It didn’t take long for 10-year-old Ethan Perez-Dormitzer to go from Pokémon novice to world championship competitor.

Since he received his first deck of cards a little over a year ago, the Old Hammondtown School student has won four Pokémon City Championships and attended last year’s Pokémon World Championship in Washington D.C.

“I was nervous because it was my first time there. I didn’t know what to do,” Ethan said. “It was cool though.”

Earlier this month, Ethan won first place in the junior division at a City Championship held in Tewksbury after a full day of head-to-head competition.

In addition to City Championships, players may compete in regional and national championships.

Along with the championship title and trophy, Ethan earned points to attend this year’s World Championship in Boston.

Created in 1996 by the Nintendo Co., the Pokémon franchise includes video games, television series, movies, comic books, toys and the trading card game.

For those who aren’t aware of the franchise it’s likely that at least one Pokémon character’s name is familiar – Pikachu. Small, yellow and mouse-like, it’s listed among other fanciful creatures on the deck of cards used in the game.

Players use a set of cards they have collected with three different categories: arena, Pokémon and resources. To win, players must use a stronger combination of characters than the ones played by opponents.

As a 9-year-old, Ethan was given some Pokémon trading cards from his cousins. At first, Ethan and his friends just collected the cards. Eventually, he learned to play the game with the cards and began competing against friends.

“There’s a pack of Pokémon players in the area,” his father Jason said. “When [Ethan] started playing, his skill level went from zero to sixty.”

For Ethan, playing the game is fun, and meeting new people is cool too.

“I like the strategy behind it,” he said. “And you get to play different people from every where.”

Jason said there is some skill to the game.

“If you’re just throwing stuff against opponents, you’re going to get killed, but if you have an approach you’re going to do so much better. It’s not too difficult to grasp,” Jason said.

“It’s all about strategy,” Ethan added.

At Ethan’s first World Championship competition he placed 88th out of 145 competitors in his division. He hopes to place higher at this year’s championship, scheduled for August.

There will be more competition this year, though. Competitors must earn a certain amount of points at city and regional tournaments to attend. This year, the number of points needed to compete was lowered.

“It’s an easier threshold to make it to the [World Championship,]” Jason said. “It’s going to be a lot easier for a lot of kids to go.”

According to his father, that doesn’t worry Ethan.

“He’s very competitive. It doesn’t matter if he’s playing sports or Pokémon. He’s got that killer instinct,” Jason said.

Last year, Ethan said his AAA baseball team won his division’s championship. And right now, he plays indoor soccer on a travel team. With more than 800 people expected to compete in the next World Championship, Ethan said he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s going to be mayhem,” his father said.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said Jason.