In a conference room at the Rantoul Public Library, hundreds of beasts battle one another. They harness elements like ice, electricity and fire to defeat their opponents. This is just an average meeting for the library’s Pokemon Club, which meets every Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. 

The group’s leaders, sixth-grader Matthew Lindsey and Rantoul native Charles Byerley, help the club’s more than 10 members to learn to play the Pokemon Trading Card Game. They follow Pokemon’s official guidelines, host events and trade cards under the supervision of Lindsey’s father, Steve Lindsey.  

In the world of Pokemon, a Japanese media franchise created in 1996, trainers catch and work with creatures called Pokemon to overcome obstacles and defeat challengers with the goal of becoming a Pokemon Master. In addition to the card game, the franchise includes a long-running animated TV series, video games, movies and books featuring the 659 Pokemon. 

The video game series will expand this October with the release of “Pokemon X” and “Pokemon Y” for the Nintendo 3DS. The TV series’ main protagonists, the electric-type Pokemon Pikachu and its trainer Ash, are perhaps the franchise’s most recognizable figures.

Pokemon has been a longtime hobby for both Lindsey and Byerley. Byerley said he first became interested in the franchise when it was introduced in the U.S. in 1998.

“I started liking Pokemon when it first came out, when Ash was in Pallet Town and he first got Pikachu,” Byerley said. 

In the first episode of the TV series, the main character Ash Ketchum leaves his home in Pallet Town to become a Pokemon trainer. A Pokemon scholar, Professor Oak, gives Ash his first Pokemon, Pikachu. 

“My dad’s parents got me the whole first series of cards, and it cost them a fortune to get me all those cards and doubles of the cards,” Byerley said. 

Lindsey, who said he first became interested in the card game four years ago, estimated that his collection of cards cost over $1,000. He isn’t sure how large his collection is, however, because he’s given many cards to other club members.

“We started a system called ‘Take a card, leave a card,’ and I donated a lot of my cards to that,” said Lindsey. “That gets the cards going around the club.”

The Rantoul league also hosts events called prereleases, in which new cards can be purchased three days early for $30. Lindsey said students from the University have come to Rantoul in the past to participate in prereleases and tournaments.

Members of the Rantoul Pokemon league, along with the Champaign and Urbana leagues, participate in local tournaments, where victors can often win cash prizes or cards. The Dragon’s Table, located at 205 N. Market St. in Champaign, will hold a Pokemon tournament on June 1 with a $5 fee to play. A free tournament will be held in Rantoul on June 8.

Fans of other card games are likely to enjoy Pokemon, Byerley said, because its format is similar to other popular games.

“It’s pretty much a card game that, if you can get into the ‘Magic the Gathering’ card game, you’d probably get into this game,” Byerly said. “It’s pretty much the same concept. It goes into phases. You battle, you draw a card, you battle, you lay it down, you attack and all that type of stuff.”

Lauren can be reached at [email protected].