Taking on other players at any kind of Pokemon competition is tough, and a feat that usually calls for players picking their strongest and most finely-tuned Pocket Monsters. Pokemon producer Junichi Masuda did things a little differently, though, going to battle in the very first official Pokemon GO World Championship with... Psyduck.
As this is the first of any official Pokemon GO tournaments, Pokemon Producer Junichi Masuda himself was on-site to compete with fellow trainers. Masuda started out a best-out-of-five fight with Psyduck, utilizing shields as much as possible to extend the water Pokemon's life. After a loss, he switched to another duck-like Pokemon, Ludicolo. In the end, Masuda lost three matches in a row to Poke AK, who moved on and ultimately took second place in the entire championship.
Most Pokemon GO players would know full well that Psyduck typically can't hold a candle to Pokemon with higher attack and defense stats. However, Masuda has openly expressed in the past that Psyduck is his absolute favorite Pokemon. It's actually rather endearing that the one of the head producers of the entire Pokemon franchise would rather bring a favorite than something that would stand a better shot at wiping the competition.
Masuda isn't the only one who loves Psyduck. The duck Pokemon has gotten a lot of attention lately, receiving a full line of 'Bewildered Psyduck' merchandise from the official Pokemon store, and it also got a recent release as a custom Psyduck plush at Build-a-Bear. Of course, part of its current popularity is due to its starring role in the Detective Pikachu movie, where it tags along throughout as the partner of news reporter intern Lucy Stevens.
Psyduck has seen so much popularity recently that it even got the attention of the director of the upcoming Metal Gear movie. The director noted that Psyduck stole the show in Detective Pikachu, despite Ryan Reynolds starring as a talking Pikachu the entire time.
It's no wonder that Masuda likes Psyduck. The producer has been working with Game Freak since its inception, and he's had a hand in nearly every main entry Pokemon game to date. The water-type probably charmed him early on and he's been a fan ever since. He might even own a custom Psyduck shirt.
Pokemon GO is available now for mobile devices.
Source: IGN