Play! Pokémon

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet today have received an update to Version 1.3.1. First announced on the Japanese official Pokémon Twitter account @Pokemon_cojp, and with an English announcement on the @playpokemon 15 minutes later, this update fixes multiple issues that were impacting players in invite-only official tournaments, including the Japanese and Korean National Championship Qualifiers, to repeatedly face the same opponents, have difficulties in exiting between battles, and be unable to view rankings.

The 2023 Pokémon Europe International Championships will be held from April 14th to 16th at the enormous ExCeL London event center in England, featuring competitions for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet video games, Pokémon UNITE, and Pokémon GO. As with the 2022 Pokemon World Championships which were also held at ExCeL Longdon, a pop-up Pokémon Center store will be available at the event, selling a wide variety of Pokémon products, including a range of items themed around the International Championships.

After having been suspended at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, competitive in-store events for the Play! Pokémon program, are now making their long-awaited return in select regions around the world. League Cup and League Challenge events for the Pokémon TCG, as well as Pokémon GO Challenge events for players in Norta America, will resume in April. Competitive VG players will need to wait a little longer, with Premier Challenge events set to resume across May and June.

Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet's Ranked Battles Season 1 (December 2022 Season) has begun alongside the release of the Version 1.1.0 update. This season will run through to January 5th, 2023 at 8:59am (JST).

The Pokémon Company International and Play! Pokémon have announced the base structure for the 2023 Pokémon Championship Series, together with a schedule for a range of upcoming events. The 2023 Play! Pokémon season, leading to the 2023 Pokémon World Championships, will include four different Pokémon game categories: the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.

After a two-year hiatus due to the global pandemic, the Pokémon World Championships returned to full swing with the 2022 event that was held over this past weekend, from August 18th to August 21st. This year's event took place at ExCeL London in London, England, with the Opening Ceremony, most matches, and the Closing Ceremony being streamed live on the various official Pokémon Twitch channels. A variety of announcements were made over the course of the event, with reveals for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon Masters EX, and Pokémon UNITE.

As announced together with the streaming schedule last week, limited-time distributions of a digital rewards for a variety of Pokémon games are currently being distributed in celebration of the 2022 Pokémon World Championships. These include a distribution of the Victory Pokémon, Victini, is currently being distributed for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, a Path to the Peak card for the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online or Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, and a 2022 Worlds Tee avatar item for Pokémon GO.

A brand new battle arena for Pokémon UNITE was premiered during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Pokémon World Championships, with a trailer for the Theia Sky Ruins. While sporting a similar layout to the existing Remoat Stadium map, this new map features battles with wild Pokémon not previously seen in the game, including a face-off with the Sky High Pokémon, Rayquaza. Also released during the live stream were codes for players to acquire a Worlds-themed T-shirt avatar item in-game, as first announced together with the streaming schedule last week.

Niantic has announced that codes for special Pokémon GO Timed Research will be shown in the Pokémon GO Twitch chat throughout the 2022 Pokémon GO World Championships streams. When redeemed and completed, players will receive a set of Pokémon encounter rewards, to assist them in crafting a competitive Great League team.

As previously announced, a special Pokémon Center Pop-Up Store will be opening at the 2022 Pokémon World Championships at ExCeL London from August 17th, with a range of Pokémon Center-branded products being available exclusively at the event. The Pokémon Company International today revealed the latest of those exclusive products, with four different coin and marker sets for the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

The 2022 Pokémon World Championships will be taking place from August 18th to 21st, at the ExCeL Centre in London. The Pokémon Company International has today shared details about how fans can catch all the action via livestreams on the various official Pokémon Twitch channels. Also released were details on a variety of digital broadcast rewards that fans can receive simply by tuning in, including the Victory Pokémon, Victini, as well as a physical distribution of Sinistea for people attending the event in-person.

2022 marks the first time Pokémon GO will be included as category in the Pokémon World Championships. To celebrate this, Niantic has announced an in-game event that will be taking place during the same timeframe as the 2022 Pokémon World Championships, running from August 18th at 10:00am to August 23rd at 8:00pm local time.

ExCeL London, the venue for the 2022 Pokémon World Championships, has released details on several side events that fans attending the World Championships as spectators will be able to enjoy. Many of these activities appear to be particularly geared towards younger fans, and to older fans who may be bringing their children along with them to the event.

During the Pokémon Presents presentation aired August 3rd, the 2022 edition of the Pokémon World Championships trophy was unveiled. This trophy will be rewarded to the top three players in each division from the VGC and TCG, as well as in the new categories for Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.

Alongside officially announcing the winners of the North American International Championships, the Pokémon Company International's Official Press Site has revealed the official Art logo for the Pokémon World Championships 2022, which will be taking place on August 18th to 21st in London at the ExCeL Centre. The Pokémon World Championships Art logo is styled in a manner reminiscent of a coat of arms. The design features the event's two mascots, Roserade and Pikachu, in British inspired outfits, as well as a highly stylised "London" that includes the three Galar region starter Pokémon. The Official Pokémon website has also announced that entry tickets for reservations of entry into the pop-up Pokémon Centre at the Pokémon World Championships will become available on July 18th. The exact method of reserving these tickets will be announced closer to the date of release. 2022 Pokémon North America International Championships Winners The winners of last week's 2022 Pokémon North...

A limited-time distribution of Gastrodon was announced for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield during the 2022 Pokémon North America International Championships Pokémon VGC Day 1 livestream. This Gastrodon is based on the Gastrodon used by Eric Rios to win the 2022 Pokémon Europe International Championships. Players can redeem Gastrodon using the code「ER1CSGASTR0D0N」. This code can only be redeemed until June 27th.

The Pokémon Company International and Play! Pokémon have announced that several cards will be banned from use in the upcoming 2022 Pokémon World Championships held in August in London. These bans are not being put in place due to any inherent balance issues with the cards themselves, but rather are being made to ensure a fair play environment due to certain cards having not received a worldwide distribution.

The 2022 Pokémon North America International Championships will be held in Columbus, Ohio from June 24th to June 26th. Trainers will compete for Championship Points (CP) for the 2022 Pokémon World Championships, which are taking place across August 18th to 21st in London, England at the ExCeL London events center. Fans can catch all the action via livestreams on the various official Pokémon Twitch channels.

The Pokémon Company International and Play! Pokémon has announced on the official Play! Pokémon Twitter account that the Nintendo Switch game, Pokkén Tournament DX will no longer be a part of the Pokémon World Championships when the 2022 season concludes this August. Pokkén Tournament DX first entered the competitive scene in 2016.

The Global Challenge 2022 Spring Online Competition has been announced for Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. Registration has begun and will remain open until May 5th, at 4:59 p.m. (PDT). The competition itself will then take place from May 5th, at 5:00pm to May 9th, at 4:59pm (PDT).