Pokémon VGC competitor DQd from Milwaukee Regional over cheating allegations

Pokemon video game competitor Lorenzo Arce was disqualified in the sixth round of the Pokémon VGC tournament at the Milwaukee Regional over the weekend, with judges claiming that the trainer had cheated during his streamed match.

While Arce’s was competing on stage, a judge claimed that he was ‘receiving signals from someone in the crowd’. Arce could be seen nodding at the audience during the match, leading to the allegations and disqualification from the competition.

After the streamed match, Arce was disqualified from the tournament almost immediately and had no chance to appeal. This ended his run at 5-0. On X, Arce stated: “I have no words.”

While Arce can definitely be seen nodding at the crowd during the livestream, the Pokémon community is not convinced that this was undisputed cheating. In order for someone in the crowd to be feeding Arce useful information, the person would also have to have visuals of Arce’s opponent, Tang Tang Shiliang, and his Nintendo Switch screen.

One VGC player on Reddit commented: “Here’s the main argument: how could he have been helped? The stream was his perspective, meaning nobody in the crowd could have signalled anything to him that he wouldn’t already know. No backline ‘mons, no moves in advance, nothing.”

On X, Pokémon VCG players immediately sided with Arce, calling him the GOAT and claiming he was ‘robbed’ by judges ‘on a power trip’.

The incident has also called judge rulings into question. Competitors were shocked to learn that the head judge had given Arce’s last three opponents a win once Arce was DQ’d, which shook up the standings and took away some of the competitive viability of the tournament. Others have asked for more transparency with judge rulings, with many in the community feeling in the dark about the surprising situation and how it may impact tournaments later on.