Have you ever had plans you were really excited for fall through? For me, I was looking forward to attend VGC Regionals in Salt Lake City. I had a team built out and it would have been the first time I would have seen one of my best friends in person in over ten years. Moving to a new state and starting a team, I didn't really have much time for myself up until that point -- I couldn't wait to take time off, explore a new city, and enter the arena of live battles once again. And then, a little thing called Coronavirus popped up -- you might have heard of it. Cancelling plans, I stuck to online battling. Don't get me wrong, online battling is fun, but after a while it can feel repetitive since there's no direct communication with your opponent. Like many people during this time, I felt I was languishing -- going through the motions without real purpose. Sure, I got to Master Rank consistently, but was I actually improving as a battler? Growth felt stagnant.
Recently, two things happened that helped me put my current progress in perspective. Back in June, I competed in the Fair and Square online battle competition. I remember clocking out for the week and realizing "oh shoot, I haven't prepared a team yet!" So I looked through my boxes and quickly threw these Pokémon together.
 |
| My team for the Fair and Square tournament! Glad I got to use some of my old favorites from different teams. |
As you can see, I got 50th place! With 24,544 participants, that put me in the top .2% of competitors. Plus, I was 5th out of all non-Japanese players. I honestly was shocked I placed that high! What that showed was that I not only knew how to effectively use my team and quickly throw something together that paired well against the metagame, I also adapted to my opponent's gameplan in the moment. This was a huge victory for me!
As much as I was excited for these results, an online tournament is one-way communication: You fight against your opponents and you see your results, but you don't get to see their reaction or hear their feedback on your team. That is, until a few months later when I ran into Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng on ladder.
 |
| Wait up, we're fighting against WHO?! |
Playing since 2008, he has a few Regional and National championships under his belt. Aaron's also an official commentator for Pokémon, so you'll see him often on their channel. Aaron is my go-to for competitive battle content since he's an amazing tactician, analyzes and breaks down matches exceptionally well, and recognizes solid strategies from both himself and his opponents. Simply put, he's a legend in the competitive Pokémon scene! Running into him was like running into Ryan Reynolds.
So the crazy thing? I won. But the story doesn't end there. Not only does our battle make an appearance on Aaron's series, Road to Ranked, my team is on the thumbnail!
I commented on his video, thanking him for featuring my team, and he asked if he could USE my team on future episodes! Yeah, I'm star struck. So of course, I give him a rental code and he battled with them in a few episodes, all the while singing high praises of my team's creativity and offering constructive feedback. To not only have a highly skilled battler compliment my skills but also have your team composition featured alongside teams built by Pokémon's top players ... I can't begin to describe how it felt being recognized at the same level as the world's best.
 |
| The Kyurem-Abomasnow team! I've made some modifications since. |
Up until then, it felt I was just trucking along, going through the motions, and not really advancing anywhere. But really, all the work I put into brought us to these moments -- you wouldn't be reading this if I didn't persist through languishing. What it took was to look at the big picture and see how much growth happened over time. I'm 100% confident that a year ago, I wouldn't have placed 50th or have won against Aaron Zheng. I'm certainly not alone in struggling through stagnation, so if that is something you're working through, really look at your results and listen to the people around you to zoom out to the big picture: You've grown a lot more than you give yourself credit for.
Below is the video from my perspective of my match vs. Aaron as well as the two episodes he featured my team on.
