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The Most Vile of Species?

In case you didn't know, I've pretty much distanced myself from the physical Pokémon Trading Card Game. Sure, I'll play the Game Boy game, and the promos I have are nice, but as far as the real thing goes, forget it. After all, it turns people into vile, gambling, self-serving...well, you get the idea. At least, that's what I thought.

That changed when I went to my local Trading Card Game League spot, Kryptonite Kollectibles (shameless plug). I was visiting to see if it was really possible to do commentary of Pokémon Trading Card matches for PIRN(as it turns out, unless I'm playing myself, matches go by far to fast to record, and contain far too man expletives). When I first walked in, I was surprised at how hospitable (and casual) the other players were. I hadn't brought any cards, and was very pleased that they let me borrow their decks to battle them.

The skill levels of the players varied greatly, ranging from intermediate to my level of expertise and higher. Some of the players weren't even as familiar with the cards as myself (one didn't understand Clefairy's Metronome), but others understood my strategies very well.

If there's one problem with the trading card game, it's the use of damage counters. Since only 10 are provided in a theme deck, people use either fish tank stones or (rarely) dice. As for the trainers, they seem mostly well behaved. If these are the dregs of society, I hadn't noticed.

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