Jonathan Hiller (right) of Parkesburg basks in the limelight following placing 2nd in the Pokémon Video Game Senior Division at the U.S. National Championships.

Parkesburg Today has a sweet spot for Parkesburg kids doing cool stuff.

The accomplishment of Jonathan Hiller taking second place in the Pokémon Video Game Senior Division at the U.S. National Championships last month in Indianapolis definitely fits that bill.

For his accomplishment Jonathan wins a trip to Hawaii to compete in the 2012 Pokeman World Championship next month.

The money quote from a Daily Local News article yesterday:

Jonathan seemed less concerned with the potential life lessons picked up from past losses than with the exciting prospects of competing in Hawaii, where the World Championships will be held this month. “I’m really excited about…meeting everybody from around the world, because I haven’t met anyone from Japan, Korea, Canada, Europe. And just staying in a resort seems really fun,” he said.

Though Jonathan was one of the top-finishers at Nationals, he remains humble about the experience – when asked if he brags about his win with his friends, he replied, “Well, I try not to brag, but they’re excited about it. They think it’s pretty cool.” In fact, Jonathan maintained that he did not expect to do as well as second: “I mean, I hoped to make the top four because that was what won you the trip to Hawaii and the World Championships,” he said with a laugh.

Read the entire Daily Local News article here and the transcript of an interview of Jonathan here.