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169-808: The Pokémon World Championships first began with the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) in 2004, which was around the time that the franchise was regaining its popularity. In 2009, Play! Pokémon began to organize competitive tournaments for the Pokémon video game series alongside the TCG, which is collectively known as the Video Game Championships (VGC). Like the TCG Championships, players compete with other players in their own age divisions (i.e. Junior, Senior and Masters) in different Premier Tournaments, and

338-490: A DDoS attack to take them down, although the problem was fixed later that day. The next day, the servers went down again as the game was launched in Canada . John Hanke issued an apology for the server issues at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con , stating "we weren't provisioned for what happened". Some early iOS installs of Pokémon Go required users to provide the app with full access to their Google accounts , thereby allowing

507-586: A PSA-graded 10 "Pikachu Illustrator". The "Pikachu Illustrator" is the rarest and most expensive Pokémon card ever sold in history, and it was acquired by the celebrity and collector Logan Paul for $ 5,275,000 in July 2021. Created as a prize for the 1997-1998 Pokémon design contests organized by the Japanese manga-magazine CoroCoro Comic and with only 41 copies printed, it is the only Pokémon card to say "Illustrator" instead of "Trainer" like other Trainer cards. The card

676-407: A "Buddy Pokémon" feature, which allows players to select a Pokémon they possess to appear alongside them on the profile screen, and receive in-game rewards and bonuses based on the chosen Pokémon. The feature was released later that month. Pokémon have different distances that they need to be walked in order to receive candy. The more the player walks in real time, the more candy they can earn. During

845-505: A "bench" and perform attacks on their opponent to deplete their health points. Attacks are enabled by the attachment of a sufficient number of Energy cards to the active Pokémon. Pokémon may also adjust other gameplay factors and evolve into more powerful stages. Players may use Trainer cards to draw cards into their hand, harm their opponent, or perform other gameplay functions. Card effects often rely on elements of luck, such as dice rolls and coin tosses, to decide an outcome. Gameplay relies on

1014-455: A Japan-exclusive beta test would begin later that month, allowing players to assist in refining the game before its full release. The beta test was later expanded to other countries. On April 7, it was announced that the beta would expand to Australia and New Zealand. Then, on May 16, the signups for the field test were opened to the United States. The test came to an end on June 30. At

1183-798: A Pokémon evolves, it gains HP and their attacks change, usually becoming more powerful. Over the years many different variations to the standard mechanics have been added, the most prominent of which are the signature feature of their respective expansion series. Pokémon ☆, Radiant Pokémon EX Team Rocket Returns (☆), Astral Radiance (Radiant) Pokémon ex Scarlet & Violet series Other Pokémon attributes include Owner's Pokémon, Baby Pokémon, Crystal Pokémon, Dark Pokémon, Light Pokémon, Team Magma's cards, Team Aqua's cards, δ Delta Species, Pokémon Prime, Pokémon SP, Restored Pokémon, Team Plasma cards, Ancient Trait, Ultra Beasts, Single Strike, Rapid Strike, Fusion Strike, Ancient, and Future cards. Trainer cards perform various effects to affect

1352-522: A billion global downloads by early 2019, and grossed more than $ 6 billion in revenue by 2020. After establishing a game account, players create and customize their own avatars . Once created, an avatar is displayed on a map based on the player's geographical location. Features on the map include 'PokéStops' and 'Pokémon Gyms'. These PokéStops can be equipped with items called 'Lure Modules', which attract additional wild, and occasionally rare, Pokémon. Gyms serve as battle locations for team-based king of

1521-519: A bonus to their attack, but a penalty to their defense when compared to a normal Pokémon. After capture, the player can choose to purify the Shadow Pokémon. Purification of the Pokémon are increases its level and stats from their Shadow counterparts, can learn an exclusive move when purified, and need fewer candies to evolve. In September 2024, Pokémon Go introduced Dynamax Battles and Dynamax Pokémon,

1690-715: A certain amount of HP. Basic Pokémon are Pokémon that have not evolved and can be played directly onto the Bench; they have Stage 1, Stage 2, and/or special mechanic evolutions. Each player may have up to six Pokémon in play: one in the Active Spot and five on the Bench. Most Pokémon have attacks that require a certain amount of Energies to use. Attacks deal damage to the opponent's Active Pokémon and sometimes deal additional damage to their Benched Pokémon; they may have additional effects like drawing cards, inflicting Special Conditions (Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed, or Poisoned) or altering

1859-435: A corresponding Basic Energy card, and instead uses multiple types of Energy cards. Basic Energy cards fulfill costs for attacking and retreating and don't have additional effects, while most Special Energy cards have additional effects. Most attacks require a certain type and amount of Energy. If the attack has a Colorless Energy requirement, that requirement can be met by any Energy card. Any amount of Basic Energy can be put in

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2028-608: A country with a Play! Pokémon program (i.e. in North America , Europe , Latin America and Oceania ) compete in a regular schedule of tournaments for Championship Points and receive invitations when they meet a predetermined threshold of points at the end of the season. In 2015, the Play! Pokémon program expanded to include countries from the continents of Latin America and Asia (except Japan and South Korea). However, on June 10, 2020, it

2197-431: A cut off the top record-holders (approximately the top 1/8 of participants) where players will play best two out of three matches and the loser gets eliminated (standard tournament bracket style), with an eventual winner. POP runs a season for these tournaments, which allows players to earn larger prizes and play in a more competitive environment in comparison to League. These range from City and Regional Championships, all

2366-1128: A gold trim; they are characterized by a set number past the actual printed size of the set (ex. 242/220). Secret Rares also comprise the subset Rainbow Rare, which features similar materials but in rainbow-color foil schemes. In response to these collectible's considerable rarities, card collectors use card sleeves to protect them from wear and tear . From least to most, the top 15 most rare and expensive Pokémon cards are "20th Anniversary 24-karat real-gold Pikachu", "Prerelease Raichu", "Master's Key", "Espeon and Umbreon Gold Star POP Series 5", "2002 Pokémon World Championships No. 1 Trainer", "1996 Pokémon Japanese Base Set No Rarity Symbol Holo Venusaur", "1999 Pokémon Japanese Promo Tropical Mega Battle Tropical Wind", "1999 Super Secret Battle No. 1 Trainer, "2006 Pokémon World Championships Promo No. 2 Trainer", "2000 Pokémon Neo Genesis 1st Edition Holo Lugia #9", "Kangaskhan-Holo #115 Family Event Trophy Card", "Black Star Ishihara Signed GX Promo Card", "Pokémon Blastoise #009/165R Commissioned Presentation Galaxy Star Hologram", "1999 First Edition Shadowless Holographic Charizard #4", and

2535-422: A group of players gathering to confront an over-leveled Pokémon located in a Gym. If the Pokémon is defeated, the players gain the chance to catch a regular version of it. Raid difficulties range from 1 to 5, with 1 being of the lowest difficulty, and 5 being the most difficult to defeat. Level 5 raids are exclusive to Legendary Pokémon. The first of these, Articuno and Lugia , were released on July 22, 2017, after

