2010 Pokémon Video Game Championships
Dates, locations and rules announced, with European qualifiers kicking off in Birmingham on May 29th.
For Immediate Release
London, UK. - April 29, 2010 - This spring and summer, thousands of Pokémon™ Trainers from around the globe will battle with their prized Pokémon for a chance to claim victory at the 2010 Pokémon Video Game Championships. The Pokémon Company International today announced the upcoming tournament dates, locations, and new regulations for the most anticipated Pokémon video game event of the year.
Pitting some of the world’s best Pokémon players in head-to-head competition, the Pokémon Video Game Championships are the only official Pokémon video game tournaments. Due to the fantastic response from players who came from all over the world to compete in last year's events, Pokémon has increased the number of qualifying tournaments and the number of participants at each location for the 2010 event series. The series will also introduce the use of Legendary Pokémon for the first time in recognition of the popular Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version titles released earlier this year for the Nintendo DS™ family of hand-held systems. Legendary Pokémon are some of the most powerful and hard-to-find Pokémon in the Pokémon universe.
In Europe, the Pokémon Video Game Championship qualifiers kick off in Birmingham, UK on Saturday May 29, before heading to Germany, France and then Spain to determine who will get the chance to pit their skills against the best players from U.S. and Japan, at the World Championships in Hawaii, U.S.A.! In parallel with the European qualifier events, tournaments will be taking place in U.S. and Japan.
The European qualifier.schedule is as follows:
May 29, Birmingham, United Kingdom—National Exhibition Center,(The Pavilion hall)
June 5, Cologne, Germany—Pullman Hotel
June 12, Lyon, France—Cité Centre de Congrès (Forum 4)
June 19, Madrid, Spain—IFEMA, Feria de Madrid (N101-N104)
World Championships:
August 13, Kona, Hawaii *—Hilton Waikoloa Village
*Last Chance Qualifier for World Championships
At each Qualifier tournament, players from two different age divisions (Born in 1998 or later, and born in 1997 or earlier) will be selected on a first come, first served basis from those in attendance. The top four players from each age division will receive an invitation to compete on the ultimate stage—the 2010 Pokémon Video Game World Championships in Kona, Hawaii on August 13–15. There, the European players will meet their international rivals from Japan and U.S. to determine the World Champion in each division. Top finishers will be awarded international travel packages, trophies, and special Pokémon prizes.
“The return of the Pokémon Video Game Championship season allows Pokémon Trainers everywhere to join in and be part of the fun and excitement that Pokémon is known for,” said J.C. Smith, director of consumer marketing for The Pokémon Company International. “This year we’re increasing the number of tournaments and are implementing new rules to ensure some of the most fast-paced, exhilarating, and entertaining matches that the Pokémon Video Game Championships have ever seen.”
Competitors in Europe will be required to play with the European versions of the Pokémon HeartGold Version or Pokémon SoulSilver Version Game Cards (U.S. events may only use North American versions of the game cards), which became available on March 26 at retailers across Europe. The tournament will use the Flat Battle and GS Cup rules sets. These exciting formats include an auto-level feature, which sets all Pokémon that are above level 50 down to level 50 for the duration of the battle—allowing players to use some of the most powerful Legendary Pokémon in battle.
Like last year’s tournaments, all attendees who bring their copy of Pokémon HeartGold or SoulSilver Version can walk away with a character distribution. This year the Pokémon distribution is a rarely seen Shiny Eevee™ that will be a different colour than it normally appears in game play.
More information, including that related to prizes, tournament locations, times, Pokémon restrictions, and rules can be found by visiting www.pokemonvgc.com.
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Notes to editors:
About Pokémon
The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.
For further information please contact:
Kayleigh Watson or Claire Edwards
Tel: 020 7479 4310
Email: kayleigh@kazoo.co.uk / Claire@kazoo.co.uk