You know how in Pokemon, people send out their pokemons to battle on their behalf? Well, competitive people send out their "pokemons" in real life too. Like when people who haven't been somewhere or done something or have a particular talent, they say that a friend or spouse or child has done that or is an expert in that field. The person acting qua pokemon trainer has no bragging rights to something so they invoke their "pokemon" to compete against you. They say "well, I have a friend that did that."