The Pokémon Company International has revealed new details about the 2022 Championship Series. Read on below to learn more:
Announcing the Pokémon GO Championship Series
Trainers,
In our Season 9 blog post, we mentioned that your ranking at the end of this season would be more important than it’s ever been before.
We’re now excited to announce why that is: the first Pokémon GO Championship Series is coming in 2022! Trainers around the globe will have the opportunity to battle against the best and earn an invitation to the 2022 Pokémon World Championships.
During the first year of the Pokémon GO Championship Series, Pokémon GO will be featured at select events, including Regional and International Championships. Top Pokémon GO players at these events will earn an invitation to the 2022 Pokémon World Championships. These Pokémon GO events will have Senior and Master age divisions.
You’ll be able to register for these Play! Pokémon events during a two-phase window. Trainers who achieve Legend rank in the current Pokémon GO Battle League season will be able to register during a short early-registration window, which will take place during the first few months of 2022. Once this window closes, Trainers of any rank can then register for any remaining spots. Trainers will have until Monday, November 29, 2021 to compete in the current GO Battle League season. The next GO Battle League season will grant entry to a second batch of live events.
To register for these events, competitors will need to link their Pokémon GO account to their Pokémon Trainer Club account, have a Play! Pokémon Player ID, and opt in to the Play! Terms of Use.
More information about event schedules, tournament format, prizes, account linking and more will be announced soon on the Play! Pokémon website.
Pokémon GO last took the Pokémon World Championships main stage during the epic exhibition matches in 2019. Since then, the GO Battle League launched, bringing Pokémon GO’s take on Pokémon battles to the global stage, and it’s now been running for nine seasons and counting. With the return of Pokémon GO Trainer Battles to the main stage next year, we’re excited to give GO Battle League competitors a chance to show the world what they’re made of at the Pokémon World Championships.
Please be aware of your surroundings and follow guidelines from local health authorities when playing Pokémon GO. Upcoming events are subject to change. Be sure to follow us on social media, opt in to receiving push notifications, and subscribe to our emails to stay updated. For the latest on in-game events and feature updates, be sure to check this help center article.
—The Pokémon GO team
Source: Official Pokémon GO blog
The 2022 Play! Pokémon season features exciting prizes, the addition of Pokémon GO competitions, and more.
Pokémon Premier Events are returning in early 2022. Compete for prizes, travel awards, and glory with four different ways to play: the Pokémon TCG, Pokémon video games, Pokkén Tournament DX, and, for the first time, Pokémon GO. As already announced, some players will age up to new age divisions for the 2022 season. All players who earned points in the 2020 season, which was canceled in March 2020, will have their points transferred to the 2022 season.
Players attending Pokémon tournaments will be required to comply with Pokémon’s COVID-19 policies, which mandate that all participants be vaccinated. More info about the Play! Pokémon COVID-19 policies can be found here. Information is subject to change based on shifting governmental health mandates, and participants should check with organizers for the most up-to-date information. Some events may require masks and social distancing in addition to vaccination.
Prize and Championship Point schedules for each event series for the 2022 season will mostly mirror what was already established for the 2020 season.
Since 2022 is a shorter season than usual, players will only be able to earn travel awards for the 2022 North American Championships based on points earned during the period from when the Championship Points events begin again through April 24, 2022. Though the European Championships are taking place in April 2022, there will be no travel awards for the event because travel awards and stipends were provided to all players who qualified for the 2020 European Championships, which were subsequently canceled.
Pokkén Tournament DX returns to Worlds in 2022. Players who already earned a travel award from the Oceania Championship will have that award honored for the 2022 World Championship. Additional awards are available in the Senior and Masters divisions at the European and North American International Championship.
More details about the 2022 Play! Pokémon season will be announced soon.
Pokémon GO
For the first time, Pokémon GO players can take part in Play! Pokémon events with the very first official Pokémon GO Championship Series, held in partnership with Niantic. Qualifier events for the 2022 Pokémon GO World Championships will be held around the world at some Regional and International Championships. Players who place highly at these events can earn prize money as well as an invitation to compete at Worlds in London in August.
To register for Pokémon GO Championship Series events, you must be your home region’s age of digital consent or older. Also, you need to have linked your Pokémon GO account to a Trainer Club account, have a Player ID, and have opted in to the Play! Terms of Use. The ability to create an account link will be available in late 2021, and registration for the first events will open in January.
