A Tougher Job Than It Looks

It all started last Wednesday (the 13th of September), when the regular Gym Leader at Kryptonite Kollectibles Pokémon TCG league told me he needed a replacement Gym Leader for Saturday. I agreed, and on Saturday, I arrived.

Of course, I had some little idea as to what the Gym Leader did. The gym leader handles registration, stamping badge books, and the badges themselves. He (or she) also has to keep track of registration and renewal money, keep the players under control, and still manage to collect points for himself.

When I arrived. I really didn't know what I needed. Sure, I needed Badge books, registration cards, the stamper (which took forever to find), and the promo cards. Of course, these were in several boxes which also doubled as the lost and found, so getting everything ready was hassle.

Anyway, for the first two hours or so (from 2:00 to 4:00), I battled, stamped, battled some more, stamped some more, and more, and more. Around 4:00, a new member came in. I had the honor of walking him through the registration process, and teaching him the game. At 4:30 we played the weekly activity (written by me), "Match Game: I Choose You!", a Pokémon themed version of the classic game show. Near the end, I completed paperwork for the badges won. After this, things gradually wound down until 5:30, when I closed up.

I'm not sure if this is true of all league spots, but the first $15 made goes to the Gym Leader (really $10, since $5 of that was my money). After that, the store takes it, and where it goes I don't know. However, the "fun" didn't stop there. Apparently, a Base Set Charizard was swapped without consent for a Base 2 Charizard. As a result, these two kids fought outside the store, setting off a car alarm. Fortunately, one of the staff members (who'd never seen something like this) was able to stop the fight and resolve the situation. So I left, actually in the hole due to my purchases. Crazy, no?