Pokémon hobby takes brothers to world championships
· Yahoo Sports
What began as a hobby for two brothers from Nottinghamshire is taking them to the US as they prepare to compete at the Pokémon World Championships.
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Thirteen-year-old Oliver, who became a European champion aged 12, will compete alongside his brother Edward, 11, who will play in the junior division.
The pair, from Ruddington, first started playing the trading card game at a Nottingham board game cafe when their mum wanted to get them out of the house and away from screens after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Oliver and Edward will join thousands of competitors at this year's world championships in San Francisco, taking place between 28 and 30 August.
Mum Kayleigh said: "It's crazy, I never thought that Pokémon would take me around the world and the kids.
"It's a lovely community, the kids love competing, it's such a nice atmosphere."
The card game is played by two opponents [BBC]The championships feature competitions for a number of different games, including video games.
But it is the trading card game, or TCG, which captured Oliver and Edward's attention - a strategy-based game with two players.
Since learning to play in 2023, the boys have been no strangers to the world of competitive Pokémon.
Oliver won first place in the Junior Trading Card Game division at the Pokémon Europe International Championships in London in February 2025, taking home a prize of $7,000 (about £5,500).
For the world championships, the prize money for first place is $50,000 (about £37,000).
"I would probably just save it," Oliver said.
He added: "We play with our mum almost every day. She learned how to play so she can test with us.
"She just plays all the decks so we can test all the different match-ups when our friends can't play."
Mum Kayleigh also learned to play to help her sons practise [BBC]For Edward, the 2026 competition will be his third Pokémon World Championships.
"The best I have done is reach three top fours in regionals. This is my third Pokémon Worlds and I'm hoping for the top 32," he said.
He added: "When me and my brother started playing Pokémon together we didn't really know how to play, but a couple of months later Oliver started beating me at every game."
Looking back at how it all began, Kayleigh said: "We stumbled into the Dice Cup Café after Covid. We wanted to get out from being stuck at home and in front of screens.
"They found Pokémon and it's like learning maths and English and strategy. They just started playing and they loved it and [it's] something that they didn't get bored of."
The competitions usually involve thousands of children from around the world with games played with a large audience.
Opponents are surrounded by the bright lights and dramatic staging of the event but given headphones playing white noise to help them focus, Oliver said.
Amy Wolsey, the manager of the Dice Cup Café in Nottingham, introduced the boys to the game [BBC]Being able to play herself means Kayleigh can follow their games.
"There's lots of ups and downs, it's quite stressful," she said.
Among their cheerleaders is Amy Wolsey, manager of the Dice Cup Café in Nottingham, where the brothers were introduced to competitive play.
She said the community around the game is what makes it so special.
She added: "That is the joy of the job, that is one of the reasons I do this and it's my passion for gaming that really solidifies that in our community.
"Just being a friendly space that people can walk into - and it doesn't even have to be Pokémon you can learn so many different card games and kind of get really deep into these competitions and it's not as out of reach as people may think."
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