2704-506: A higher chance to catch the Shiny variant of the featured Pokémon. The first Community Day featured Pikachu , with the exclusive move Surf to Raichu . The game is regularly updated with new Pokémon, and as of 22 October 2024 there are 871 Pokémon in the game (including regional varieties) out of a total 1025 within the complete Pokémon franchise. Regional Pokémon are often released simultaneously, such as Unova region Pokémon (and

2873-483: A major difference being that up to 40 players can join a single battle. Much like Dynamax, only specific Pokémon caught from Gigantamax Battles are capable of transforming. The concept for the game was conceived in 2014 by Satoru Iwata of Nintendo and Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company as an April Fools' Day collaboration with Google , called the Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge . Ishihara

3042-466: A mechanic originating from Pokémon Sword and Shield . Players must use a special currency called "MP" to join, with the cost varying based on the difficulty of the battle. In these battles, up to 4 players can take on a Dynamax Pokémon, in which they must fill a meter by attacking in order to Dynamax their own Pokémon. Each Pokémon's Max Move, which can only be used in Dynamax form and deals increased damage,

3211-399: A number of ways, most notably that they can only be battled in person, take 24 hours to start, and are extremely difficult, often requiring a large number of players to defeat the Pokémon. In May 2023, another new form of raid battles were introduced called "Shadow Raids". Shadow Raids may only be battled in person and award the chance to catch a Shadow Pokémon upon defeat. During the battle,

3380-612: A player can achieve was originally level 40, but expanded to 50 as of November 30, 2020. The player can also transfer the Pokémon back to the Pokémon Professor Willow to earn more Candies and create room for more Pokémon. Shiny Pokémon are available multiple ways, mostly by chance. One popular goal of the game is to complete the entries in the Pokédex , a comprehensive Pokémon logbook, by catching and evolving them to collect every one in it. In September 2016, Niantic introduced

3549-462: A professor program, where individuals aged 18 or over may be nominated as a "professor", who can help sanction the tournament. League Leaders assist in organizing the league, while League Owners are the main organizer of the event. The latter report directly to the Organized Play program every seven weeks. A league cycle is usually divided into eight seasons, each of which lasts about five weeks and

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3718-465: A promo code card bundled inside printed booster packs. The Pokémon Card Game: How to Play DS ( ポケモンカードゲーム あそびかたDS , Pokemon Kādo Gēmu asobi kata DS ) how-to-guide video game adaptation was released in Japan on August 5, 2011, for Nintendo DS , alongside three bundled 30-card decks, a play mat, and damage counters tokens. On September 20, 2021, another Pokémon Trading Card Game -based video game

3887-532: A region. For TPC controlled regions, their tournament circuit began in April, with 3 monthly qualifiers. The winners of these qualifiers then participated in Regionals to earn a spot for Pokémon World Championships. Among those changes, both North America and Europe were also given their first regional LAN event. Europe had a LAN event for their Aeos Cup series at European International Championships. North America were given

4056-603: A regional LAN event at the North America International Championships. In 2023, competing countries were divided into eight groups of four teams (groups A to H). Teams in each group play each another in a best-of-three series round-robin , with the top team advancing to the Top 8 knockout stage. The final draw took place virtually on the Pokémon Unite YouTube channel on July 28, 2023. The prize pool

4225-545: A search warrant on Friday and Norton and Stumbo were arrested at their Red Roof Inn room in Saugus just after midnight on Saturday, August 22, 2015. The two were arrested on charges of unlicensed possession of firearms and ammunition, and were initially held without bail. The weapons recovered were a recently purchased Remington shotgun , an AR-15 , a hunting knife and several hundred rounds of ammunition. They pleaded not guilty at their arraignment on November 10, 2015, and their bail

4394-822: A single Pokémon TCG booster pack, a collector can pull 10 cards in total, i.e. five Common cards, three Uncommon cards, a reverse holographic card of any rarity, and sometimes a Rare card. Starting with the Scarlet and Violet series however, each pack will contain one holographic card, as well as two reverse holographic cards. Unlike the basic Common and Uncommon, Rare collectables are divided into many different sub-groups, comprising Holo Rare, Reverse Holo, Half Art/Half Body, Full Art/Full Body, Secret Rare, Ultra Rare, Rainbow Rare, Promo, and card mechanics including EX/GX, V/VSTAR/VMAX, and Tag Team. Rarities can be also account for old card collectibles such as "1st-edition Base Set" and "First Generation Sets", and such collectibles are some of

4563-401: A successful catch depend on what evolutionary chain a Pokémon belongs to. A player can use Stardust and Candies to raise a Pokémon's level and hence "Combat Power" (CP). However, only Candies are needed to evolve a Pokémon, except for certain Pokémon that might need special items. Each Pokémon evolution tree has its own type of Candy, which can only be used to evolve or level up. The maximum level

4732-535: A tournament known as the 'Last Chance Qualifier' will also receive an invitation to play in the World Championships. The invitations for the Masters Division of the tournament were distributed in the following manner: Most of the invitations did not include a fully paid trip to the tournament, and as a result several players could not attend the tournament. Six rounds of Swiss was played by 60 players in

4901-528: A week after the game's release and by July 19, the stock value of Nintendo more than doubled as compared to pre-release. Turnover sales reached a record-breaking ¥703.6 billion (US$ 6.6 billion); and trading of the stock accounted for a quarter of all trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange 's main board. The Financial Times believed that investors were speculating not on Pokémon Go as such, but on future Nintendo app releases being as successful as

5070-456: A wild Pokémon, a player may throw a Poké Ball at it by flicking it from the bottom of the screen up toward the Pokémon. If the Pokémon is caught, it will come under the ownership of the player. Factors in the success rate of catching a Pokémon include the Pokémon's catch rate, the timing, the type of Poké Ball used, etc. After catching a wild Pokémon, the player is awarded two types of in-game currencies: Candies and Stardust. The Candies awarded by

5239-572: Is $ 500,000 in USD will be distributed among the Top 16 finishers in the championship. Tournaments in Japan and South Korea are organised independently from Play! Pokémon, and as such, players from these countries have a different system of qualification. In Japan, players compete for an invite to the Japan National Championships by playing in major qualifier or online tournaments held throughout

Pokémon World Championships - Misplaced Pages Continue

5408-534: Is a strategy-based card game that is usually played on a designated playmat or digitally on the official game client Pokémon TCG Live where two players (assuming the role of Pokémon Trainer) use their Pokémon to battle one another. Pokémon that have sustained enough damage from attacks–that reaches or exceeds its HP –is referred to as being "Knocked Out", granting the opponent a prize card; however, powerful card mechanics like Pokémon-V and Pokémon ex grant extra prize cards when Knocked Out. Taking all six prize cards

