Close Competition
The Pokémon Café at Bugis Junction achieved its goal on nineteenth February with an
immensely successful hosting of Pokémon’s Midseason Showdown in Singapore, an event for
competitive players of the game to gather and work their way to becoming “the very best, like no
one ever was”. The café saw unparalleled success, in part due to the recent popularity of the
mobile game Pokémon GO, and it attracted a wide range of people, from those who know next to
nothing about Pokémon to longstanding fans of the world-popular franchise. The sight of
Pokémon fans from all over Singapore gathered in one place to talk about the things they love
was heart-warming as I, myself, have been a fan of the game for thirteen years. I have struggled
to find a community which I can openly express my love for the things of my interest, until now.
Like many other games that are popular around the world, Pokémon is split into the
casual and the competitive scene. Singapore does not fall short of its share of competitive
Pokémon players, competing at regular tournaments in different places around Singapore to earn
points, with the hope of representing Singapore on the world stage. As an avid fan of Pokémon
myself, I entered the competitive scene with the expectation that competition would be tense,
with fierce rivalry being rife.
I was proven wrong.
The attendance at the event was huge, and when I got there, people I had never seen or
talked to before were sitting together and mingling away with each other as if they were old
friends. Thankfully I was able to integrate myself into the community fairly quickly and I made a
lot of new friends - and to think it’s all because we have one thing in common—the fact that we
play Pokémon. Part of what made the experience at the cafe so memorable (apart from the food)
was acquainting with local fans from all walks of life, playing Pokémon with them and even
bettering myself as a player of the game.
Everyone wants to claim the title of being Numero Uno, but as the name suggests, only
one can have that honour. Out of the forty-nine people who participated, I was fortunate (note:
fortunate, not skilled) enough to be among the top eight who were not ousted. I was under a lot
of pressure as I prepared to take on my quarterfinal match, against Martin, a proficient player
whom I had played against before on prior occasions, including earlier that day (in which I lost).
It came as a shock that I would be matched up against someone more than ten years older than I
was, and as equals! It was an intense game that came down to the wire, and even though I lost, I
was satisfied with myself for even having made it thus far, and the applause we received at the
end of the display of a good game made it all the more rewarding.
What is the greatest takeaway from competition? Competition is akin to a gateway into
one’s mind, an efficient way of learning more about your rivals. No two people are going to go
about using the exactly the same method as each other to achieve the same goal, much less when
the said goal is achieving victory in a direct battle - there would be no conclusion, no real clash.
Through competition, and the desire to surpass all rivals, one begins to understand more about
one’s rivals - their train of thought, their habits, how they work, and ultimately what kind of a
person they are. This is true of most forms of competition in our lives. At the end of it all,
regardless of the result, people have learned more about each other simply through healthy
competition.
It’s no surprise that everyone wants to come out tops in a competitive scene. However, in
my quest for glory, I met some amazing new friends whom I can talk to—not just about
Pokémon, but a whole myriad of topics as well. Opening myself to the world has allowed me to
join communities and better myself, and it is opportunities like these events that unite us and
bring us closer together, not just as rivals, but as friends. In the midst of competition, it’s
important that we do not lose sight of what is important - having fun. Competing against
someone is just one of many ways to get to know them, and the real takeaway from the
competition is to getting to know everyone from friends to rivals.