goes to Chris!  What a gamer.
Overall Record 5-1

Game 4 (Mono Water "Raindance")
She never saw Blastoise because Jessica took care of
the basics going 6 prizes to none.  All she did was
use Energy Removals and Gust of Wind to bring out
helpless water Pokemon.  She was happy to leave the
day with a win.  But now she wants me to buy her a
Blastoise!
Overall Record 6-1

Her Haymaker deck does real well.  It's a deck that
beginners can definitely win with, with not much
thought.  Due to her problems in Game 3 against
another Haymaker and gifted player, we decided to put
in a Computer Search for this Saturday's league.

Jessica still likes using Lullaby for some reason. So
I just let her be.

Hope you can try her deck and let me know what you
think and stay tuned for more of Jessica's adventures
in the Pokemon League!

Email with comments to me:

Glenn (papa)
and
Jessica

PokemonMechanic@yahoo.com