5577-463: Is allowed in the deck. Energy cards are attached to Pokémon in play to power their attacks. Only one Energy card may be attached per turn, unless a player has an effect that specifies otherwise. There are two categories of Energy cards: Basic Energy and Special Energy. The nine different Basic Energy types which correspond to Pokémon card types are Grass, Fire, Water, Lightning, Psychic, Fighting, Darkness, Metal, and Fairy. The Dragon type does not have

5746-629: Is based on the type of their regular Fast Attack. They may also use Max Guard, which increases defense, and Max Spirit, which restores health. If a Pokémon is knocked out, players can use Max Cheer to increase the Max Meter. Only Dynamax Pokémon (marked on the Pokémon's info page) can participate in Dynamax Battles, and only specific Pokémon can be obtained as Dynamax. Gigantamax Battles, which debuted in October 2024, function similarly to Dynamax battles, with

5915-601: Is conducive to the game's location-based features, and crowds of thousands played in the walkable metropolitan areas of Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. Chen Ching-Po became notable as "Uncle Pokémon" for rigging seventy-two smart phones (with more than twenty Pokémon Go accounts) to his bicycle. During its launch in Southeast Asia in August 2016, the game officially excluded Myanmar , but users in Thailand discovered that

6084-579: Is currently handled by The Pokémon Company . In the United States, Pokémon TCG publishing was originally licensed to Wizards of the Coast , the producer of Magic: The Gathering . Wizards published eight expansion sets between 1998 and 2003, after which point licensing was transferred to The Pokémon Company. Players assume the role of Pokémon Trainers engaging in battle, and play with 60-card decks. Standard gameplay cards include Pokémon cards, Energy cards, and Trainer cards. Pokémon are introduced in battle from

6253-431: Is dependent on a player's age division and the country in which they are located in. Players may also qualify to play on different days of the World Championships based on their performance in their respective qualifying programs; the best performing players will immediately advance to the second day of the World Championships playoffs (i.e. "Day 2") instead of playing through the first day (i.e. "Day 1"). Players located in

6422-579: Is primarily based on Championship Points. Players could earn Championship Points by performing in select online and live tournaments held throughout the 2016 season (between September 2015 and July 2016). Players from Japan and South Korea were excluded from this rule as these countries had their own method of qualification not based on Championship Points. Play! Pokémon divided players into five different rating zones: US and Canada , Europe , Latin America , Asia-Pacific and South Africa . Different zones had different Championship Points requirements due to

6591-787: Is the last collection set published by Wizards before Nintendo transferred the publishing right to The Pokémon Company In July 2003. Since July 2003, The Pokémon Company has published eight additional "Generation" sets, which has gradually transitioned the TCG to more modern gameplay and mechanics. Pokémon cards are sold at stores in many different formats including pre-constructed decks, booster-packs-bundled promo cards set, booster box of 36 packs, or individual packs. Subsequently, cards are also available through e-commerce websites and individual sellers. However, buyers should be cautioned of fake Pokémon cards. Pokémon card collectables are valued based on their rarity, though some lower rarity cards can be worth more than higher rarity ones. This depends on

6760-516: Is the most common win condition. Other ways to win are by "Knocking Out" or by removing all opponent's Pokémon in play–the Active and those on the Bench (i.e. the row behind the Active that can house up to five additional Pokémon to support and substitute Active Pokémon if it retreats or is "Knocked Out"), or by Decked Out–if at the opponent's next turn they have no cards left in deck to draw into. Players begin by having one player select heads or tails, and

6929-433: Is the one that is actively attacking and receiving damage. If a player does not have any Basic Pokémon, they must call mulligan , shuffle, and then draw another hand until they draw a Basic Pokémon; the opponent may draw one additional card per mulligan. Once both players have at least one Basic Pokémon, they can play up to five more Basic Pokémon onto their Bench, and then take the top six cards of their deck and place them to

Pokémon World Championships - Misplaced Pages Continue

7098-559: Is the set of games that would be played by the video game division of the World Championships. On March 31, 2020, Play! Pokémon cancelled the 2020 Pokémon World Championships and suspended its 2020 season due to health concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic . This came after earlier announcements in March which saw the cancellation of the 2020 European International Championships and part of its season between March and June 2020. On February 9, 2021, it

7267-546: Is typically represented by themes found in Pokémon (e.g. gym badges, starter Pokémon). Play! Pokémon supports both standard and expanded card format, however in its competitive tournaments only standard format (i.e. card rotation format that discontinues older Pokémon cards to foster new strategies and a healthy competitive environment) are permitted. In contrast to the former, expanded card format permits inclusion of any Pokémon cards, regardless if they are older cards. The first Pokémon TCG tournament began on June 14–15, 1997, at

7436-511: The COVID-19 pandemic which saw many players unable to leave their homes to play. These development shift saw changes like the addition of indoor step tracking to count toward in-game distance challenges, long distance PVP battles, increased "incense" effectiveness, increased spawn points, and a doubled player radius. The Pokémon Go Plus is a Bluetooth Low Energy wearable device , developed by Nintendo's Platform Technology Development division, that allows players to perform certain actions in

7605-569: The Go Fest , with Moltres and Zapdos following. From September to November, the 3 Legendary Beasts: Entei , Raikou and Suicune , were released, rotating regions every month. Following their departure, the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh appeared in Raid Battles from November 27, 2017, to December 12, 2017. In August 2020, level 3 Mega raids arrived with the introduction of Mega Evolution. At

7774-470: The Google Maps Pokémon Challenge, acted as Director and Product Manager for the game. The game's soundtrack was written by longtime Pokémon series composer, Junichi Masuda , who also assisted with some of the game's design. Among the game's graphic designers was Dennis Hwang , who previously created the logo of Gmail while working for Google . On March 4, 2016, Niantic announced

7943-799: The Nintendo Switch . Pokémon Go introduced the new Mythical Pokémon Meltan originally as a teaser, later to be available to capture only in Pokémon Go via a "Mystery Box" item that could be obtained through transferring Pokémon from Pokémon Go to either Nintendo Switch Pokémon games, or by completing new Research Tasks. In August 2020, Mega Evolution came to Pokémon Go with four Pokémon able to Mega Evolve into five forms. The feature has expanded to include 40 forms. Players earn experience points for various in-game activities. Players rise in level as they earn experience points (XP), with various features being progressively unlocked. Most-notably, at level five,

8112-736: The Pokémon GO Battle League would qualify for the GO Championship Series. In January 2022, Pokémon Unite producer Masaaki Hoshino confirmed that the game would be part of the roster of games to be played at the World Championships in London. For the first season of the Pokémon Unite Championship Series, there will be eleven supported Regional Zones: North America, Central America, South America-East, South America-West, Europe, Oceania, Japan, South Korea, India, and

