Avery, the 12-year-old social media creator known online as “Avery the Poke Kid,” has died after nearly eight years of treatment for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, his family announced.

His parents, Christian Garcia and Rebecca Rosa-Valentin, said Avery died on Friday, Sept. 18, surrounded by family after his condition suddenly worsened during what they had expected to be a routine hospital visit.

The news came only days after Avery achieved one of his biggest personal goals: surpassing 100,000 subscribers on YouTube and receiving the platform’s Silver Creator Award.

For the hundreds of thousands of people who followed him online, Avery had become much more than a young Pokémon fan opening card packs on camera. His channel and social pages documented a childhood shaped by hospital visits, treatment, setbacks and long periods of uncertainty — but also by humor, generosity and an enthusiasm for Pokémon that gave him something to look forward to during difficult days.

His Final Hours Changed Suddenly

Avery’s parents said they had taken him to the hospital believing they still had more time with their son.

Instead, his condition changed quickly.

As it became clear that the situation was becoming critical, the family brought Avery to a rooftop garden at the hospital, a place his parents said he loved.

There, surrounded by the people closest to him, Avery spent his final moments with his family.

His parents later described holding him, kissing him and telling him how deeply they loved him and how proud they were of him.

They said Avery died at approximately 7 p.m. on Sept. 18.

The announcement came only one day after his family publicly revealed that he had entered hospice care again following devastating new scans.

Those scans showed extensive progression of his cancer, including tumors in both lungs as well as additional disease in his liver and shoulder. His family said active treatment was no longer controlling the cancer and that their priority had shifted toward keeping him comfortable and spending as much time with him as possible.

Diagnosed at Just 5 Years Old

Avery was diagnosed with pancreatoblastoma when he was about 5.

Pancreatoblastoma is an extremely rare malignant tumor of the pancreas that primarily affects children.

For Avery and his family, the diagnosis marked the beginning of a medical journey that would continue through most of his childhood.

Over the years, he underwent multiple surgeries and treatments, including radiation.

A fundraiser established to help his family described the scale of what his body endured, including the removal of major organs as doctors tried to control the disease.

His family experienced periods when treatment appeared to give them more time, followed by new progression and difficult decisions.

Avery entered hospice care on more than one occasion, including twice before his final hospice admission.

Yet even during those periods, he repeatedly returned to the things that made him happy.

One of the biggest was Pokémon.

Pokémon Became More Than a Hobby

Avery’s love of collecting Pokémon cards eventually became a central part of his online identity.

Under the name “Avery the Poke Kid,” he posted videos opening card packs, talking about his collection and sharing pieces of everyday life.

His parents said Pokémon gave Avery something positive to anticipate during hospital visits and treatment.

The hobby also became a way for him to connect with other children.

According to his family, Avery sometimes shared Pokémon cards and opened packs with other young patients, turning something he loved into a way of brightening difficult days for people around him.

His following grew rapidly.

Across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, Avery accumulated more than 600,000 followers and supporters.

Some followed because they loved Pokémon.

Others discovered him through his cancer journey.

Many stayed because of the personality they saw on screen — a child who could talk excitedly about cards one day and quietly navigate another medical appointment the next.

A Final YouTube Goal

In the weeks before his death, Avery had one particularly meaningful goal.

He wanted his YouTube channel to reach 100,000 subscribers, the level required to receive a Silver Creator Award.

The Pokémon community responded.

Fans began sharing his channel and encouraging others to subscribe.

The effort worked far faster than Avery and his family expected.

He crossed 100,000 subscribers and was able to receive and open the silver award before his death. By the days surrounding his passing, his channel had already climbed well beyond that milestone.

For his family, the moment represented something larger than a number on a screen.

It showed Avery that people were paying attention to what he had built.

He had spent much of his childhood in medical settings, but online he had created something that belonged to him — a community centered on excitement, collecting and connection rather than illness.

The fact that he reached the milestone before his final decline has become one of the most emotional parts of his story.

His Family Says Cancer Was Only Part of Who He Was

Although cancer shaped much of Avery’s life, his parents have emphasized that they do not want the disease to be the only thing people remember about him.

He was a Pokémon collector.

He was a creator.

He was a son surrounded by parents who documented both the frightening and joyful parts of his journey.

And he became a familiar face to a large online community that followed his treatment for years.

His parents said they were deeply grateful to everyone who watched Avery’s videos, sent messages, prayed for him, donated to the family or simply helped him feel supported.

After announcing his death, they asked for privacy and space to grieve.

Their message also reflected the shock of how quickly Avery’s final hours unfolded.

Only shortly before, the family believed they still had considerably more time.

Tributes Pour In

Following the announcement, tributes spread throughout the Pokémon and social-media communities.

Fans remembered Avery’s excitement when opening cards, his willingness to share his experiences and the way he continued creating even while facing serious medical treatment.

For many followers, his story had become familiar enough that each medical update felt personal.

His move back into hospice care had already prompted a wave of support.

His death, coming so soon afterward, left many of those supporters stunned.

The response has also highlighted how much online communities can become part of a child’s world during a long illness.

Avery’s audience helped him reach his biggest digital goal.

They celebrated his wins.

And in his final days, they surrounded his family with messages of support.

A Legacy Beyond His Diagnosis

Avery lived with pancreatoblastoma for most of the life he could remember.

There were surgeries, hospital stays, scans and hospice admissions.

But alongside those experiences were Pokémon cards, videos, milestones and a community that grew around a child who found ways to keep creating.

Just days before his death, he was able to hold the Silver Creator Award he had wanted so badly.

For his family and followers, that moment now carries a different meaning.

It was not simply recognition for reaching 100,000 subscribers.

It became one final reminder that Avery had built something lasting during years when so much of his life was controlled by a disease he never chose.

His parents have said that cancer was part of Avery’s story, but it was never the whole story.

For the people who followed “The Poke Kid,” his legacy is likely to remain in the joy he found in simple things — opening a pack of cards, sharing them with another child and watching a community grow around him.

Avery was 12 years old.