Earlier this month, Firestar73, a competitive Pokémon Go player who placed seventh at last year’s world championships, managed to narrowly cinch a game-five finals win at the 2026 Pokémon Orlando Regional Championships after battling his way out of the dreaded losers’ bracket. As stress and adrenaline gave way to relief, Firestar73 stood up from his chair, threw off his headphones, raised his arms in a sort of victorious flexing motion, and then fist pumped for good measure. Immediately afterward, he politely shook his opponent’s hand.
Considering the circumstances, this seemed like about what you’d expect from a driven but respectful competitor. However, the tournament’s staff went on to deem Firestar73’s conduct “unsportsmanlike” and stripped him of his win. After having rigorously reviewed the footage, I submit the following question: Huh?
Go ahead and watch for yourself:
After a long loser's bracket run, @Firestar73_ wins a decisive game 5 to win the Orlando Regional Championship. Allegedly this celebration was unsportsmanlike, resulting in a game loss and giving NTC The win. I'm at a loss for words, I feel so bad for firestar. pic.twitter.com/72l1RJO31v
— AXN (@ItsAXN) April 5, 2026
The whole celebration lasts around five seconds and seems reasonable enough. I, too, would be pretty darn excited to win a tournament I was on the verge of flunking out of earlier in the day. So what, exactly, gives? It’s unclear. AXN, the 2023 Pokémon Go world champion, said he heard that Firestar73 threw his headphones too hard. But also, my man’s hands were shaking from the aforementioned adrenaline and stress; I don’t think it’s fair to expect a pillow-soft touch from someone in that state.
Barely anyone online agrees that Firestar73 deserved to feel the sweet taste of victory crumble to ashes in his mouth—including Firestar73. In a statement released over the weekend, he said that he has officially asked The Pokémon Company to reverse its decision:
I think that person [responsible for the decision] made a good-faith mistake. I am asking everyone involved: Please, DO NOT direct any harassment, threats, or ill will towards ANYONE involved in this. I don’t want to focus on who’s responsible for the past. I want to focus on the future—on why the result should rightly be changed. There are two main reasons. The first is that my celebration wasn’t unsportsmanlike in the context of our community’s history; it was the kind of celebration Play Pokémon repeatedly encouraged. And second, even if you assume my actions did cross the line to being unsportsmanlike, they still wouldn’t be the kind of actions that the Play Pokémon rules say can get you a one-game loss. For both of those reasons, I’m respectfully asking Play Pokémon to reverse its decision.
Firestar73 went on to provide several examples of other Pokémon Go players who celebrated similarly—including headset throws—but did not face anything in the way of consequences. For example:
And:
“These celebrations are not outliers: Play Pokémon has told the community that this is the kind of emotion and celebration it wants its tournaments to evoke,” Firestar73 wrote. “It has repeatedly used Wdage’s celebration to illustrate the kind of excitement and emotion it wants its regional tournament victories to generate. It was part of a montage that was used in multiple regionals broadcasts.”
Aftermath reached out to The Pokémon Company to ask whether it plans to review or reverse the tournament results, but did not receive a reply as of this publishing.
“I believe that the Tournament Organizer who ruled against me made a good-faith mistake,” wrote Firestar73. “They probably don’t have the same exposure to our community’s history as the hundreds of dedicated trainers around the world who all disagree with the ruling. … It would not be an insult to the Tournament Organizer to overturn their decision; it would simply be an acknowledgement that someone who probably didn’t know as much about our community’s history was put in a difficult spot, tried to make the right decision, and just got it wrong.”
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Nicole Carpenter
