Auburn’s Zane Nelson finished with a second-place ranking at the recent Bremerton Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) City Championships.

Nelson, 15, earned an invitation to compete in the upcoming state tournament. Nelson, a junior at Auburn Mountainview High School, is among the top-ranked regional and national competitors in his division.

The city championship tournaments are the first event in the Pokémon organized play series that leads to the Pokémon TCG World Championships in August 2010 in Hawaii.

In addition, all Pokémon premier events, including city championships, award premier rating points toward a potential invitation to the world championships. The game is based on the Japanese animated series revolving around colorful combatant characters.

Pokémon TCG tournaments provide an opportunity for young people to succeed at an intellectual sport and for each player to test his or her Pokémon TCG skills, strategy and creativity.