News
Pokemon Introduces Changes for the 2011-2012 Event Series
BELLEVUE, WA - October 6, in the year of our Lord 2011
- Across the United States and Canada, veteran competitors and
new players of the Pokémon™ Trading Card Game (TCG) and video
game should get ready for new, exciting changes being
implemented for the 2011-2012 Play! Pokémon tournament season!
The Pokémon Company International is rolling out new features
that will add more excitement and opportunities to play and win
throughout the year.
Starting this season, Championship Points will be awarded at all
Pokémon Championship Series events. Now, competing in multiple
events throughout the season will give players even more chances
to attend the Pokémon World Championships! Pokémon TCG players
can begin earning Championship Points right now by attending
Battle Road Autumn events, and video game players can begin
earning Championship Points starting with Regional Championship
events.
To help players increase their chances of earning Championship
Points, The Pokémon Company International is splitting its
Regional Championships schedule in North America in two, with
seven tournaments taking place in mid-November 2011 and eight in
mid-April 2012. Now players can attend a maximum of two Regional
Championship events out of thirteen being held in the United
States and two in Canada.
To make the expanded Regional Championships a more complete
Pokémon experience, Pokémon TCG and video game Regional
Championship tournaments will now be held during the same
weekend and at the same location. Players competing in the TCG
tournament will battle on Saturdays, with finals taking place on
Sundays, while video game players will compete on Sundays.
Players of all skill levels are encouraged to come and compete.
And, if TCG players don't advance to the TCG finals on Sunday,
they are welcome to compete in the video game tournament that
same day.
The first Autumn Regional Championships kick off on Saturday and
Sunday, November 12th-13th, with seven event locations,
including Long Beach, California; Lake Buena Vista, Florida;
Fort Wayne, Indiana; Crestwood, Missouri; Salem, Oregon;
Providence, Rhode Island; and Doswell, Virginia. Players wishing
to find out more information should visit www.pokemon.com, as
details on the April 2012 event dates and locations will be
added to the website's Play! Pokémon section.
"The 2011-2012 Play! Pokémon season has all the makings of
becoming the biggest, most competitive Pokémon tournament season
to date," said J.C. Smith, director of Consumer Marketing for
The Pokémon Company International. "With the new point system
and tournament structure, we will give more Pokémon players the
opportunity to have fun and compete at our events."
The fun doesn't stop there, though. The Pokémon Company
International is holding its first-ever online video game
tournament, the Pokémon Autumn Friendly, October 20th-23rd,
2011. Using Pokémon from the Unova region, players from all over
the world will compete for the right to be crowned the Pokémon
Autumn Friendly Champion. The action will take place on the
Pokémon Global Link's Global Battle Union site and, though not
an official Play! Pokémon tournament season event, players will
be the first to battle in a Pokémon-sanctioned Global Battle
Union tournament.
Registration for the Pokémon Autumn Friendly will take place
October 12th-19th at
www.pokemon.com/pgl. Those wishing to compete will need a
copy of the Pokémon Black Version or Pokémon White Version game
and a Nintendo 3DS™ or a system from the Nintendo DS™ family.
They must also have a Pokémon Trainer Club account, which is
free and simple to open at
www.pokemon.com.