When it comes to sports and competition, two things are often considered when evaluating a player and their career—their consistency and their “peak.” Winning and being at the top of your game is a must to be considered elite, but so is being able to do it again, and again, and again. The same idea applies to the Pokémon Video Game Championships (VGC).
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Regulations come and go, Pokédexes transform, and video game software changes. While there are players who spike tournaments on exciting miracle runs, it’s the competitors always in the hunt who are remembered most. One such player who bears the crown of consistency is Paul Chua, Champion of the 2026 Europe International Championships (EUIC). While other North American greats often come to mind when discussing the region, it’s easy to forget that Chua is one of the best too.
With the newly released Pokémon Champions set to change Pokémon VGC forever, Chua’s more than ready to ride the wave. Pokemon.com had the chance to chat with the player in an online interview.
Early Beginnings
Chua is a six-time Regional Champion with two International Championship titles under his belt, making him one of the most successful Pokémon VGC players of all time. He doesn’t have an ego about it, though. He just loves Pokémon, and loved it long before he played the games. Normally, the first touchstone with the brand would be the trading card game or the animation, but for Chua, it was Pokémon’s licensing partnership with Scholastic, which hosts book fairs and distributes book order forms at schools.
“I was in second grade. We received the Scholastic book checklists. One of the books was a Pokémon book and it had all the Pokémon,” Chua said. “I just thought it was so cool looking at all the Pokémon. I didn’t really own any of the games back then.”
It didn’t take long for playing the games to become reality, though. Soon, Chua was one of many who witnessed advertisements for the Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl video games on television, and that’s where he really became interested. He played through the game and beat the story, but what followed eventually became his first taste of competitive battling.
“I was interested in Pokémon Battle Revolution when it first came out, and its endgame Masters Battle content because it was a lot more difficult. I thought that was pretty cool,” Chua said.
Paul Chua walking on stage before his 2026 EUIC Finals match.
Pokémon Battle Revolution was a battle simulator game for Nintendo Wii where Trainers could bring their Pokémon from Nintendo DS titles to the big screen, and you can guess that Chua loved it. It was the humble start to his competitive battling career before he really got into Pokémon VGC.
Around 2010, Chua found a YouTube video featuring footage from a Regional Championship in Philadelphia, which inspired him to dig even deeper. He soon discovered there would be a Regional Championship in New Jersey, where he still lives today. That ended up being his first true event.
“I didn’t do super well. I made it to the fourth round because events were single elimination back then. I do remember that I lost to Explosion Azelf,” he said with a laugh. “But I had fun! And I would go to the next event that was in New Jersey, and as Pokémon got bigger and the circuit started to change, I attended more events.”
And he sure did attend more events! In 2012, Chua “bribed” his parents to take a 10-hour drive to Indianapolis for the 2012 Pokémon VGC National Championships, where he placed fourth and earned his invitation to Worlds that year. Chua initially “wasn’t supposed to go,” but a paid trip (for the whole family) to Hawaiʻi and an eventual ninth-place finish at Worlds ended up being a pretty good deal.
Closing Out Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet
Paul Chua rises from his chair after winning the 2026 EUIC Pokémon VGC Finals.
After 14 years of competitive success, Chua has the same passion for Pokémon he did when he first started attending tournaments. He’s not trialing the same wacky strategies he did in the past—he recalled using a Normal Gem Hitmonlee team at one point—but instead his style has been refined to be strong and consistent.
He never expected to win an event as big as 2026 EUIC, but his development has come this far.
“It felt kind of crazy to think that I’d be able to win an event like that with so many people,” Chua said of his EUIC win. “It’s probably still the largest-ever tournament for VGC, so, you know, being the winner was not something I expected. Especially since my last EUIC win, I got really close to winning Regionals, but kept getting second...”
Second place at a Regional Championship is a monumental accomplishment, but it’s understandable that Chua would be disappointed to come so close and fall just short. Even so, his consistency in making Day 2 and staying in contention over the last few years has been remarkable.
