It’s only fitting that one of the best Pokemon players in the country is from Bellevue.

The Pokémon Company International, an American subsidiary of the Pokémon Company based in Japan, does business right in Downtown Bellevue.

Aaron Nolan, a 14-year old in the Somerset neighborhood, can see the building from his house. Whether this helped him win Pokémon Spring Regional Champion in Salt Lake City, Utah this year or not, being so close to the “action” certainly couldn’t hurt things.

Nolan just graduated from Tillicum Middle School, but he’s been racking up awards and accolades in the Pokémon video game competitive scene for years.

“I got into it very young, just by playing the game,” he said. “It was just a circuit, I won a bunch of local tournaments and then won the regional.”

Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996, and the television show, card game, video games and thousands of merchandise items have turned Pokémon into a multi-billion dollar company. The Pokémon premise revolves around “pocket monsters” used to battle.

“There’s a really great community,” Nolan said. “It’s welcoming and the game itself is really fun.”

Not one to embellish his speech, Nolan would rather let his play speak for him. His party consists of a Groudon, Aromatisse, Smeargle, Cresselia, Kangashan and White Kyrurem. If those names don’t mean much to you, that’s alright. With more than 720 Pokémon, even some players can’t be expected to recall them all.

Most top-tier competitive players share quite a few Pokémon in common. By the nature of the game, some of the Pokémon have better stats and movesets than others. This limits parties for competitive players.

Nolan joins seven other Senior Division Spring Regional Champions and has punched his ticket to the 2016 Pokémon World Champions in San Francisco, California this August. Players who achieve a top Championship Points ranking following the 2016 Pokémon U.S. National Championships in Columbus, Ohio this July will earn a spot to compete among the best players from more than 30 countries at the Pokémon World Championships.

According to a release from the company, “each year, the Pokémon Organized Play tournament series draws tens of thousands of Pokémon players to compete at various local league events and sanctioned tournaments throughout North America.” The Pokémon Company is celebrating 20 years this year, making Nolan’s achievement all the more special.

Father Bobb and mother Joan make up the rest of the Nolan family. Aaron has been in Spanish immersion courses since kindergarten, making him fluent (or close to) in the language. He heads to Newport High School next year and is a trombone player. Nolan is close to earning his Star Scout rank and hopes to earn his Eagle Scout rank soon.

But before then, he’ll be tangling with hundreds of other aspiring Pokémon masters in San Francisco at the World Tournament.