Junior, Senior and Masters) in different Premier Tournaments, and the season culminates with the best players earning an invitation to play the Pokémon World Championships in August.
[17] In early January 2022, it was confirmed that Pokémon Unite would be played at the World Championships, making it the newest MOBA game to have an official esports tournament, after League of Legends.
At the 2022 edition of the event, it was announced that the 2023 World Championships will take place in Yokohama, Japan (the basis of Vermilion City in the Kanto region).
The qualifying process for the Pokémon World Championships varies each year and is dependent on a player's age division and the country in which they are located in.
Pokémon program (i.e. in North America, Europe, Latin America and Oceania) compete in a regular schedule of tournaments for Championship Points and receive invitations when they meet a predetermined threshold of points at the end of the season.
Pokémon program expanded to include countries from the continents of Latin America and Asia (except Japan and South Korea).
[36] Any trainer who reached Legend rank during Season 9 of the Pokémon GO Battle League would qualify for the GO Championship Series.
For TPC controlled regions, their tournament circuit began in April, with 3 monthly qualifiers.
The winners of these qualifiers then participated in Regionals to earn a spot for Pokémon World Championships.
Europe had a LAN event for their Aeos Cup series at European International Championships.
The final draw took place virtually on the Pokémon Unite YouTube channel on July 28, 2023.
However, in 2019, players would compete in tournaments organized by the Korean League and earn an invite based on the number of points they had accumulated by the end of the season.
The finals match of the Masters division is best known and remembered within the Pokémon community for Se Jun Park's victory with the inclusion and use of a Pachirisu on his team.
The top 8 players after the Swiss rounds advances to the best-of-three Single Elimination matches.
The event was held alongside the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
However, the only exception to this rule are for players from Japan and South Korea, as their tournaments are not overseen by Play!
At the end of the Day 2 Swiss tournament, the top eight players played in single elimination rounds until the last two remain.
During the 2015 World Championships, two Trading Card Game competitors from Iowa (Kevin Norton, 18, and James Stumbo, 27) brought weapons in their vehicle, which were recovered by the police.
The two posted status updates and images of their weaponry on social media, which were noticed by various Pokémon fans who treated them as supposed threats against the tournament.
Police executed a search warrant on Friday and Norton and Stumbo were arrested at their Red Roof Inn room in Saugus just after midnight on Saturday, August 22, 2015.
[69] The two were arrested on charges of unlicensed possession of firearms and ammunition, and were initially held without bail.
[70] The weapons recovered were a recently purchased Remington shotgun, an AR-15, a hunting knife and several hundred rounds of ammunition.
[91] The defending Trading Card Game champions were Jacob Van Wagner from the United States (Masters Division), Patrick Martinez from the United States (Senior Division), and Rowan Stavenow from Canada.
[93] Players could earn Championship Points by performing in select online and live tournaments held throughout the 2016 season (between September 2015 and July 2016).
Players from Japan and South Korea were excluded from this rule as these countries had their own method of qualification not based on Championship Points.
Pokémon divided players into five different rating zones: US and Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and South Africa.
At the end of the Day 2 Swiss tournament, players with two or fewer losses advanced to play in single elimination rounds until the last two remain.