Hot Bench with Isaiah Bradner ‘29

A trainer approaches the Hot Bench gym. State your name and year for the record. What region do you come from? 
What school did you go to? 

 Isaiah Bradner, UVA Law Class of ‘29. I'm from Lynchburg, Virginia, so only about an hour from the law school, and I went to Dartmouth College for undergrad. 
 

Great! You were shouted out by Dean Kendrick for your Pokémon prowess, which we'll get to in due time, but first—and I apologize for the application cycle flashbacks—why did you decide to go to law school?  

 I have wanted to go to law school since I was in middle school. If I think about what I wanted to be growing up, it was always a lawyer, and I don't know what first got me into it. I think I first remember thinking it was cool in 7th grade Civics class, and from there, I was just always so interested in the law. And then as I got older and learned more about it, I became more interested in how I could use the law as a tool for change. I majored in philosophy in undergrad because I knew I wanted to go to law school. So it's always been the plan, and I'm very lucky to have ended up here.  

Credit: Isaiah Bradner

Now, onto Pokémon, can you tell us a little bit about what part of the competitive Pokémon world you inhabit and why you love competing in it?  

 Yes, I was one of the best Pokémon Trading Card Game players in the world for a long time. Beneath all the fun, flashy cards, there is a strategy game, which is kind of akin to chess with cards. And so that's what I did.
I think some of the reasons I love competing are why I was really interested in law. The idea that there was this really complicated game where it was always changing. As a young kid, it was just so cool that if I threw myself at this game and got really good at it, it would give me an opportunity to compete and be really good at something that would use my talents well.  

Speaking of competing, you've had some really big finishes in some several-thousand-person fields. Can you tell us about a competition you're most proud of?  

 The competition that I’m most proud of is definitely winning the North American International Championship (NAIC) that happened
a little bit over a year ago, last June. It's like what the Masters is to golf.
It's the biggest tournament of the year, a five-thousand-person tournament, and I had a lot of personal history with this event. Back in the younger division, in my last ever international championship as an under-15 competitor, I won this tournament.
And then in my 1st year competing in the Master's Division, I made it all the way to the finals of this tournament. It was a game three (of three), but I barely lost the finals.
And then just a few years before, I had gotten 2nd at another international tournament. So I had made the finals of so many internationals, but never quite broke through. And so, to do so in a tournament that meant so much to me after so many years of preparation, it really felt like everything built to this moment, where I could achieve what—at that point—was the proudest moment of my life. 
So whenever I think back to my happiest moment of Pokémon, it's being able to finally lift an international trophy and thinking of all the hard work that went into that.  

Yeah, that's awesome! More generally now, why do you think Pokémon is able to be so personal and yet wide-reaching at the same time?

I think one thing is it's a really simple concept, right? You have these creatures: you can catch them, they join your party, and then they become your friends. It's so easy to see a cute Pokémon or a really cool Pokémon, and then you have a favorite Pokémon for life. My favorite Pokémon is Squirtle.
A lot of people have different favorite Pokémon, and it's kind of beautiful that everyone can find one that they love, even if it's all these different ones.  

Credit: Isaiah Bradner

All right, lightning round. So you already talked about your favorite Pokémon. What about your favorite card? 

My favorite card is Gardevoir EX. It’s the first card that I ever won a tournament with, and it was what I won the NAIC with. So, I love that card.
 

How about the rarest card that you own?  

I have a champion card from when I won the NAIC. And so only people who won that tournament have it.
I think there are only nine of them in the world. It’s got a champion stamp on it. So I have two of those from the two times I won. 

All right. Finally, do you have any advice for any future law students with unique passions like yours? Or perhaps any future Pokémon champions with law on their mind? 
 

Yes, first of all, if you ever have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I'm easy to find. I'd be happy to give you any advice. For anyone who's doing Pokémon and wants to do law, you're in a great position. Pokémon teaches you a lot of skills that are essential for law school and being a lawyer. And so there are a lot of great Pokémon players who are lawyers; the 2023 champion, Vance Kelley, did law school at Stanford.
And so there's definitely a great connection between law and Pokémon.  

Right. Thanks so much, Pokémon Champion Isaiah, for sitting down with me, and I'll catch you later. 

Author: Eddie Zhang ‘29