Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
The 2023 Pokemon World Championships are about to begin and run throughout the weekend. Competitors from around the world are gathering in Yokohama, Japan for a chance to battle across Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, The Pokemon Trading Card Game, Pokemon GO, and Pokemon Unite. Shacknews is here for our full guide on how to check out all of the action.
The 2023 Pokemon World Championships will award over $1,000,000 USD in cash and scholarships across two different age groups. Here are the current prize totals for each of the three games set to be played over the weekend:
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet/The Pokemon Trading Card Game/Pokemon GO/Pokemon Unite
The top four finishers in both age divisions for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet will receive an automatic invite to the 2024 Pokemon World Championships. All Top 16 Pokemon Scarlet & Violet players will also receive 72 Pokemon TCG booster packs.
You might see the terms Masters, Senior, and Junior divisions a lot this weekend. These represent the three different age groups that will compete at this tournament. Here are the distinct age groups:
Both the Pokemon TCG and VGC competitions have a Masters, Senior, and Junior divisions. Pokemon GO and Pokemon Unite do not have separate age divisions.
Here's the full schedule for the weekend (all times listed in PT):
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet
The Pokemon Trading Card Game
Pokemon GO
Pokemon Unite
Closing Ceremonies
Twitch streams are available for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, The Pokemon Trading Card Game, Pokemon GO, and Pokemon Unite. The final day will be seen in its entirety on the main Pokemon Twitch channel.
Individual streams can also be found on the Pokemon YouTube channel.
For the home viewer, this is the main event. What can you, the average Pokemon player get from this championship weekend?
If you're an avid player of The Pokemon Trading Card Game, tune in this weekend for a special code to receive a Charizard EX card. This full art card, from the Obsidian Flames expansion, features shifting types. Those who play Pokemon Scarlet & Violet can pick up Eduardo Cunha's 2022 Pokemon VGC World Championships-winning Level 50 Gastrodon, which has a Calm nature, the Storm Drain ability, Leftovers, and the Earth Power, Icy Wind, Yawn, and Protect moves. To learn more about this giveaway, visit the Pokemon Worlds website.
For Pokemon Unite players, the WCS Prediction Event has begun. Predict the winning teams and their rankings and earn a special Trainer fashion item. Log into Pokemon Unite to learn more. Plus, don't forget that the Pokemon Unite second anniversary celebration is happening now, so punch in the gift code 2NDANNIVERSARY to pick up limited licenses for Mew and Mewtwo.
Finally, Pokemon GO players can pick up special Timed Research codes. Day 1 will feature the Great League Greatness Timed Research and Day 2 will feature DancingRob's Champion Timed Research. Tune in to the Pokemon GO Twitch channel during the competition to find your codes, which will expire 30 minutes after they're revealed on-stream. It's possible to find these codes during the rebroadcast, however. Visit the Pokemon GO website to learn more and also for instructions on how to redeem your code.
The full broadcast, as well as top matches from the weekend, are being posted in full on the Pokemon YouTube channel.