Team Nepal Shining on Pokemon GO’s Competitive Global Platform
Over the past decade, Esports has seen a major integration into popular culture throughout the globe. With games such as League of Legends, Dota, Clash of Clans, Free Fire and PUBG amassing millions of people; news of players winning cash rewards amounting to millions on competitive video games are often heard nowadays. Pokemon GO is one of such games which engages almost 7 million players on a daily basis.
Strikingly nostalgic to the millennials and Generation Z, Pokemon GO is covertly gaining popularity in Nepal. Despite consisting a small community of players, representatives from Nepal have made applaudable efforts on the world stage. Uchiharahul 37 (Rahul Bharadwaj Adhikari), a gem amongst the Nepalese players, is currently ranked 2nd in the global leaderboard of PvP (Player vs Player). This achievement came about as a result of sheer dedication of time and effort from a small yet passionate community of players.
How it all Began?
Pokemon Go was officially launched in Nepal in December 2016. However, Nepalese players would not participate in competitive gaming right from the get-go. For the first couple of years, local players would only participate in casual individual competitions which did not involve any form of rewards.
Srijan Shahi (SrijanYellow), an avid admirer of the Pokemon series, found his way into the game in 2020. He was keen in building a community of Nepalese Pokemon Go players and managed to do so through social media. Despite lacking experience in competitive gaming, the small community of players joined an international tournament and astonishingly, performed very well. The performance gave a burst of hope to the community as they caught sight of great potential in their combined effort.
The road to representing Nepal on the world stage did not come about in a cozy way. Nepalese players lacked experience against the world-stage players who had been engulfed in the competitive nature of the game for a fairly long time. Local-level competitions organized by the community itself allowed players to groom themselves in PvP platforms. These competitions included small cash rewards which were funded by contributions from within the community. Ultimately, such collective efforts not only encouraged the existing players, but also attracted newer players to the game.
The time, effort and money that was invested into the game by a small yet passionate group was bound to pay off. Under the name of “The Valley Lespaul”, the community would go on to represent Nepal in the world stage of competitive Pokemon GO. Currently, Uchiharahul37, Diagrawa, Bhairavkali and Gorey04 are some Nepalese players who have achieved remarkable ranks globally.
| Name | Achievements | Rank |
| Gorey04 (Grish Gurung) | · Multiple Nepal Tournament winner (Over 10 tournaments) | Legend tier |
| Bhairavkali (Bipin Rimal) | · Winner of 4 local tournaments · Winner of Spanish tournament in 2019 | Legend tier |
| Diagrawa (Divya Agrawal ) | · Ranked Nepal #1 in season 3 of Silph League · Winner of multiple Tournament of Sri Lanka | Legend tier |
| Uchirahul37 (Rahul Bhardwaj) | · World Rank 2 GBL season 2021 · Multiple Local Tournament winner | Legend tier |
| Extrainner (Sushant Ojha) | · Vice-captain of team Nepal | Veteran tier |
| ElArun30 (Arun Limbu) | · Multiple local tournament winner · Qatar based player who works 18 hours a day yet gives time for the game | Expert tier |
| Shijan96 (Shijan Shrestha) | · Champion of multiple ranked tournaments · Doctor by profession yet finds time for the game | Ace tierk |
| CudipG (Cudip Gurung) | · No. 1 Raider in Team | Ace tier |
| Saihc (Shuvas Limbu) | · Winner of Nepal Lunar Cup · Winner of 2 local unranked tournaments | Veteran tier |
| SrijanYellow (Srijan Shahi) | · Winner of multiple tournaments in Nepal, South Africa and Australia · Ranked Nepal #3 in Season 3 Silph League · Captain of team Nepal | Ace tier |
| GokuDk1(Dikshyant Lamichanne) | · Ranked Nepal No. 4 in Season of Silph League · Winner of Nepal Venture Cup and multiple local tournaments | Veteran tier |
Srijan Shahi, the current captain of the Nepalese team, says that “Team Nepal has great potential in competitive Pokemon Go on the world stage. We have a very passionate community of players who are persistently dedicated towards improving their skills. Our winning performances against several strong teams from countries like Turkey, El Salvador and Nicaragua is a testimony to the fact that we are a team to watch out for.”
