Sibol Philippines’ Pokémon Unite squad is raring to make its mark in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 after its recent World Championship appearance.
Japan, where Pokémon, the global phenomenon anime, originated, included Pokémon Unite – the multiplayer online battle arena mobile game as part of the esports events.
Flying the flag for Team Philippines are Lawrence ‘RBX’ Gatmaitan, Kim Rey ‘Kyy’ Salazar, Duke ‘Dylan’ Leoncio, Robert ‘SynC1’ Mempin, and Michael ‘Miva’ Ocio, and Lance David, under coach Albert Camp.
‘We’re all ready. Hopefully, we can bring home the gold,’ said team newcomer David in Filipino.
The squad, under Team Nemesis, finished joint ninth to 16th in the recent Pokémon World Championships, after their campaign ended in the first round of the playoffs, falling to South Korea’s T1.
Team captain Gatmaitan is confident they can live up to expectations, as the Philippine Olympic Committee included them in the events that could deliver gold to the country.
‘So far, our training has been going really well. We’ve been able to compete against everyone we’ll be facing at the Asian Games. All I can say is that we have a chance – I’d say there’s a 70 percent chance that we can bring home the gold medal,’ he said.
Besides their international experience, part of team Sibol’s preparation is settling their differences.
‘Of course, we had a team meeting to talk about some personal issues within the team. We focused on strengthening our chemistry first before discussing our strategy. We thought it was better to address the personal issues first so emotions wouldn’t affect our strategy,’ Gatmaitan said.
The Pokémon Unite crew also offers its campaign to the Filipinos, who have been big fans of Pokémon since the anime originated.
‘I’m really thankful to the Pokémon community and our followers. Please continue supporting Pokémon and the community,’ said Gatmaitan.