I'm just 10 and I am a master a Pokémon and often beat adults twice my age
Meet 10 year old Hannah Moon - a skilled Pokémon prodigy aged just 10 years old.
Hannah, from Preston, has beaten older and more experienced players in the role-playing, trading card game which, although theoretically aimed at five to 12 year olds, attracts older players as well.
The youngster plays at a local trading card shop where she has made quite the impact and insists on wearing an array of Pokémon-themed jump suits when she takes part.
The game - for two players at a time - is based around a magic universe in which humans co-exist with creatures known as Pokémon, a large variety of species endowed with special powers.
Each card depicts one of the Pokémon and has certain values based on the magic powers of the featured character - the goal is to defeat your opponent's Pokémon and build a powerful deck.
Since the Pokémon franchise began in Japan in 1996, the phenomenon has developed not just into a card game but a collectors’ market, with rare cards fetching huge prices, and there are also TV shows, movies and video games.
Hannah, who attends the AJ-TCG Ltd trading card shop on Manchester Road, Preston, says: “I enjoy Pokémon because it’s a fun interactive game and the community is friendly and kind to everyone.
“I’ve got so good so fast as I come here every day and play at least one game - and I get plenty of help from the people who work here and the people who come in.
“I play it because I enjoy it - and it keeps me off electronics!”
Join our new WhatsApp Community to get the latest news and top stories from across Lancashire directly to your phone. Hannah is one of the characters who are featured in episode one of Shots.TV’s latest feature, Unconventional Brits, which looks at a group of people of all ages who are not frightened of being an individual.
Jason Howarth, a Pokémon coach at AJ-TCG, said: “Hannah’s only been coming here for two and a half months and I’ve been coaching her maybe for a month and a half.
“She’s seen quite exponential growth in how she plays.
“She can face off against massive players who have played for 10 years and she can keep up with them and even beat them.
“There’s a lot of potential there, for her age. Other players come in and say they just can’t beat her.”
You can find 'Unconventional Brits’ online here or catch Shots.TV live on Freeview, Channel 276.