Well, we're back from GenCon 2000!  Out of the 6 total Pokemon tournaments we entered, David and I placed in 3 of them, to come home with 23 booster paks.  Everyone at GenCon had a chance to buy Gym Heroes packs and we started to see some of the cards in action.  The most prominent was the NO REMOVAL GYM.

Master Trainer Mike (a WoTC employee) was challenging players in the Exhibitor Castle and handing out Gold Bordered Meowths to everyone who lost.  If you beat him, you got a Cool Porygon!  David and I each got 1.  Way cool.

And while we were between tournaments, we traded like madmen to complete our English promo sets.

A few notes on the tournaments;

Day 1 - NO Haymakers!  Hooray!  The only recognizable deck in the tournament was a well played Raindance.  EVERYONE was shocked at my Movie Mewtwo/Gengar deck.  I was so happy to see people trying new combinations.  Decks that caught my eye; Tentacool/Chansey/Alakazam, Dark Vileplume/Dark Muk, Mono-Electric, Aerodactyl/Hitmonchan.  Most of the people knew about Pojo and swore by it.  Some were even carrying issues of the magazine.  They were thrilled when I handed out my last few Pojosama cards.

Day 2 - As the crowds thickened, we saw the Wigglytuff decks pop up and a few Haymakers begin to appear.  I saw a Mr. Mime deck sneaking around but did not get to play it.  The number of Raindance decks doubled as well.

Day 3 - Haymakers, Raindance, Dodrio/Wigglytuff, Jolteon/Electabuzz, Erika's Dratini, and everything in between.  One brave woman played a Omanyte/Jynx/Pikachu deck fairly well.

Overall, the variety, sportsmanship, and sharing of ideas was inspiring.  We spoke with many Pokemon League Gym Leaders and store owners; comparing notes and swapping stories.  Master Trainer Mike told us that the 15 trainer rule is definitely a serious topic and is in play-testing.  While this rule will NEVER be printed in rulebooks and can not be enforced in most arenas, it will probably become a rule in DCI sanctioned tournaments.

I'm exhausted (and there's still one more day of games that we're going to miss).  I've probably forgotten to mention some of the other Pokemon highlights, like all of the Japanese merchandise in the Exhibit hall.