Pokémon Company announces plans for 2023 Championship Series
Despite the fact that the 2022 Pokémon World Championships start today, the Pokémon Company has announced plans for the 2023 Pokémon Championship Series.
Leading up to the 2023 Pokémon World Championships, the 2023 Pokémon Championship Series will include four different Pokémon games, namely the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), Pokémon video games, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.
The Pokémon TCG Championship Series will remain mostly unchanged for the 2023 season. The company also revealed Wednesday that local Championship Points (CP), such as League Cups and League Challenges, would be suspended.
Below are player age divisions for the 2023 season:
• Junior Division: Individuals born in 2011 or later is eligible to compete
• Senior Division: Anyone born in 2007, 2008, 2009, or 2010 is eligible to participate
• Masters Division: Anyone born in 2006 or earlier is eligible to be a contestant
VGC to return in 2023
VGC tournaments on Pokémon Sword and Shield versions have been held since late 2019. However, with the release of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in November, The Pokémon Company has decided to postpone VGC Series tournaments until January 2023.
Because the VGC tournaments will be held on both Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Purple, VGC events will be absent from a number of Pokémon regionals planned for the rest of this year, including the only Latin American Regional Championships in September in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Furthermore, the VGC will not be included in the region’s most important tournament, the Latin America International Championships, which will take place in November.
With the current schedule, there are four North American regionals without the VGC and eight with it. European regionals will have four tournaments with VGC and four without it.
Regional Championships
Regional Championships will be held in North America, Europe, and Latin America until the end of the 2023 season. For the 2023 season, special events will also return to Europe. The specifics of these events will be announced at a later date. Oceania currently has no announced regional championships.
In the season, most regional tournaments will feature Pokémon TCG and Pokémon GO. Regional tournaments after January 2023 will also feature VGC events on Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Purple.
Although the main North American Regional Championships will be held on September 16–18, 2022, participants are encouraged to arrive early to sign up and participate in Friday extra events. Other regions will be announced later. The dates, locations, and formats are subject to change.
Other tournaments
After the success of the first season in 2022, Pokémon GO will return for the 2023 Pokémon Championship Series. Pokémon GO will be showcased at a number of other events in addition to the Pokémon TCG and VGC events. All players in the 2023 Pokémon GO Championship Series will compete in the same age category.
International championships will also be held in Latin America, Oceania, Europe, and North America as part of the 2023 Pokémon Championship Series. The Pokémon TCG Travel Awards will return for these events. The CP earned the day after the European International Championships and North American International Championships will determine the Travel Awards for the Latin American International Championships.
VGC Championship points earned during this period will determine the rewards for travel to the Oceania International Championships.