8281-510: The Pokémon TCG has also been the subject of collecting hobbies, with an extensive market for individual Pokémon cards, packs, and ephemera. The Pokémon Trading Card Game was developed in Japan, based on the 1996 Pokémon Red , Blue , and Yellow Game Boy video game by Nintendo. It was first published in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. In the US, it was first published by Wizards of

8450-513: The Pokémon TCG have been published, including Pokémon Trading Card Game ( Game Boy Color ), the Pokémon: Play It! series (PC), Pokémon TCG Online (PC). After the closure of TCG Online in 2023, it was replaced with Pokémon Trading Card Game Live (PC) and Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket (mobile) in 2024. As of March 2024, the game has produced over 64.8 billion cards worldwide. Beside formal competitions and informal battling,

8619-421: The Pokémon Trading Card Game until an agreement was reached on the case. In November 2020, Geller told TheGamer that he received emails from Pokémon fans which convinced him to drop the case and allow Nintendo to bring back Kadabra. In March 2023, a player was disqualified from a regional tournament for allegedly laughing when they were asked by a game official for their pronouns. This generated backlash from

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8788-515: The United States (Senior Division), and Brendan Zheng from the United States (Junior Division). The opening ceremony of the event was attended by Junichi Masuda , the video game designer for the Pokémon franchise and a member of the board of directors of Game Freak . The finals match of the Masters division is best known and remembered within the Pokémon community for Se Jun Park 's victory with

8957-531: The open source Kubernetes system - and due to the game's sheer scale of users, a number of bugs with the Kubernetes system were discovered and later fixed. Niantic was spun off from Google as an independent company in 2015 following the company reorganization into Alphabet Inc. In 2015, Ishihara dedicated his speech at the game's announcement on September 10 to Iwata, who had died two months earlier. Tatsuo Nomura , who joined Niantic in 2015 after he developed

9126-592: The "three step glitch", and easier training, were also confirmed. He also stated that Niantic would be continuing support for the game for "years to come". In an interview with TechCrunch in September 2016, Hanke hinted that player vs. player Pokémon battles would be released in a future update. In December 2016, coffeehouse chain Starbucks and telecommunications company Sprint collaborated with Nintendo to add PokéStops and gyms at certain locations of theirs throughout

9295-461: The 2015 World Champions. As such, there are two types of invites: As an example, the invitations for the Masters Division were distributed as follows: The Video Game Championships consisted of two Swiss tournaments and one single elimination tournament played across three days. On Friday (Day 1), all players who earned an invitation without a Day 1 bye were entered into a Swiss tournament, where players with two or fewer losses would advance onto

9464-401: The 2016 San Diego Comic-Con , John Hanke , founder of Niantic, revealed the appearances of the three team leaders: Candela (Team Valor), Blanche (Team Mystic), and Spark (Team Instinct). Hanke conveyed that approximately 10% of the ideas for the game were implemented. Future updates, including the addition of trading , more Pokémon, implementation of Pokémon Centers at PokéStops, a patch for

9633-544: The 2022 season. At the 2022 edition of the event, it was announced that the 2023 World Championships will take place in Yokohama , Japan (the basis of Vermilion City in the Kanto region). When the 2023 event took place, it was the first time that the World Championships visited the franchise's country of origin, as well as the first World Championships to take place in Asia. At the end of

9802-511: The 2023 and 2024 World Championships. In July 2019, Pokémon Go introduced Team GO Rocket battles. Team GO Rocket NPCs could be battled at some PokéStops (indicated with it twitching and being a dark color) or in Team GO Rocket Balloons which appear and follow the player on the map. After victory, the player has the opportunity to capture a "Shadow Pokémon" which are relatively low-leveled, angry-looking Pokémon. Shadow Pokémon have

9971-518: The 2023 event, The Pokémon Company announced that the Pokémon World Championships will return to Hawaii for the first time since the previous World Championships in the state was held back in 2012. Despite Pokémon being a Japanese product, only one World Championship (2023) was held in Japan. Almost all of the remaining events were held in the United States. The qualifying process for the Pokémon World Championships varies each year and

10140-653: The 2nd version. The first version of Pokémon Play It! was released in 1999, followed by its sequel Pokémon Play It! Version 2 in 2000. The Pokémon Trading Card Game Online was a prominent video game adaptation of the Pokémon TCG. It was released on March 24, 2011, as Pokémon Trainer Challenge for Microsoft Windows , Android , macOS , iOS , and iPadOS . The game initially offered three starting decks but significantly expanded its card collection shortly after release. Card packs and premade decks could be redeemed using in-game currencies and rewards. Beginning April 6, 2011, players could redeem digital booster packs using

10309-526: The Ability remains in play. The other type of Pokémon cards are Evolution Pokémon. In contrast to a Basic Pokémon, Evolution Pokémon cannot be directly put into play; they must be placed on top of the corresponding previous Stage Pokémon to evolve it, and they cannot be played onto a Pokémon the same turn that Pokémon was put into the Bench or during the player's first turn. Stage 1 Pokémon evolve from Basic Pokémon, and Stage 2 Pokémon evolve from Stage 1 Pokémon. As

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10478-471: The Asia-Pacific region. These events will only be open to players aged 16 or 18, depending on the region or country they are from. In each month, a series of tournaments in each Regional Zone will be held. Like other games in the World Championships, players will earn Championship Points based on their finishing position in that month's tournament. The CP can be retained by players to allow for team changes as

10647-430: The Coast , towards the end of 1998 to capitalize on the US popularity of Pokémon . Over the next five years, Wizards of the Coast published more than a dozen expansion sets for the game, allowing the company to sell millions of cards and earn more revenue from Pokémon than they had from Magic: The Gathering in its first 10 years. Hasbro bought Wizards of the Coast in September 1999 for $ 325 million dollars based on

10816-482: The Colorless type. Similarly, starting with Sword & Shield , Poison type Pokémon are categorized under Darkness-type; Poison-type were previously Psychic type, and before that they were categorized under Grass type. A simplified type system was adopted from the video games for use in the trading card game. Darkness and Metal types was introduced alongside the corresponding Pokémon Gold and Silver video game,

10985-838: The Dragon-type was introduced in the Japanese Dragon Selection set; and Fairy type was introduced in the XY set to correspond to its introduction in the franchise, but they were later categorized under Psychic type starting with Sword and Pokémon Shield . While most Pokémon have only one type, three exceptions are EX Team Magma vs Team Aqua which introduced dual-type Pokémon that have two different types, as well as XY and HeartGold and SoulSilver series sets. Dual types were also utilized in Pokémon-Legend cards from HeartGold and SoulSilver . In August 2016, XY Steam Siege reintroduced

11154-531: The Gathering and One Piece . In addition to the collectible aspect of the card game, The Pokémon Company International (formerly known as Pokémon USA) has also organized Play! Pokémon , a program run by Pokémon Organized Play (POP), players can compete against others in tournaments and earn player points, two-card booster packets for promotional sets, badges, stickers and other prizes. POP are governed by League Leaders and League Owners. Play! Pokémon also features

