Pokemon TCG Harassment Issue, Player Speaks Out

On September 14 to 15, at the Baltimore Regionals, a tournament that was supposed to be a fun experience became a possibly traumatizing memory for  After publicly revealing the harassment and misgendering they went through in the tournament, they even received a suspension instead of being compensated. 

Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG)

The Pokemon Trading Card Game (TCG) is one of the most successful business and games of the franchise. Like any Pokemon games, this requires strategic approaches and the dedication to collect pokemon cards to create your own unique deck. Various tournaments are held in order to test out players that are interested in fulfilling everyone’s childhood dream of becoming a Pokemon Master.

Pokemon has a place in the hearts of many people all around the world. It is not far-fetched to say that Pokemon is one of the most well known franchises globally. As kids, we followed the wholesome and exciting adventures of Ash Ketchum, experienced what it’s like to be a Pokemon trainer as we put on the shoes of many protagonist in the games like Red, collected toys and games in order to enjoy the thrill of the catchphrase, “gotta catch ‘em all!”.

A Dark Turn: Facing Bad Sportsmanship and Disrespect

While playing the Pokemon TCG at the Baltimore Regionals, player Ihana Mazeska battled with Steven Lahlou which seemed to be having a normal flow at the first two games—that is until they reached game 3 with lots of time left remaining.

Ihana’s deck is a counter that works well against Steven’s which seemed to irritate the latter, a reaction that is common with any competitive game especially if things got heated. Although Ihana had the advantage, Steven was able to get a win in the second game. Things were going alright until Ihana noticed that their opponent is starting to show signs of being more hostile as the third game proceeds.

Steven began to purposely slow down his turns in which Ihana called out asking that they should watch out for the pace of play so that they wouldn’t have to call in a judge to supervise and possibly penalize someone. Steven replied angrily leaving Ihana no choice but to call in a judge. This seems to only worsen the situation as Steven did more stalling and when another judge was called, he started to speak in such a disrespectful way.

The head judge was soon called and both players explained their side in which Steven repeatedly misgendered Ihana. Ihana called attention to the misgendering and showed their pronouns pin, to which the head judge took action upon and corrected Steven on multiple occasions. Steven doesn’t seem to be interested in respecting his opponent and continues to misgender them anyway—going as far as to tell the head judge that Ihana was a “she”. 

After seeing that the case was hopeless since Steven wasn’t even trying to be half a decent human being, the head judge declared the match a tie and apologized to Ihana for what they had to experience.

Spreading Awareness To The Community

On September 19, Ihana made a post on X recounting the harassment they experienced while playing Pokemon TCG. The post contains screenshots of their notes with the story as they try to explain it as best they could and with as much details as possible.

My very upsetting experience with Steven Lahlou at Baltimore Regionals: pic.twitter.com/yiigw9BmgE

— Ihana Mazezka (@ChariLikesChez) September 18, 2024

The player tried to make the Pokemon community aware in hopes of making it a safer place to be in. They hope to discourage any forms of harassment and inspire others to be courageous enough to speak up for themselves if ever they experienced something similar.

The post gathered the attention of the community and a lot of people have expressed their own thoughts and support for Ihana.

An Unfair Suspension

A post on October 2 made the Pokemon TCG players and community feel sick due to the news that Ihana Mazezka was suspended after their post regarding the harassment they experienced at the Baltimore Regionals.

Instead of protection or even compensation from the people that are supposed to be ensuring a safe environment for its community, the Pokemon Company internationals seems to dislike the fact that a player would speak about an ugly experience for whatever reasons. Ihana’s suspension could possibly hinder them from being able to participate in other tournaments—and worse, enable the horrifying behavior of harassment within the community.

Ihana posted on X again stating that they now feel afraid of saying anything more regarding the harassment since they feel like a big company themselves would do further harm. The Pokemon community shared their own thoughts regarding the suspension and some even go as far as to say that TPCi is enabling such horrible behaviors with this decision. On the bright side, people bolstered their support for Ihana right when they needed it most—a sight that is truly fitting for the vibe of the beloved Pokemon world.

An Unfitting Result

The world of Pokemon is supposed to be such a dreamy place to live in. In the anime, we saw how conflicts arise due to trouble makers like Team Rocket and how the protagonists deal with it and battle their ways to fight for what is right—it taught us that the power of friendship and goodness will always shine brighter than the darkest nights.

With this case of Pokemon TCG player Ihana, who experienced harassment and got suspended for bravely speaking up like the franchise’s protagonist, it is sad to see that the Pokemon Company Internationals themselves would make such a decision when the community expected them to be the ones to make the right call.

We wait and hope that there will be a positive development with this case. We would like to leave a gentle reminder that the world would be a better place if we all actively take part in ensuring that it is both safe and fun.