Additionally, as previously announced, access to early registration will be granted to Pokémon GO players who perform well in the GO Battle League. For the first batch of events, players must achieve Legend Rank in Season 9 in order to qualify. Details for later events will be added once information about the corresponding GO Battle League season is announced.
Tournaments for Pokémon GO will operate Senior and Masters age divisions and run the Great League format. For specific format details, stay tuned for the rules document that will be available soon. To ensure an even playing field, participants at most Qualifiers will be required to log in to their Pokémon GO account and battle using smart devices provided onsite. If this is not the case for a specific event, the organizer of that event will announce that separately. Specific details on provided devices will be included in the upcoming rules document.
Battle hard, Trainers!
Competitive Pokémon Program to Feature Inaugural Pokémon GO Championship Series
Bellevue, WA—October 5, 2021—Today, The Pokémon Company International shared more details about the 2022 Play! Pokémon Championship Series. The Play! Pokémon Championship Series brings competitors together from around the world in a series of Regional, International, and Special events to compete for prizes and, ultimately, the title of Pokémon World Champion. In the 2022 Pokémon Championship Series, Trainers from around the world will compete in the Pokémon TCG, the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield video games, the Pokkén Tournament DX video game, and—for the first time— Pokémon GO, for millions in prizes and travel awards.
For the 2022 season, some players will qualify for new age divisions. All players who earned points in the 2020 season, which was canceled in March 2020 after nine months of play, will have their points transferred to the 2022 season. More information about Play! Pokémon age divisions and Championship Points can be found at this link. More details about the 2022 Play! Pokémon season will be announced soon.
The health and safety of the competitive play communities continue to be the most important aspects of resuming live Play! Pokémon events. The situation is being continually monitored, and the timing for the commencement of in-person Play! Pokémon events will be determined by the health mandates, guidelines, and recommendations provided by appropriate government agencies. Once in-person events resume, all competitors, vendors, staff, and spectators must comply with The Pokémon Company International’s COVID-19 policy1 to ensure the health and safety of all attendees. More information about this policy can be found here.2
Pokémon GO Championship Series
At the 2019 Pokémon World Championships, fans witnessed the inaugural Pokémon GO Invitational. Now, in the very first Pokémon GO Championship Series, Trainers around the globe will have the opportunity to battle against the best and earn an invitation to the 2022 Pokémon World Championships. Organized in partnership with Niantic, this official Pokémon GO circuit will commence in 2022. During the first year of play, Pokémon GO will be featured at select events, including Regional and International Championships. Top Pokémon GO players at these events will win an invitation to the 2022 Pokémon World Championships. These Pokémon GO events will operate Senior and Master age divisions. More information about event schedules, tournament format, prize money, and more will be announced soon on the Play! Pokémon website.
Trainers can prepare now for the Pokémon GO Championship series. Competitor slots at Play! Pokémon events will be managed via a two-phase registration window. Players who achieve Legend rank in the current Pokémon GO Battle League season will be able to register for events before anyone else in a short early-registration window during the first few months of 2022. Once this window closes, any remaining spots will be made available for players of any rank to register. Trainers will have until November 29, 2021, to compete in the current GO Battle League season. The following Pokémon GO Battle League season will fulfill the same role for a second batch of live events. To register for these events, all Pokémon GO series competitors will need to link their Pokémon GO account to a Pokémon Trainer Club account, have a Play! Pokémon Player ID, and opt in to the Play! Pokémon Terms of Use.
For more information about the Play! Pokémon Events, please visit https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/.
1 For large championship events (300+ attendees and staff), venues are to institute the following vaccination policy:
- Live attendance at Play! Pokémon events by players, audience, and staff should be restricted to individuals who are vaccinated.
- Attendees must present evidence confirming that at least two weeks before the start date of the event, they received the final dose of a vaccine that is recognized on the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL). Current vaccines on the WHO EUL list (as of June 18, 2021) include Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen (J&J), Sinopharm, and Sinovac.
2 General COVID-19 policy:
- All present (players, audience, and staff) are to wear appropriate face coverings at all times.
- No eating or drinking inside the venue is allowed during the event for players and staff, unless there is a clearly separated food service space operated in strict accordance with local health regulations and ordinances. In that case, eating or drinking inside the venue is permissible; however, it must remain clearly separated from the event.
- Players are required to sanitize their hands after switching opponents and to forgo the traditional pregame handshake. Each match is to be at least 3 feet (0.91 m) apart from other matches, spectators, or other places where people may congregate.
- This information is subject to change.
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Source: Pokemon.com
Source: Pokemon
