For most kids, playing video games is a good way to have some fun and while away a few hours.

For Langley's Quinn Johnston, it's turned into a ticket to Toronto for a national gaming championship.

On April 15, Johnston won the Play! Pokémon Video Game Spring Regional Championships in Surrey, with a 5-0 record.

It went a lot better than the 14-year-old's last attempt at tournament play last year, in Seattle.

In the 2011 tournament, he didn't make it too far.

"I got knocked out first round," said Quinn. "I was hoping to at least beat one person."

The 2012 tournament was the polar opposite, as Quinn realized after his third victory that he might go all the way to the top.

This time, his father Wyatt dropped his son off and had to rush back to catch the end of the tournament when he heard Quinn was about to win.

Quinn's victories came in Pokémon Black and White, a pair of games played on the handheld Nintendo DS game system.

Pokémon is a massive franchise including video games, trading card games, an animated TV series and a series of movies.

All the games cast the player as a trainer of pokémon, short for "pocket monsters."

The player must collect and train various monsters, making them stronger through experience. The monsters battle those of other trainers, eventually evolving into more powerful forms.

In tournament play, two players face off in battles that involve strategy, Quinn explained.

Quinn has sharpened his skills at the game playing about three hours a day after school.

He also spends time reading strategy suggestions and talking to other players online about the best way to win.

The game requires a lot of thought, Quinn said. You can't just attack your opponent.

"You've got to out-think them," he said. "Out-predict them."

Now that he's headed for the nationals, he's not sure how well his skills will hold up.

"I'm sort of afraid," he said. He's created a team of pokémon for the tourney, but he isn't revealing which ones he's using, in case his opponents use it to gain an advantage.

"I'm just hoping for the best," he said. The Langley Christian student will head off to Toronto at the end of next month for the June 29th nationals.

mclaxton@langleyadvance.com