Paul Chua being interviewed on stage after his big win at the 2023 Europe International Championships.
Chua also won the 2023 EUIC near the beginning of the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet era, so it’s fitting that he won the final EUIC of that era. The Pokémon he used have changed a lot—every Pokémon on his winning team is different save for the omnipresent Flutter Mane—but his style remains the same.
“People like to call [my playstyle] a balanced style,” Chua said. “That stayed the same throughout all these years, I think, especially with Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet’s Terastallization mechanic. You could just change your type to make situations a lot better than you can nowadays in Pokémon Champions.”
Over the last few years of competition, it’s been made clear that Terastallization is just as powerful defensively as it is offensively, giving Pokémon more durability or immunity in key situations. Chua cites one Pokémon that led to his victory in London this year as a clear example.
“The example that people would use for that format was Raging Bolt, right?” he said. “You just Terastallize it into a Fairy type and it completely changes its weaknesses.”
Paul Chua and his team from the 2026 Europe International Championships.
More than that, Chua’s Raging Bolt was trained to be bulky, held Leftovers in battles, and knew Calm Mind to both raise its Sp. Def and Sp. Atk. Chua remarks that his teams and playstyle are what some fans might point to as being “samey,” but each small decision makes a big difference.
Looking Forward to Pokémon Champions and Worlds
Training Pokémon is always the first step to battling, and it’s not always easy to figure how to best do so, but Pokémon Champions is shaking things up. Chua thinks it will make a big difference as the title takes over as the official Pokémon VGC software.
“It’s gonna help a lot for the growth of the game, especially with the future mobile release,” he said. “It can reach a bigger audience, and I think the one thing that really helps is the VP training, and how it makes getting Pokémon a lot easier as long as you play the game.”
It’s not only that, but Pokémon of the same species no longer differ in individual strengths, and it’s easier to move Pokémon caught in previous Pokémon video games from Pokémon HOME. As Chua puts it, you can “catch a Pokémon from whatever game, not worry about it and send it Pokémon Champions.”
Paul Chua’s final placement ranking for Season M-1, featuring the same six Pokémon he used at the 2026 Indiana Regional Championships.
You can bet Chua loves Pokémon Champions too. He finished 14th on the in-game Double Battle Ranked Battles ladder for Season M-1, and he did so by mostly focusing on a classic first-partner Pokémon.
“I have only seriously been looking at Charizard teams, but it’s because I really like Charizard,” Chua said. “Damage-wise, it’s just really strong. And setting up the sun’s really nice, it pairs well with a lot of good Pokémon like Garchomp too. It also does well into meta Pokémon like Kingambit and Basculegion.”
Chua once finished Top 16 at the Pokémon World Championships with Mega Charizard Y in 2018, so it’s no wonder he’s going back to the Flame Pokémon. He’s mostly been referencing teams other players use online, but he’s already putting his spin on the formula.
He notably brought Mega Charizard Y to the 2026 Indianapolis Regional Championships too, the first Regional Championship to feature Pokémon Champions. Chua finished Top 32 there, marking the fifth time Chua’s placed at least that high at a Regional Championship this season alone.
Where will you see Chua next? San Francisco, of course! He was there for Worlds 10 years ago, and with his invite from winning 2026 EUIC in hand, he’s excited to return.
“I’m always looking toward Worlds, because especially for me, it’s the only event that I haven’t won,” he said. “I want to put in the most effort for that event. Especially since it’s Pokémon Champions with a completely new format. And then, of course, aside from the Pokémon, seeing friends from around the world is nice too.”
If consistency is king, Paul Chua just might be ready to take the throne at the 2026 Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco, California. Be sure to tune in to the capstone event from August 28–30, 2026.
Champion’s Spotlight is a series dedicated to highlighting the stories of competitors in the Pokémon Championship Series. Be sure to follow @playpokemon on social media and check out Pokemon.com/Broadcasts to see their stories develop live during the season.
