2018 World Championships Memories

This article was written by Benjamin Tan to talk about his experience at the 2018 World Championships.

Well, I'm not used to this feeling. This is actually the first time I’ve felt so depressed about Worlds, not because I didn't do well, but because I miss my friends. You know, people are actually right when they say this is just a game and it's all about having fun. I learned it the hard way when I spent my time stressing about doing well, and because of that, I spent less time with my friends. I would rather have a great time with my friends because it felt so much better than when I won all my tournaments and saying goodbye to them hurts more than doing badly in a tournament. Five days is like five hours, and time indeed flies faster if you're enjoying it. I just wish I could turn the time back again...I just wanna thank everyone who reached out to me online and in the event venue! Thank you all for supporting me and cheering me up!

Shoutouts

Patrick Donegan – When I don't know who to approach, I'm thankful to have you. Remember when you were really upset after that round 1 loss in the Open? I was really glad I talked to you because I knew you could do it and don't want to see you tilting, however, I ended up tilting myself, LOL! I'm still happy you made cut in the Open and secured your 1st place in the North American CP standings for now. It was really great to see you again after a year and I wanna thank you as well for spending your time with me by practicing and teambuilding. Also, thank you for helping me with some of my trips too! I owe you a lot, Patrick! It was nice hanging out with you again and I'm definitely looking forward to that again.

Pontus Westerlund – It was nice to finally meet you in person, bro! We didn't hang out a lot because you were too busy playing while the rest of us scrubbed out. :P Yes, missing day 2 must have hurt and I'm sorry about that. But to think that you went positive without actually playing much is fantastic! And you even cut the Open as well! You did well and I'm proud of you. Also, your dad is pretty cool! I hope I will meet you guys again soon!

Henry Rich – You were a little mischievous! :P Since the last time we met in Melbourne, we haven't really talked much, but it's not a bad thing! You were funny and certainly lightened up the mood. Thank you for buying us stuff as well! Looking forward to seeing you again, my Aussie bro!

Richard Hodge – It was nice meeting you and I really love your accent! You're a nice person and I'm glad to have hung out with you and the rest. Really looking forward to seeing you in European events so we can talk more! Thank you for staying with me at the airport as well.

Nicholas Borghi – I can't believe we didn't see each other until the last day! It's funny how we don't recognize each other until I introduced myself. Thank you for taking care of my broken toenail! I'm better now after listening to you! You're a really nice person and I'm glad that I've met you. Also, I've heard about what happened to you on Day 1 so I am very sorry. You're a great player so please don't let that drag you down! Keep it up and I'll see you on the big stage one day!

Alberto Lara – Seeing you again was really dope and I'm so sorry I couldn't attend your party but thank you for the invite though! If there's ever a next time, I'll try and make it!. Please continue to be one of the best players in this game and inspire me!

Irina – Well, you're the first person that I met in Nashville! Glad that our flight timing was the same! I know we didn't talk very much during the weekend but at least we managed to hang out together and went to Broadway with the rest of the family! You're a really great player, so don't let others pull you down! Looking forward to seeing you again in European events as well! Oh and take good care of that Salamence card!

Teemu – You're a really nice person and I'm happy we shared similar interests! Thanks for joining me for dinner as well, even though we spent most of our time sleeping in Patrick's room! Hahahaha! Next time we'll spend more time talking when I go to European events, hopefully!

Pephan, Avatar Fede, Javier Valdes, Dorian, and René – You guys are my favorite bunch of Latin American players! <3 I don't know which one to pick as my favorite but I love you guys! Haha! Thank you for coming to my football event! It was really fun to meet you guys again! Especially Pephan, thank you for hanging out with us! You guys are so funny! I know there's a language barrier between us but you guys are fantastic in English. I'll try my best to learn Spanish, thank you guys for teaching me! Especially bad words.

Khalid and Omar – Yo, sorry I didn't get to see you guys very much! But I'm glad I got to say goodbye to Khalid at the airport at least! Both of you are really nice people and I'm looking forward to seeing you more, Omar. Khalid, you've always been a great friend to me as well and thank you for offering me your help! I'm really happy about your performance this season, and you're certainly one of the best players in this game as well! Keep it up!

Lukas Müller and Ben Markham – Thank you for playing football! It was great seeing both of you again! I'm sorry I was really grumpy at Worlds but I'm glad you guys came to talk to me. I'm also happy to team build with both of you as well, as it's a privilege to actually share ideas with top players like you guys. Hoping to see both of you at European events as well!

Victor Larsson and Nils Dunlop – Congratulations Nils on getting your Pikachu trophy! You really deserve it and are no doubt, one of the best players in this game! I'm so proud of you and really happy that you make the whole Scandinavian team proud! Thank you, Victor, for practicing with Nils as well, and it was nice meeting you! You're a really nice guy with a cool voice! See you guys soon in Sweden, I hope?

Patrick Moore and David Barker – Even though our meeting was short, I'm glad to have finally met both of you in Copenhagen! Don't worry, the next one will be longer. Thank you for the meal, Patrick!

Lightning Squirrels – Yes, we're the champions! I'm really happy I got drafted to this team, thank you, Vinciguerra! It was nice meeting some of you in real life, Luca Ceree, Mark Duò, César Reyes and many others! Let's defend our title for next season!

Juan Ortiz – I'm really sad that you couldn't come, but you know what? Just like Nicole, you contributed a lot to my success and I owe you a lot! Thank you so much, captain! Get well soon, and I'm really looking forward to meeting you.

I know I might have missed some of you but I'm really happy that so many people came up to me and supported me! Especially those from online, Nick Dailey, Danish Ali, Timothy (LegnaK), Fumito, my good friend, Migle, A.K.A. a little girl that doesn't play Pokémon, but still cheer for me. :P Thank you so much, I owe it all to you guys! I don't know if I'll have time for next season because of work commitments...I really wanna play more because I want to meet you guys! I was so wrong in the past. Winning isn't really everything...It took me long enough to realize that I play this game because of my friends, and I enjoy hanging out with you guys. I wish I could turn the time back again, but now it's no time for regrets. I'll just have to hope that I'll see you guys really soon! This season has been great and I thank all of you for that. I never would have thought that I would win 4 tournaments in a row. I owe it all to those that spent their time practicing with me. I am gonna treasure these memories and hope that I can recover from missing all of you, ahahaha! Let's hope that we'll see each other soon!