Avery the Poke Kid

Avery, who went by the name Avery the Poke Kid online, was a 12 year old content creator who became known over the past year for videos of himself opening Pokemon card packs. He died on September 18, 2026, after a cancer battle that had lasted nearly eight years.

Avery was diagnosed with pancreatoblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of pancreatic cancer that most often appears in young children, when he was about four years old. Rather than keep his illness private, his family began sharing his story publicly over the past year, posting videos of Avery opening new packs of Pokemon cards alongside updates on his treatment. The channel grew quickly, and Avery set himself the goal of reaching 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, a milestone that would earn him a Silver Play Button award from the platform. He passed that target earlier in September 2026, just days before he died, with the Pokemon and wider online community rallying to help him get there.

What made Avery stand out was not simply that he was a sick child online, but the way he used a hobby he loved to bring joy into a very difficult situation. His parents, Christian Garcia and Rebecca Rosa Valentin, later said that opening cards gave him something to look forward to between hospital visits and treatments. Across Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook, Avery built an audience of more than 600,000 followers who watched him celebrate pulling a rare card with the same enthusiasm as any other kid, even as his health declined.

On September 17, 2026, Avery's parents shared that scans had shown extensive progression of his disease, including new tumors in both lungs, on his shoulder and in his liver, and that he had entered hospice care. Two days later they announced that he had died, writing that he had passed away suddenly at around 7 p.m. on September 18. The family thanked the community that had supported Avery and given him joy in his final months.

News of his death spread quickly across social media, where fellow creators, Pokemon fans and strangers who had followed his story posted tributes describing his warmth, his bright smile and the way he faced illness with what many called an unbreakable spirit. His story became one of the more visible examples of a child using online content creation to cope with a terminal diagnosis, and it prompted renewed conversations within the Pokemon community about supporting young fans facing serious illness.