Pokémon VGC pro vomited at Baltimore Regionals due to opponent's smell, calls out hygiene problem

Texas-based Pokémon VGC regional champion Donghun Youm went viral this week after posting on X about a hygiene incident at the 2026 Baltimore Regional Championships — he says a nearby player smelled so bad that he literally threw up, and his friends couldn't focus on their own matches because of it.

Youm's post was direct: "I've had an incident at Baltimore regionals where I had to throw up due to a nearby player's stench. My friends and I couldn't focus that round due to how putrid the smell was and we even told a judge due to it." He's calling on all competitors to take personal hygiene seriously before showing up to events. The post sparked immediate community debate, plus a wave of jokes about smell-based Pokémon mechanics — the ability Stench, which gives a 10% chance to make opponents flinch on a damaging hit, became the obvious punchline. It's unclear whether the player responsible was penalized or removed.

This isn't a new problem for in-person gaming events. In June, a card shop in Oregon suspended its Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments entirely after bad reviews and repeated complaints about smelly patrons. Konami's own tournament guidelines already require everyone present — not just players — to be clean and wear clean clothing or face penalties. Pokémon's Play! Pokemon Tournament Rules Handbook has similar language, stating that participants must maintain a "socially acceptable level of hygiene" and that refusal to comply with staff requests is grounds for removal from the venue.

Reaction in the comments was blunt — one person argued that smelling bad should be an automatic disqualification, while another pointed out that anyone who can afford a Nintendo Switch can afford a three-dollar stick of deodorant. The incident has renewed calls across the competitive Pokémon community for organizers to enforce hygiene rules more actively rather than leaving it to players to police themselves.