Kiwi Pokemon card whizz kid wins North America Pokemon International Championships, eye on world crown

Drake Zhu is training for the Pokemon 2023 World Championships in Yokohama next month. Photo / Jason Oxenham

He’s just 10, but Drake Zhu is already an international champion and is now training to take on the world.

The Year 6 Mt Eden Normal Primary School student has just returned from the United States where he competed with 185 players, and won the North America Pokemon International Championships.

Over the school holidays, Drake has been putting in three to four hours each day - with the support of his parents - training for the Pokemon World Championships next month in Yokohama, Japan.

“This was the second time Drake’s got into the finals of international championships, and I just feel so proud that he can represent New Zealand on the world stage,” said his dad, Joe Zhu.

Drake loved watching the Pokemon animated television series since he was a toddler and brought home a trading card from school when he started primary school five years ago.

Drake perfects his strategy by watching top players online. Photo / Jason Oxenham

“We Googled to find out what it’s all about, and seeing how interested he was we decided to support him,” Zhu said.

“We made an agreement that he would be a competitive player rather than a card collector.”

The aim of the trading card game is to assemble the strongest deck of Pokemon and compete by taking turns utilising attacks and abilities to win matches.

Zhu said he found the game to be very useful in helping with mathematical, reading and problem-solving skills - part of the reason he is so supportive of Drake’s interest.

“Drake showed his talent in playing since he started, but unfortunately for the past two years all events were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

“He continued playing online a lot, and this year we are pleased to see his confidence as a result of his practice in the past two years.”

Drake Zhu is the winner of the 2023 Pokemon North America International Championships. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Drake has participated in three international championship events this year where he won third place, runner up, and last week came up tops in the US competition.

Pokemon, which started in Japan in 1996 on the Nintendo Game Boy, has since continued to captivate fans around the world with its “pocket monsters”.

The company now organises competitions locally, regionally, and the world championships, which this year will be in Japan.

“If you are the top player in the regionals or internationals, like Drake, then you will be invited and also given a US$5000 travel allowance to compete,” Zhu said.

Zhu said they have spent more than $2000 in trading cards over the years, but the investment has been paid back “many times over”.

Drake Zhu wants to be a scientist when he grows up. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Drake wants to be a scientist or work in agriculture when he grows up.

He says loves playing Pokemon and trains by watching other players’ strategies.

He spends hours watching YouTube videos watching top card players explaining how certain decks work and watching competitions streamed online.

“I like watching other top players’ strategies so I can learn from them and also become champions like them,” Drake said.

Drake, whose gaming name is Ninjadrake, said playing Pokemon has allowed him to travel and also make friends from around the world.

The first Pokemon World Championships was held in 2004 but this will be the first time it will be held in Japan, where the series originated.

To be held at the Pacifico Yokohama convention centre, competitors will be playing for a part of a prize pool worth more than US$500,000 ($804,000).

Zhu and his wife Tracy, along with Drake’s eight-year-old brother Damon will be going to the championships to cheer him on.