An Alpharetta 11-year-old qualified for the Pokémon World Championships in his first year of competitive play, clinching the last available spot by winning his final match of the season.

Soren Pitchford, a Fulton Science Academy Middle School student and four-year member of the Cambridge Youth Track team in Milton, will compete at the Moscone Center in San Francisco from Aug. 28–30 after finishing 85th among roughly 6,000 junior players in North America. The top 85 advance.

"I got there by the skin of my teeth and was so extremely excited," Soren told Appen Media. "That was a good day for me."

His father, Tyler Pitchford, said the qualification was highly unlikely. Soren scored zero Championship Points at his final tournament in New Orleans, but a Top 8 finish in his last match against a player named Cage was enough to hold his season-long ranking at 85th. Had he lost that match, he would not have qualified.

Soren's fourth-grade teacher handed him his first pack of Pokémon Trading Card Game cards. Less than a year later, he is the top-ranked junior TCG player in the Atlanta area and regularly beats competitors in the senior and master divisions.

The competitive grind took him to tournaments in Puerto Rico, Pittsburgh, Toronto, London, Seattle, Orlando and New Orleans. Getting to Puerto Rico required three flight attempts from Atlanta after lightning, hail and additional delays. Soren slept two hours at a hotel before competing at 7 a.m. He finished Top 8 there, too.

He practices two to three times a week locally, competes once a month at regional or international events and takes private lessons from other players. Tyler Pitchford said his son reads opponents well, noting that Soren has played enough of the same competitors in the area to develop specific strategies against them.

Off the card table, Soren plays piano, competes in Lego Robotics at Fulton Science Academy and has run with Cambridge Youth Track, a nonprofit club affiliated with Cambridge High School, for four years. He set aside fencing this year to focus on competitive Pokémon.

Soren also founded a Pokémon club at the Alpharetta library, where he teaches about 15 kids how to play.

He told Appen Media he hopes to keep competing and coaching and eventually turn professional.

The Pokémon World Championships feature a combined prize pool exceeding $2 million, with players under 18 who win $5,000 or more receiving a scholarship or Pokémon Visa Prepaid Card. Soren's bracket, seeding and match schedule at the Aug. 28–30 event have not been announced.