11323-600: The India and Asia-Pacific Regional Zones, and split Asia-Pacific into 2 regions; Asia-Pacific East and Asia-Pacific West. For TPCi controlled regions, the previous month's top 4 did not auto qualify for the next month's tournament finals. Additionally, an extra monthly tournament was added, the April Cup. Championship Points were also changed to include top CP earners an invite to Pokémon World Championships, ranging from top 1 to 3 in top CP earners depending on how many invites were given for

11492-551: The Last Chance Qualifier at the location of the World Championships itself. The under-17 age division was discontinued after the 2022 season. All participants of any age now compete in the same tournament. All tournament battles use the Great League battle format (all Pokémon must be below 1,500 Combat Power.) The 2014 Pokémon World Championships was the sixth annual edition of the championships. The event took place in

11661-526: The Makuhari Messe Event Hall. As the tournament had no real skill-based qualifiers, participants were admitted through preregistration and through an extensive lottery system process if too many people applied. Many deck lists including the winning deck lists used in the tournament are poorly built because of the lack of skill sets in the admittance process, with many players running incomplete evolution lines and excessive Trainer cards. The tournament

11830-519: The Organized Play program to their own country. Although The Pokémon Company International tries to keep Organized Play as uniform as possible globally, there are some notable differences in how POP is run outside of the United States. The Pokémon Card Laboratory (PCL), located in Japan, is the designer of new cards and the ultimate authority on any matter relating to the Pokémon Trading Card Game . It can declare rulings on any in-game circumstance, issue errata, change card text after publishing, and change

11999-725: The PokeStop, and Lucky Eggs, which double experience points gained for a thirty-minute period from use. All Pokémon are displayed with a Combat Power, which is a rough measure of how powerful that Pokémon is in battle. Generally, as players level up, they catch Pokémon with higher CP and Pokémon are somewhat harder to catch. The player can check how strong their Pokémon are by the "Appraisal" system. Players can customize their avatar's appearance with clothing options that differ in availability according to season, player level, and game sponsors. Clothing includes: hats, accessories, tops, bottoms, socks, footwear and bags. Most clothing aligns with either

12168-700: The Pokémon VGC and TCG were divided into three age divisions: the Junior Division (born 2005 or later), the Senior Division (born between 2001 and 2004), and the Masters Division (born 2000 or earlier). For the Pokkén Tournament invitational, players were grouped into either the Senior Division (born 2001 or later) or Masters Division (born 2000 or earlier). The process of obtaining an invitation

12337-685: The Pokémon may become "enraged", increasing both attack and defence, but can be returned to normal using a "Purified Gem". In December 2018, Niantic added player vs player Trainer Battles. In January 2020, Niantic rolled out an online battle format, Go Battle League, which allows players to fight other players worldwide. Unlike the Trainer Battles format introduced in 2018, Go Battle League does not require physical proximity, scanning QR code on each other's phone, knowing each other's friend code, or any other real-world interactions between players. Instead, participating players are automatically paired by

12506-460: The Pokémon they encounter either with or without the AR mode activated. Although the game is free to play, it supports in-app purchases , where players can purchase additional Poké Balls and other in-game items. These items include Incense, which attracts Pokémon to the player as they move for sixty minutes, Lure Modules, which players use at PokéStops to attract Pokémon to their current location near

12675-527: The TCG include Fire, Fighting, Dragon, Lightning, Grass, Water, Fairy, Psychic, Darkness, Metal, and Colorless. Other Pokémon types such as Ice and Ground types from the franchise, however, do not have their own types in the TCG and instead are categorized/incorporated inside other types; for example, Ice type and Ground type are categorized under Water type and Fighting type, respectively. Starting with Dragons Exalted , Dragon type Pokémon are now listed as Dragon-type, and they were previously categorized under

12844-461: The United States. That same month, a companion app for Apple Watch devices was released, which allows users to receive notifications about nearby Pokémon, but does not allow for them to be caught using the watch. In January 2017, an additional 5,000 more Starbucks locations became available as gyms. In February 2017, an update was released which introduced over 100 species based in the Johto region from

13013-568: The Unova Stone item) released in September 2019. Mythical and Legendary Pokémon are often released individually (or in pairs/trios) in special events or quests. The first Legendary Pokémon released was Groudon , in December 2017. The Mythical Pokémon Meltan and its evolved form, Melmetal , are the only Pokémon to have made their debut on Pokémon Go. Their release coincided with the release of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! on

13182-723: The Video Game World Championships by either being the 2014 Pokémon World Champions , or by obtaining enough Championship Points in their respective geographic zone designated by Play! Pokémon . However, the only exception to this rule are for players from Japan and South Korea, as their tournaments are not overseen by Play! Pokémon and their invites are governed through a different system of qualification. Since 2014, players were able to earn Championship Points from various tournaments within their geographical region. The tournaments vary in scale, ranging from local Premier Challenges to state-level Regional Championships and finally

13351-462: The Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Washington, D.C. , alongside the 2014 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championship who were in their eleventh edition. The tournament was streamed via Twitch for the first time in the tournament history and reached a viewership of more than 800,000. The defending Video Game champions were Arash Ommati from Italy (Masters Division), Hayden McTavish from

13520-479: The app to "access players' Gmail -based email, Google Drive -based files, photos and videos stored in Google Photos, and any other content within their Google accounts". The Pokémon Company and Niantic responded to the concerns, recognizing that the iOS app, at the time, "... erroneously requests full access permission for the user's Google account ..." However, Adam Reeve—the person who initially made claims of

13689-404: The app, which approximated to 26% more than usual. IGN named it the 100th best video game of all time in 2018. Philip Kollar and Allegra Frank ( Polygon ) both agreed that Pokémon Go was "an exciting social experience", but were not sure how long the game and its popularity would last, stating it could either last for coming years or "end up as a brush fire craze that the whole gaming world

13858-622: The basic game rules, although the latter three rarely occur. PCL runs Organized Play in Japan. The Pokémon Trading Card Game in most European countries is currently handled by The Pokémon Company International. Certain countries have no direct official presence; in these regions, distributors of the game run tournaments. European countries can qualify for positions at the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships each year, through National Championships and European Rankings. The first Pokémon TCG World Championships

14027-649: The city are considered part of Japan's mapping area due to the proximity of Tsushima Island . The game officially released in the country in January 2017. In mainland China , Google services are banned by the Great Firewall , whereas the GPS function in the game is blocked by Niantic. Players of Pokémon Go in China have to download the game with App Store IDs from other regions and use VPN to access Google services in order to load

14196-439: The community and a fundraiser was created to help cover the teenager's travel and lodging costs. The fundraiser, as of March 30, had raised over $ 3,000. The reviewer from the online second volume of Pyramid in 1999 stated that " Pokémon is the second most popular CCG in Japan (behind Magic: The Gathering ), and it's no fluke. The game plays like a kinder, gentler version of Magic , with easier rules and graphics geared to

