wow, my first experience... Well considering i loved the show and the gameboy games, When i saw Base Set 1 in the hobby store I went to, I bought it and was instantly hooked. I used to play Magic, and this game was much simpler to learn and play. I then found out about a league that met there every Sunday. I went and every time i played i had a ton of fun. When the Neo block came out, I went into a pOkemon downfall. Everything else took priority in my life. But then at the release of Aquapolis, I bought a box and was amazed at the new cards. I was able to build a better deck than I used too. At that time, I also became a WotC professor. At the end of the WotC era, I was welcomed into the POP Professor Program and still had a blast helping out my league. The league then had to find a new location, and our LL did just that. He then went on a hiatus, and thus asked me to run the league in his absence. about a year after that I then took the reigns of a LL for my current league location and also became a LO. With my PTO, I have been able to judge many events including 1citys, 2 states, 2 regionals, 2 gym challenges, 2 Pre releases, and he also grabbed me for Worlds 07 for the side events. This year I have been given an opportunity to staff at US Nats. So Pokemon for me has been nothing but an upside since the first time i layed my eyes upon Base set 1.
~Duke