Nine Business Lessons from Playing Pokemon

My friends keep messaging and calling me asking how I did in a regional Pokemon tournament I went to a few weeks ago in Salt Lake City. So I decided just to make a business blog post out of it.

Read to the end to find out how I did. 

If you know me, you'd know that I peaked in life when I was 10 when I became the Pokemon World Champion for two years from 2000 to 2002. While you may roll your eyes here, it's been a talking point (and absolutely on every job resume) that has carried me through my entire life, and frankly, the lessons I learned when I was younger on how to compete in a strategy card game, translates well over to business strategy today. And, if you know anything about card collecting, the cards my family and I collected during this time are actually worth a good fortune. If you're a nerd like me, check out my family's collection on instagram @blastoisekid. 

Super Trainer Showdown Winner 2000

Check out my cool swim shorts and harry-potter style glasses, which held me together between bouts of crushing maple bacon donuts and pizza. 

So naturally, I figured after 20 years of not playing Pokemon, I could simply jump back in and go for the gold again. Thank you Brittany and family for supporting me in revisiting this hobby. 

Here are my lessons on going for the gold again! 

Business Lessons from My Pokémon Trip to Salt Lake City. 

1. If you want to win, you must do the reps. 

Natural skill is very important and sometimes even hard to teach to some people, but no matter what, if you don’t practice to improve yourself and your game, you’re not going to win. People with low skill can do massive reps and beat people with high skill who don’t practice. Reps are everything. It improves your odds and minimizes bad luck. You will not win long-term without doing the reps. 

2. It's better to have a game plan from the beginning. 

Having a game plan from the start and observing the entire field first before playing, and finding your niche in it, increases your odds of winning by about 20-30%. Pick your niche wisely and play into it. Likewise, picking a bad strategy will make it almost impossible for you to win no matter how well or hard you play. 

3. Track and modify your reps. 

One small tweak can improve results and outcomes in your favor by 10-20%. The tweaks occur by paying close attention during your reps by tracking outcomes and then modifying. 

4. Learn and network with the best. 

Networking, masterminding, and testing against others in other markets who don’t compete with you is incredibly valuable and fulfilling. Learning from others who are already at the top is the fastest way to get there. The fastest way to get to the top is to play against the top players and/or copy what they do (Success Imitation), and then modify for personal preference from there. 

5. Stay out of judgement and in curiosity. 

Everyone is at a different point in their life, so it doesn't make sense to judge people. Everyone comes to play the game for a different reason. You’d be surprised at the reasons. The reasons are cool to learn but the reason doesn’t cause you to win -- the reps, focus, and modifications do. 

6. Luck is real. 

Luck is very real. Timing is super important. A lucky person can beat a skilled person in the short-term, but in the long-term a skilled, focused player will beat a mediocre player who is lucky. Have the reps and knowledge to take advantage of good luck when it lands on you. Have a game plan when bad luck occurs. 

7. If you’re going to do it, commit to it. 

You cannot half ass your way to the top. No one really feels successful being in the middle or bottom. It's actually hard to be in the middle or bottom. So make the effort to get to the top or go find something else to do, unless you’re just doing it for fun or to burn time (your most valuable resource). 

8. Manages resources carefully. 

There are short-term players and long-term players. The long-term players carefully consider their resources for the entire game, while short-term players wind up and just look for quick payouts. The long-term players always win over time. The short-term players stall out after using all their resources and lose. Manage your resources carefully, as they become more valuable over time. 

9. Avoid confusion at the bottom. 

If you lose your first few games or start playing with losers, you get paired down into Loserville. You start playing games with players who have odd decks and who are not playing to win. These players mostly mess around and your game play may have never considered them as opponents. There's a lot of confusion at the bottom, so avoid the bottom. It can be hard to crawl your way back if you get stuck at or near the bottom. Get out of the bottom as soon as possible.  

Other Lessons:

1. You must sacrifice. 

You must say no to other things in order to become the best at something, since greatness occurs at extremes. Some seasons of life require more sacrifice than others. For me, I am not willing to sacrifice time with my young kids and wife to play Pokémon competitively. I can do it as a hobby, but I'm not willing to make the sacrifice in this season of life to become the best again. Raw skill is not enough. You must have the time on task over time and the commitment and daily focus to do it. It can sometimes take years. 

2. There are always cheaters/stallers.

There will always be cheaters and stallers (people who waste your time) who try to hold you up. Thus, pay attention to details and stay focused on the numbers so you minimize downside risk. When you’re not focused, you’re open to be taken advantage of.

3. Have fun. 

Life is short. Personally, I love spending time competing and with the oddball players and thinkers. I feel that we all have the inner nerd in us. Be yourself. There's no one to impress. It's you vs. you. Live authentically. Who cares - we will all be dead in 100 years anyways. May as well enjoy it and have fun along the way.

My Results:

Going into the tournament I had played a total of 34 games in 12 weeks mostly at local shops in Jacksonville. Before that I hadn't played since I was 12. My average opponent played 30-40 games a week (yes I asked them). Basically, I have high skill and low reps. Because I didn't play enough, I didn't know what the cards did, so I had to learn on the fly (which is actually not a bad strategy to learn, but don't expect to consistently win when you're winging it, long-term winging it doesn't work). 

I played Arc/Pika/Tina which was ranked the #12 deck going into the tournament. It is not really a Meta deck, which means it's not a top 3-4 deck. It's good, but statistically, it is not consistent at beating other matchups. 

I played 9 rounds, and won 4 of them, lost 4 of them, and tied 1 of them. I had 13 points, and needed 18 points to make it to the second day. I'm planning on hitting 4-5 more local regional tournaments next year. 

If you want to learn how to play or have your kids learn how to play (it's really good for kids to learn how to read and strategize in a safe, fun, and competitive environment), check out Cool Stuff Games (Jacksonville) or The Woke Poke (St. Augustine). Or just hit me up and I'll get you connected. 

Message me @ jon@movewithmomentum.com

"The best players minimize the possibility of bad luck by playing proven decks and modifying them slightly for their preferences."