14365-579: The company moves more into the mobile app market—an area they were historically reluctant to enter in the belief it would cannibalise its portable console and video game sales. Nintendo plans to release four more smartphone app games by March 2017, and investors remarked that Pokémon Go showed Nintendo still has some of the "most valuable character intellectual property in the world" with franchises such as Super Mario , The Legend of Zelda , and Metroid . By July 22, Nintendo gained ¥1.8 trillion ($ 17.6 billion) in market capitalization since

14534-437: The creatures, were also obtained by players in a glitch, though they were later removed from the accounts of the trainers to keep the game fair. Pokémon Go released to "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic . Upon release, critics called the experience enjoyable, but noted the game's technical issues. Critics praised various aspects of Pokémon Go . Oscar Dayus ( Pocket Gamer ) said that

14703-427: The deck, but only four of each special energy can be put in, just like Trainer and Pokémon cards. Pokémon Types are elemental attributes, determining the strengths and weaknesses for each Pokémon and its attacks. Pokémon take double damage from attacks of types they are weak to and less damage from attacks they resist. These type matchups offset one another in rock–paper–scissors -style relationships. Pokémon Types in

14872-478: The defending Pokémon, which may modify based on the defender Pokémon's type weakness or a resistance policies, and/or by any other effects on the defending Pokémon. Players alternate attacking until a player wins either through one of the above win conditions or by concession. Pokémon cards depict one or multiple Pokémon from the Pokémon franchise, one to two elemental types, one or more attacks and/or an Ability, and

15041-530: The device rather than create a smartwatch app was to increase uptake among players for whom a smartwatch is prohibitively expensive. It was released in the United Kingdom and North America on September 16, 2016. The game's official launch began on July 6, 2016, with releases in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Due to server strain from high demand upon release, Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that

15210-496: The discard pile. A player may also retreat their Active Pokémon, switching the Active Pokémon with one on the Bench by paying the Active Pokémon's retreat cost of a certain number of Energies. At the cost of ending the turn, players may use one of their Active Pokémon's attacks once the prerequisite number and types of Energy attached to that Pokémon is fulfilled. Effects from that attack are then activated and damage may be dealt on

15379-501: The distribution of events around the world. There are two possible invitations players could obtain: Pok%C3%A9mon Trading Card Game The Pokémon Trading Card Game ( Japanese : ポケモンカードゲーム , Hepburn : Pokemon Kādo Gēmu , "Pokémon Card Game") , abbreviated as PTCG or Pokémon TCG , is a tabletop and collectible card game developed by Creatures Inc. based on the Pokémon franchise . Originally published in Japan by Media Factory in 1996, publishing worldwide

15548-444: The dual-type mechanic, but this time on regular Pokémon and Pokémon-EX. The Pokémon TCG debuted In Japan in 1996 with the release of "1st Starter & Expansion Pack/Base Set" (第1弾スターターパック & 第1弾拡張パック), which was the original core series of cards and Theme Decks released in Japan on October 20, 1996, and in the United States on January 9, 1999. The "1st Starter & Expansion Pack" contained various Pokémon cards depicting

15717-417: The event they are attached to. Once the event is over, there is no guarantee that the pose will be available in-game again. In April 2024, Pokémon GO was updated to allow greater customization of player avatars. Customization now includes a limited number of different hair styles, the ability to adjust the body size of the avatar, and expanded options for skin color. This update was met with mass backlash from

15886-469: The event. The defending Video Game champions were Shoma Honami from Japan (Masters Division), Mark McQuillan from the United Kingdom (Senior Division) and Kotone Yasue from Japan (Junior Division). The defending Trading Card Game champions were Jacob Van Wagner from the United States (Masters Division), Patrick Martinez from the United States (Senior Division), and Rowan Stavenow from Canada . Both

16055-506: The first junior tournament, Brenden Zhang who won the first Senior Tournament, and Arturo Heras who won the first Master Tournament. These tournaments play several rounds, where players will play a standard game against each other and wins and losses will be recorded. In most tournaments, there are some Swiss-style rounds where players are paired up against others of similar win/loss ratios, usually from their age group (this does not always occur in smaller events, though). Afterward, there will be

16224-637: The game fully playable in that area. Numerous people took advantage of the gap to play the game. Bus tickets from the capital city of Seoul sold out and people living within Sokcho shared information on free Wi-Fi areas to tourists. Players also discovered a gym in Panmunjom , along the Korean Demilitarized Zone; however, Niantic later removed it from the game. Following the release of Pokémon Go in Japan, parts of Busan also became playable as parts of

16393-641: The game server via some variant of the Elo rating system . Go Battle League has players participate in a 3-on-3 battle with their Pokémon. Gameplay functions similarly to other in-game battle formats, with players tapping on their screen to use a Pokémon's "fast move." Once fast moves have been used enough times, players can use a Pokémon's "charged move" to attack the opponent, which the opponent can choose to block using "protect shields." Players can switch their Pokémon to another member of their team of three as well. Trainer Battles have three major formats. The Great League

16562-413: The game was an immensely enjoyable experience and continued with how "the very personal nature of catching Pokémon in your own neighborhood made me smile more than any game has for years". Jeremy Parish ( US Gamer ) compared the game and its social aspects to a massively multiplayer online game . Reviewers also praised the game enabling the promotion of physical exercise. Terri Schwartz ( IGN ) said it

16731-578: The game was fully playable in border cities near the nation. The game was released in the Balkans , Macau , and Central Asia in September 2016, and was also released throughout Africa , the Middle East , and South Asia by the end of the year. On September 11, 2018, the game appeared in Russia's App Store and Google Play Store over two years after the first launch. However, Niantic did not officially announce

16900-563: The game was proposed to be released in France on July 15, it was postponed until July 24 out of respect and due to safety concerns following a terrorist attack in Nice on July 14. Following the shut down of third-party apps and websites in late-July 2016—significantly reducing server strain—Niantic was able to continue pushing release worldwide. Central and South America and most of Southeast Asia subsequently saw releases in early August. Indonesia

17069-457: The game was surpassed within 15 minutes of the game's release in Australia and New Zealand, and peaked at 50 times expected traffic, or 10 times the expected worst-case scenario. Frequent crashes and authentication errors plagued the game's release and persisted for several days. For the first two days after launch, players were unable to access the game through their Pokémon Trainer Club accounts; only Gmail-based accounts were able to gain access to

17238-579: The game without looking at their smart device . When a player is near a Pokémon or PokéStop, the Plus vibrates. The player can then press the button to capture the Pokémon or receive items from the PokéStop; the player cannot check what they have received until the next time they sign into the app on their mobile device. The design consists of a Poké Ball and the shape of the Google Maps pin . The decision to create

