Young Pokemon star gives adorable interview after upset Championship win

After taking down the reigning champion to claim victory in her first Oceania International Junior Championship, Singaporean Pokemon star Simone Lim gave an adorable interview to win trainers’ hearts over.

The best Pokemon players from around the world converged on Melbourne on February 21-23 to duke it out in the first major tournament of the year, the Oceania International Championships.

However, one young star stole the show in the VGC Junior event, after Simone Lim made an incredible upset victory over veteran Justin Miranda-Radbord to take home the title.

The young Singaporean star, who is almost half the age of Miranda-Radbord, climbed from being the seventh-seed in the top eight to facing off against the 21-time regional champion in the final.

She took a game off Miranda-Radbord in the first round of the set, before he tied it up at one-a-piece in the second to force a third-game decider.

• Read more: Pokemon fans baffled as Sword and Shield art director mass-deletes tweets

Lim was backed into a corner in the final game, down to her final Pokemon when she made the bold, championship-winning move with her Tyranitar to claim her first international title.

Lim went all out by using Crunch on Miranda-Radbord’s Dusclops after he protected his Rhyperior, reading him perfectly. After that, it was a straight-forward victory, using Superpower to knock down the Rhyperior to claim the win, with her friend running onto stage to give her a hug.

While the commentators were in awe of her read, in her mind there was no doubt. “I knew that he was going to protect the Rhyperior,” she said, while clutching her Eevee plush that was almost as big as her.

• Read more: Viral TikTok brings Pokemon to life in the most adorable way possible

However, she did say that the pressure was getting to her after the second round. “I was nervous after the second round,” Lim said.

She also thanked her family, friends, and coach, as she claimed her first Junior Championship title “[I want to thank] my friends and my family and my coach.”

Her adorable interview won over fans at the arena and at home, with the clip being shared on social media thousands of times.

Lim also took home a minimum of $1,500 for her win, as well as earned an invitation to the World Championships, to be held in the United Kingdom this August.