Pokémon champion says fellow player’s body odor made him throw up at tournament, then begs attendees to improve their hygiene

Pokémon champion Donghun Youm says a fellow competitor’s body odor was so bad that he threw up during the Baltimore Regional Championships. Now, he’s asking tournament attendees to take their personal hygiene seriously.

Youm won the 2023 Milwaukee Regional Championships, and shared the recent experience on X in September. He said the smell from a nearby player left him and his friends struggling to concentrate during their round. Dexerto reported that they eventually complained to a judge.

The player wasn’t publicly named, and Youm didn’t say what happened after the complaint. Still, the incident had Pokémon fans cracking jokes about the game’s Stench ability. Going by the reactions, some attacks don’t even need a controller yet can still be very effective.

The powerful smell was not exactly a Pokémon move

“Please take care of your personal hygiene,” Youm wrote, before explaining why he felt the need to say it. “I’ve had an incident @ Baltimore regionals where I had to throw up due to a nearby player’s stench. My friends and I couldn’t focus that round due to how putrid the smell was and we even told a judge due to it. Like c’mon man….”

The X post has since raked in over 12,000 likes and over 870,000 views. The comment section apparently could not resist throwing in a few Pokémon-inspired puns, while others cracked jokes about a smelly strategy. “new strat just dropped, stop showering to throw off the competition,” one X user commented.

Please take care of your personal hygiene. I’ve had an incident @ Baltimore regionals where I had to throw up due to a nearby player’s stench. My friends and I couldn’t focus that round due to how putrid the smell was and we even told a judge due to it. Like c’mon man….

— Donghun Youm (@PlaymakerYoum) September 27, 2026

One person kicked the comedy up a notch by sharing a screenshot of Stench, a Pokémon ability that can make an opponent flinch. Another joked that they’d soiled themselves because they were doing well in the competition. It wasn’t quite the kind of competitive advantage players in the Pokémon competitive scene usually prepare for.

So Pokémon actually has a rule for this

According to the official Play! Pokémon Tournament Rules Handbook, participants must maintain a socially acceptable level of hygiene during events. While tournament rules can sometimes spark controversy, this particular requirement seems pretty reasonable. Tournament organizers may give someone a chance to fix the problem and return. Refusing to follow staff instructions can lead to removal from the venue. In more serious cases, organizers can remove a participant immediately. With that in mind, was the player that Youm referenced deemed fit to stay in the game or did he have to catch Pokémon another day?

There’s no public confirmation of whether the smell was formally ruled a violation. Still, it’s a reminder that competitive Pokémon matches aren’t just about choosing the right moves. Players also have to follow rules that make tournaments bearable for everyone sitting in smelling range.

You can spend hours perfecting a Pokémon team, but a shower shouldn’t be the hardest part of tournament preparation. Whether people are fans of every Pokémon Ash owns or just casually enjoy collecting cards, perhaps the Pokémon community can agree that “catch ’em all” shouldn’t include catching a whiff.

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