17407-537: The game's launch. However, following clarification from Nintendo that the company did not produce Pokémon Go nor had tangible financial gains from it, its stock fell by 18%—equating to a ¥708 billion ($ 6.7 billion) loss in market value—on July 25. This was the largest single-day decline for Nintendo since 1990 and the maximum one-day exchange of finances allowed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company has an approximate 13% "effective economic stake" in

17576-445: The game's map. Different Pokémon species reside in different areas of the world; for example, Water-type Pokémon are generally found near water. When a player encounters a Pokémon, it may be viewed either in AR mode or with a live rendered, generic background. AR mode uses the camera and gyroscope on the player's mobile device to display an image of a Pokémon as though it were in the real world. Players can take screenshots of

17745-497: The game, according to Macquarie Securities . The surge in stocks extended beyond Nintendo, with Tomy , TV Tokyo , and the Bank of Kyoto , among other companies, all seeing significant gains. Similarly, Zagg, which owns a company that manufactures battery cases, saw a 25% rise in its stock in relation to Pokémon Go . At launch, the game suffered from frequent server outages due to extreme usage. The global server usage expectation for

17914-503: The game, and some even use a GPS spoofing app to bypass the GPS blocking. Some players also downloaded a clone app called City Spirit Go , which was released shortly after Pokémon Go 's beta test in Japan. As of 2020, the official game is still unplayable in most parts of China with GPS modules being blocked in-game. Following its August 6, 2016 launch in Taiwan, the game became extremely popular. Taiwan's high degree of urbanization

18083-472: The game, including but not limited to: drawing cards, healing Pokémon, discarding Energy from opposing Pokémon, or retrieving cards from the discard pile. Before the Diamond & Pearl series, all cards that were not Pokémon or Energy were considered Trainer cards. Afterward, Trainer cards were subdivided into three categories, Item, Stadium, and Supporter. Item cards directly affect the battling Pokémon and include

18252-500: The game. The game was released worldwide on October 30, 2024. Pok%C3%A9mon GO Battle League#Season 9 Pokémon Go (stylized as Pokémon GO ) is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game , part of the Pokémon franchise, developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. It uses mobile devices with GPS to locate, capture, train, and battle virtual Pokémon , which appear as if they are in

18421-417: The game. Servers again suffered frequent outages in Australia on July 11; players blamed people in the United Kingdom for bypassing local servers and using Australian ones to play the game before its official release. On July 16, a few hours after the release in many European countries, the game's servers temporarily went down. The outage was claimed by a hacking group called "PoodleCorp", who said they used

18590-703: The hill matches. PokéStops and Gyms are typically located at places of interest. These locations were initially re-purposed portals from Ingress , Niantic's previous augmented reality (AR) game. This has led to PokéStops and Pokémon Gyms being placed at dangerous or inconvenient locations, such as a now-deleted Gym at the Korean Demilitarized Zone and Bagram Airforce Base , which was abandoned by U.S. forces in July 2021. Since 2019, these locations also include submissions from Go players which are largely reviewed by other players. As players move within their real world surroundings, their avatars move within

18759-419: The inclusion and use of a Pachirisu on his team. The qualification process for the 2014 Pokémon World Championships was primarily based on Championship Points accumulated by players from official Play! Pokémon tournaments such as Premier Challenges, Regional Championships and National Championships. In addition, the top 4 players of the 2013 Pokémon World Championships in each division, and the top 4 players of

18928-446: The large-scale National Championships. The number of points awarded varies with scale, and players who earn these points are ranked and divided into zones such as North America, Europe and South Africa. This year, two new zones (Latin America and Asia-Pacific) were introduced. The 2015 Pokémon Video Game World Championship was intended to be played under two Swiss tournaments and one single-elimination tournament which would then determine

19097-632: The latter was discontinued shortly after. Crown Zenith was the final set supported on Pokémon Trading Card Game Online . Existing players of Pokémon Trading Card Game Online can transfer their account and in-game data to Pokémon Trading Card Game Live. On February 27, 2024, another Pokémon Trading Card Game -based video game for Android and iOS was announced in the Pokémon Presents presentation developed by Creatures (company) and DeNA titled Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket . The game features entirely original digital cards not present in

19266-459: The look of a specific Pokémon, a specific team and/or Pokémon region. Many pieces of clothing are free, but pieces can also be purchased using coins, earned during select events, awarded as the player levels up, or received as a prize for special research completion. Another way for a player to customize their avatar is with a pose. Poses, like clothing, may be free, purchased, or awarded. Certain poses are event based and can only be earned during

19435-1073: The most expensive Pokémon Card ever sold, other lower grade versions of the card have been sold for high prices elsewhere. Shopping platform ZenPlus, a subsidiary of shopping service ZenMarket (now part of ZenGroup), sold two of the cards in 2020, for the Japanese Yen equivalent of US$ 233,000 and US$ 208,496 respectively. A third card was sold on the platform in 2022 for US$ 772,000. There are various TikTok accounts dedicated to opening Pokémon card packs (also known as "ripping" packs) people buy live on stream for viewers. Some streamers even run "pulls", where certain cards or number values are associated with rare, high value cards that are included if they happen to be pulled during pack openings. While there are genuine accounts associated with this trend, there are also scammers intentionally selling resealed packs with valuable cards already taken out, sending counterfeit cards or not sending anything at all. Pack rips are also streamed for other popular card games such as Magic:

19604-644: The new Gyms being released with the next app update a few days later. As of the update, Gyms included a spinnable component to receive in-game items such as Potions and Poké Balls. Additionally, Gyms are capped at containing six Pokémon, each of which must be unique in that Gym. Coins are now earned based on the amount of time the defending Pokémon has been in a Gym, as opposed to a one-per-day gym defender bonus of 10 coins per current defending Pokémon. Legendary, Mythical and Buddy Pokémon cannot be placed in Gyms. In July 2017, Raid Battles were introduced. Raid Battles consist of

19773-635: The next round. The second Swiss tournament was then played on Saturday (Day 2), where players who advanced from Day 1 were joined by players who received an invitation with a Day 1 bye. At the end of the Day 2 Swiss tournament, the top eight players played in single elimination rounds until the last two remain. The finals took place on Sunday (Day 3). During the 2015 World Championships, two Trading Card Game competitors from Iowa (Kevin Norton, 18, and James Stumbo, 27) brought weapons in their vehicle, which were recovered by

19942-406: The opponent's deck and/or board state. Abilities, previously called Poké-Powers and Poké-Bodies until 2011, are not attacks, but special effects on Pokémon that may be activated once or multiple times during their turn, such as drawing additional cards or switching the opponent's Active Pokémon with one of their Benched Pokémon, or can be passive, i.e. they remain in effect as long as the Pokémon with

