10 years after making Pokemon history with a squirrel, the former world champion returned to Worlds 2024 with his iconic mascot in tow

It's been a decade since the Pokemon Video Game Championships were shaken to their core when a small electric squirrel graced our screens and, against all odds, proved it had the power to become a world champion. 10 years later, the iconic player behind it all made a grand return.

Back in 2014, genius Pokemon player Sejun Park won the Masters Division of the Pokemon World Championships with none other than a Pachirisu by his side – a cute Electric-type that no one ever would have expected could go toe-to-toe with powerhouses like Salamence and Tyranitar. However, Park was able to prove all the naysayers wrong by configuring a setup for his Pachirisu that made it the ultimate support Pokemon, with moves like Nuzzle to hit opponents with Paralysis, and Follow Me to divert incoming attacks away from the squirrel's teammates in the 2v2 format. 

Park's 2014 victory is still one of the most iconic moments in VGC history – it spawned heaps of fan art and, more importantly, proved that even at a top level, it's possible to win with your favorites even if they're not top-tier choices. Anyway, this year, he returned to the stage, and the best part of all is that he still had a Pachirisu on his team. Some things never change, huh?

Obviously, the Pokemon VGC meta has changed significantly since 2014 – hundreds of new Pokemon exist, for a start – so this time, Park's Pachirisu fought alongside the likes of Miraidon and Chi-Yu, both powerful new additions to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. His Pachirisu's setup was also a bit different – while it still had Follow Me, Protect, and Super Fang, it also had the status move Helping Hand to further boost the power of its teammates. On top of that, it was holding the Rocky Helmet item to damage opponents who hit it rather than a Sitrus Berry to recover its health, so the set seemed more focused on delivering chip damage along with its support, rather than boosting Pachirisu's survivability.

Unfortunately for Park, Pachirisu wasn't able to bring the win home on this occasion – the player ended up finishing with five wins to three losses, ultimately getting dropped after the eighth round of day one Swiss matches (a pairing system that pits players with a similar number of wins and losses against each other). However, he still received an enormous amount of support from viewers, who he thanked on Twitter. 

"The second journey with Pachi ends after a tough win-and-in matchup," Park wrote on Twitter over the weekend. "Thank you very much for such humongous support today!"

Perhaps another year Park will be able to secure the win again, but for now, the 2024 Masters Division crown goes to Luca Ceribelli.

While you're here, be sure to check out our ranking of the best Pokemon games.