Hoping to catch ’em all, a Thompson convenience and collectible store has started hosting game nights to give players of Pokémon and other competitive card games a chance to build community connections.
Thompson Auto Wash manager Aman Thethy runs the play space at the store in the northern Manitoba city. Events featuring card games like Pokemon, One Piece, Magic: The Gathering, Dragon Ball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh! began in the early fall.
Now, there’s a game to play every day of the week.
“We hear a lot from our customers that they don’t have anyone to play with … for the games that they’re buying cards for,” Thethy said. “We kind of scheduled it around [them].”
His dad, Rajinder, opened the Auto Wash as a convenience store in 2004. It started selling collectibles around 2019. Thethy says as a family-owned business, they could adapt and bring new products in based on what the community asked for.
“We see ourselves as here to fill gaps in the market that without us would still exist,” Thethy said. “That all came from just listening to our customers and bringing what they wanted us to bring in.”
The hope is to see friendships and the number of competitors grow at the game nights, Thethy said.
Clayton McVittie says it can be challenging to find activities in Thompson — especially for people who are more of a homebody.
He’s a player of the card-based game Magic: The Gathering, but he hasn’t been in a club for more than 20 years.
McVittie appreciates having a new outlet and group of friends to play cards with.
“Thompson gets a bad rap for crime, all those kinds of things. I think it’s things like this that would really help push things in the more positive direction,” McVittie said.
“It keeps a good vibe going. I think we need more of that here.”
It’s also been exciting to see younger people embrace classic card games like Magic, McVittie said. The Auto Wash has hosted “learn to play” nights for games like One Piece and Pokemon.
Those events have seen players as young as eight, and ranging up to people in their 60s, come out to learn, said Thethy.
“There’s something for everyone,” he said.
Dylan Rose mainly plays Magic: The Gathering — a game he is new to.
“We’re mainly all here for fun,” Rose said.
When he was younger it was easier to find friends to play games with, Rose said. But over the years, some of these connections have waned.
This makes him appreciate having a place to hang out with new buddies and play the games he loves.
“Most of the time my cards will just end up trying to collect dust, but luckily I’m able to collect more,” Rose said.
“If you had old friends and you have lost contact with them … you could probably reunite with them and then you might help them find a similar passion.”
Thompson Auto Wash convenience hosts Pokémon card and other competitive game nights to build community connections. Pokemon, One Piece, Magic: The Gathering, Dragon Ball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh! began in the early fall.
Tournaments to come
McVittie is also looking forward to seeing the Auto Wash host more tournaments in the new year. It’s already hosting some weekend tournaments, and those events are expected to grow.
Thethy says they have received permission from One Piece maker Bandai to host official tournaments for that game, along with other games like Magic and Dragon Ball Z.
Hosting those events means players don’t have to travel the long distance to Winnipeg or other southern Manitoba locations for tournament-level competition, said Thethy.
“This opens up opportunities for people to compete regionally, nationally and internationally,” Thethy said.
“There really wasn’t a way for that sort of progression from Thompson before…. Now you can do it here.”