A Pokemon VGC competitor at the Salt Lake City Regionals was allegedly escorted out by police mid-tournament. 

The Salt Lake City Regional was the first big event of the official Pokemon circuit of the season. There was one scheduled for Florida as well but it was canceled due to the state's decision to not require masks and vaccinations. This was a controversial decision that had many Pokemon players enraged online, with many scrambling to get flight tickets refunded. 

The Salt Lake City Regional had nearly 1,000 attendees, the majority of which were Masters in the TCG competition. It was a large event that was heavily monitored for safety, even requiring the masks to not be cloth in material. Despite this focus on COVID precautions, there were some incidents that had the Pokemon community buzzing. 

According to multiple eye-witnesses, a Pokemon VGC player attempted to enter the venue without being fully vaccinated. They were denied entry but the player came back and attempted to bribe one of the staff members.

The competitor said they would give them $50 to let them in without a vaccination. Little did they know, the event staff member was actually officially part of The Pokemon Company International. They were instantly booted from the venue and warned to stay away. 

The Pokemon VGC decided to sneak into the convention center to compete. They actually ended up getting around security and the event staff and started to compete in the tournament. But eventually, the player was spotted due to not having a wristband (only given out once checked in after showing proof of vaccination).

The Pokemon event staff called the police and the player was escorted out of the tournament by police. But according to some Pokemon players, the unvaccinated competitor ran away from police, causing a bit of a scene mid-tournament. 

This is a developing story with information that's still under investigation. This article will be updated as more information becomes public. 

This was unfortunately not the only drama at the Salt Lake City Regional. While the event was largely a celebrated success, it should be noted that a TCG player, Andrew Munoz, was DQd from the top cut of the regional for having allegedly marked sleeves. 

Munoz was in top eight of over 693 participants, playing Arceus VSTAR and Gengar VMAX. While the deck is considered meta, it can be a bit clunky. It's possible that Munoz bent some of the card sleeves or marked them in some fashion in order to avoid dead drawing, but it's currently unclear if the marked sleeves were purposeful. 

After Munoz was disqualified, everyone moved up on place in the standings. It was definitely a shocker to see someone featured on stream in the top of the pack caught for something so deceitful. Still, it's unclear if the markings were done on purpose or not. More information will most likely be released as it's made public.