A competitive Pokémon Go player who had their recent tournament victory scrubbed over “unsportsmanlike” behavior is now fighting The Pokémon Company to have the decision overturned.
Earlier this month, footage of Firestar73 winning 2026 Orlando Regional Championships went viral after news broke that the player had been disqualified for his celebration, in which he quickly removed his headphones and stood up to perform a fist pump, before calmly shaking hands with his opponent. You can watch the moment for yourself below.
At the time, viewers described Firestar73’s subsequent disqualification as “embarrassing,” while his opponent reportedly acknowledged that the player should have kept the win. Now, Firestar73 has issued a formal statement on the matter, and said he’s begun the process of having the decision overturned, all while maintaining he bears no “ill will” to the judges involved.
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
“By now you have all seen the video of my reaction after winning the 2026 Orlando regional,” Firestar73 wrote in a lengthy statement. “You can all form your own conclusions about whether my reaction was unsportsmanlike or whether a one-game loss that flipped the result was too harsh. Nearly all of you, if not actually all of you, have said you disagree with the decision. I am extremely thankful for the public support you’ve all expressed.”
Firestar73 has asked The Pokémon Company to reverse the decision for two main reasons. Firstly, that his celebration was equivalent to various other examples of extremely similar reactions that can be viewed online, reactions The Pokémon Company itself has apparently told competitive players they welcome as demonstrations of the “emotion and celebration” that playing Pokémon video games provokes.
Secondly, Firestar73 argued, even if the celebration did fall foul of “unsportsmanlike” behavior rules, that under the Pokémon Go Tournament Handbook (Section 7.1), a game disqualification is only applied “when a mistake severely impacts the integrity of the game state.” Here, Firestar73 argued that the game had already concluded, therefore his celebration cannot be worthy of disqualification. He went on to note other clauses on “minor unsporting misconduct,” which typically result in simple warnings.
“I do not hold ill will towards anyone who was involved in this decision, especially the two judges you saw on stream,” Firestar73 concluded. “They did not make the decision to hand down the one-game loss. That decision was made by someone much higher up on the Tournament Organizer’s staff. As I explain below, I think that person 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 the future — on why the result should rightly be changed.”
IGN contacted The Pokémon Company previously for comment on the matter, but did not receive a response.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
