Seven-Year-Old Scores Surprise Win in Major Pokemon Tournament

Last weekend featured a surprise Pokemon victory by a seven-year old girl. Simone Lim scored an upset victory in her first International Tournament, beating #1 seed and last year’s Oceania Junior Champion Justin Miranda-Radbord in the finals to become the 2020 Oceania Pokemon Junior Champion. Lim scored the victory with her heavily injured Tyranitar facing down two opposing Pokemon. In the final rounds, Miranda-Radbord chose to use Protect on Rhyperior, which made it invulnerable to all attacks. However, Lim correctly predicted this move and instead focused her Tyranitar’s attacks on her opponent’s other Pokemon, knocking it out. She then finished Miranda-Radbord’s Rhyperior on the subsequent round, sealing the victory.

The Pokemon Company organizes its tournaments by age bracket, so that every player has a fair chance to compete. The Junior Championship is one of two “open” age groups, as anyone under the age of 12 can compete. Because of this, Lim’s opponents were occasionally several years older than her, but she still managed to emerge as the overall victor of the tournament. Lim previously won two regional tournaments, so she’s definitely poised to make a deep run in the World Championship tournament later this year.

The Play Pokemon account, which covers the competitive Pokemon scene, captured the final moments of Lim’s win below. You can hear the crowd audibly gasp when she correctly predicted that her opponent’s Dusclops was vulnerable, thus turning the tide and leading to her victory.

Congratulations to Lim on her victory and for becoming one of the new faces of competitive Pokemon!