MARYSVILLE — A local boy made good with the skills he honed at pitting his pocket monsters against others.

Marysville’s Alexander Dade was one of more than 30 Pokémon players to turn out for the Marysville city championships of the trading card game at Wandering Havoc Games on Sunday, Nov. 27, but he nabbed third place and earned himself a potential invite to the Pokémon national championships in Indianapolis next summer.

“I’m very proud of him,” Gary Dade said of his son. “He’s been playing for about two years now, and he’s gotten very good at it.”

While the family is still exploring its options about how to proceed to the next level of championships, Gary acknowledged that Alexander has been “very vocal” about wanting to go further.

“He’s very passionate about it, so we’re looking into it,” Gary Dade said. “It’s a serious deal.”

And not just for kids, either. Craig Hulse, co-owner of Wandering Havoc Games in Marysville, noted that his store usually isn’t even open on Sundays, but the Nov. 27 city championships drew 34 players, 19 of whom were 15 years and older.

“We’ve been offering special sales on Pokémon cards,” Hulse said. “This weekend just happened to coincide with the Black Friday weekend as well.”

Wandering Havoc not only hosts one city championship of Pokémon each year, but they also serve as the site for weekly league play of the game every Thursday evening.

“Multiple aspects of it appeal to different people,” Hulse said. “There’s the playability and collectability of the cards, plus you’re got the people who are really competitive at it. The wide variety of cards themselves doesn’t hurt.”

At the age of 21, Marysville’s Nicholas Leon-Guerrero is a more seasoned hand, but he only came back to the game a few weeks ago after a decade away.

“My brother got me into Magic,” Leon-Guerrero said. “I get a thrill from it like I did as a kid, because it’s at least as challenging now as it was back then. In many ways, it’s grown more complex.”