The War room. A small hobby shop to many. But, others know the secret that lies behind the shelves. The war room hosts the largest game room in the southeast. A paridise for players of Magic and Warhammer. However today, this room venue will serve a different purpose. Hosting the Pokemon Gym Challenge! I had been gearing up all week between homework and TV. In the car, I was still putting the finishing touches on my "Rocket On!" deck(the format was modified) that would be a road block in the near future. When we arrived ,to my suprise, we had to fill out the evil DECKLIST! I had just enough time to add 14 energies and fill the list out. Then I started to ask some other trainers about my deck. Everyone said it was BAD! One staff member even said "Your just waisting your money." (It costs $5.00 to enter) Then I found Marc. A veterian of the West coast STS. I asked if he could do anything to help. (He was very nice.) He said the only way he could help was if I could get my decklist back. I thought i was dead. There was no way I could get my list back now. But I asked anyway. To my great surprise and delight, I could! I rushed over to Marc with the list and my cards. Marc quickly worked as he reconstructed the entire deck while his friend helped count all in 10 minutes! When it was done we started on a new decklist. The pairings for the first round were already being posted! In those last few minutes, the clock was our worst enemy as we rushed to get the list ready. A few secounds later (and not a minute too soon)I had the list turned in and was seated across from my first opponent. I encountered many things during all of the rounds. There was no real popular card. (ex: sneasel) In the end I only won 2/6 games and ended up in 31st place. (I just can't seem to get myself togeather today, huh.) I didn't even get a small prize. (Last year at the STS qualifier, everyone got prizes.) By the way, Marc got into the final 8 and went into singal elimination. He was so excited! I thanked him and went home. I won some and I lost some and I learned alot. But, one thing is for sure. I will always remember the african-american from california who was nice enough to help me win a battle againsed time. Marc.