In a matter of days, he’ll be overseas, drawing on years of practice and tournament experience as he goes head-to-head with the best in the world in their chosen pursuit, Pokémon.
Sixteen-year-old Hills developed his passion for the card game about five years ago, alongside friends at Sunday afternoon tournaments at local card shop Carta Magica. Unlike other hobbies he’s picked up and then tired of after a few months, Hills said playing Pokémon has never stopped being fun. And if he was going to keep playing, he’s figured, “might as well try and become as best as I can at it.
Owen Hills, left, and Jack Moore will be competing in Pokémon the card game at the 2022 Pokémon World Championships in London on August 18.On Thursday, the Brookfield high school student will compete in London alongside his close friend, Gatineau’s Jack Moore, and about 500 others who’ve climbed to the heights of Pokémon card gameplay through qualifying points accumulated at lower-level competitions.
It’ll take four days for the winner to be crowned, with the competition field narrowing as players are eliminated. Hills is one of a group of local Pokémon card game players travelling to England. Three have qualified for the championships, while others registered for a tournament called “the Open,” where Hills plans to play if he’s knocked out on Day One.