20111-492: The original 150 Pokémon species in the main Pokémon franchise , and it is the only expansion not to have a set logo or symbol (i.e. except for the error "no-symbol" Jungle cards). In the United States, the "1998 Pokémon Demo Game Plastic Pack" was the earliest introduction to the Pokémon TCG , preceding the "1st Starter & Expansion Pack"; and consisting of 24 Base Set shadowless cards and an instruction manual. "The Pokémon Demo Game Plastic Pack", "Base Set", along with

20280-535: The other flips a coin; the winner of the coin flip will decide who goes first or second. (Dice may be used in place of coins, with even numbers representing heads and odd numbers representing tails; dice are also primarily used in official tournaments organized by The Pokémon Company). The player going first cannot attack or play a Supporter card (powerful Trainer effects card) on their first turn. Players shuffle their decks and draw seven cards, and then each puts one Basic Pokémon in play as their Active Pokémon. This Pokémon

20449-492: The physical card game featuring dynamic artwork, as well as the ability to look into the artwork of certain cards to see obscured elements. A streamlined battle system is present, as well as the ability to trade cards with other players. Players are given two booster packs to open every day at no charge, but also have the option to pay for in app purchases , including a paid premium membership. This membership allows you to open an additional free pack, and adds other features within

20618-454: The player can battle at a Pokémon Gym and join one of three color-coded teams (yellow for Team Instinct, blue for Team Mystic, or red for Team Valor), which act as factions battling for control of Gyms within the Pokémon Go world. In June 2017, Niantic announced that the game mechanics of Gyms would be revamped for a more teamwork-oriented experience; Gyms were disabled on June 19, 2017, with

20787-520: The player of how close they are to a nearby Pokémon; however, it universally became "stuck" at three steps, earning it the name "three-step-glitch". Niantic removed the footstep feature altogether on July 30, sparking criticism from players. By August 1, players reported a new glitch that swaps their captured Pokémon with another creature at random. Another bug, confirmed by Niantic in August, inadvertently made capturing Pokémon more difficult. Some Legendary Pokémon , which are rare and powerful versions of

20956-409: The player's real-world location. The game is free-to-play ; it uses a freemium business model combined with local advertising and supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items. The game launched with around 150 species of Pokémon, which had increased to around 870 by late 2024. Pokémon Go was released to mixed reviews; critics praised the concept but criticized technical problems. It

21125-439: The player's walking data in the background, even when the app is not open. On October 26, Niantic announced research tasks for Bug type Pokémon that will give players a chance to catch Shedinja throughout November. According to John Hanke in a January 2019 interview with Business Insider , 2018 saw Go become the game initially envisioned by Niantic. In 2020, Niantic made major changes to gameplay mechanisms to account for

21294-401: The playerbase, as the new avatars were perceived to be of inferior graphical quality in comparison to the outgoing models, and because the updated models interfered with some pre-update cosmetic items, of which many had been purchased by players. Unlike most other installments in the Pokémon series, players in Pokémon Go do not battle wild Pokémon to catch them. During an encounter with

21463-581: The police. The two posted status updates and images of their weaponry on social media, which were noticed by various Pokémon fans who treated them as supposed threats against the tournament. The updates were reported to the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) , who promptly seized their automobile and then stopped them at the door and barred them from entering the Hynes Convention Center on Thursday evening. Police executed

21632-458: The popularity of the card within competitive play, the age of the card, number of cards printed, and various other factors. From the lowest to the highest level, cards rarities are indicated by different shapes on the bottom corner, i.e. Common (circle), Uncommon (diamond), and Rare (star). Japanese-edition cards use letters rather than shapes to denote rarities; i.e. from the lowest to the highest level, C , U , R , RR , SR , and UR . In

21801-561: The rarest and most expensive Pokémon cards with some valuing at thousands and millions of dollars. Holo Rare are Rare cards that have a holographic illustration, whereas Reverse Holo are any-rarity cards that have holographic textures elsewhere on the surface except for the main illustration. Half Art and Full Art are Half Body and Full Body artworks covering the entire/half the card surface, respectively. In comparison, Secret Rares can be Full Art or Half Arts but with additional artwork schemes such as alternative holofoil scheme, shiny scheme, or

21970-481: The release in other regions was to be "paused until Niantic was comfortable" fixing the issues. European releases started on July 13, and the game became available to most of the continent over the following ten days. The Japanese launch was initially reported to be on July 20; however, the game was delayed after a sponsorship deal with fast food chain McDonald's was leaked, instead releasing two days later. Although

22139-681: The release. In May 2019, the game was released on the Samsung Galaxy Store . Investors were buoyed by the response to the initial release of Pokémon Go on July 7, with Nintendo's share price rising by an initial 10% and by July 14 shares rose to as high as 50%. Despite Nintendo only owning a 32% stake in The Pokémon Company and an undisclosed stake in Niantic, Nintendo's market value increased by US$ 9 billion within five days of release of Pokémon Go . The trend continued for more than

22308-433: The same time, Level 2 and 4 raids were combined into Level 1 and 3 raids. In May 2022, Raid Battles were updated to include the addition of Mega Legendary Pokémon, which were turned to 6 stars, the highest currently in the game. The only Pokémon included in these Raids were Mega Latios and Mega Latias . In October 2022, a new form of raid battle called "Elite Raids" were introduced. Elite Raids differ to normal raids in

22477-419: The same update, Niantic made it impossible for players with rooted or jailbroken devices to log into the game in an effort to reduce and prevent cheating. On January 20, 2018, Pokémon Go held the first Community Day, a monthly event that increases the appearance rate of a featured Pokémon and offer an exclusive move to the final evolution of the Pokémon if evolved during the event window. Players also have

22646-433: The scope of access. Niantic also issued a statement assuring users that no information was collected nor was any information beyond what was necessary to use the app accessed. Alongside server issues, Pokémon Go suffered from several glitches . One of the more prominent bugs appeared in mid-July 2016 and rendered the game's tracking feature useless. Normally, this feature shows between zero and three footprints to inform

22815-647: The season carries on. The team with the most points qualifies for the Regional Championships, and the top teams from the Regional Championships qualify for a chance to compete at the Pokémon World Championships. In January 2023, there were changes to the competitive structure and Regional Zones. Pokémon World Championships nearly doubled available spots from 16, to 31 teams. Regional Zones controlled by TPCi were also changed, with Central America, South America-East and South America West being changed to LATAM North, LATAM South, and Brazil. TPC had also taken control of

22984-482: The season culminates with the best players earning an invitation to play the Pokémon World Championships in August. The tournaments in VGC are played with a different game each year, mainly, the latest Pokémon game from its main series. In 2016, Play! Pokémon announced that Pokkén Tournament would have its own championship series and would be played at the Pokémon World Championships. From 2018 onward, Pokkén Tournament DX

23153-470: The season. The best performing players of the Japan National Championships will then be selected to represent Japan in the Pokémon World Championships. In South Korea, the style of qualification for the World Championships changes frequently. For example, in 2015, players would compete in the Korean National Championships and earn a World Championships invitation based on their standing in

23322-450: The second generation of the core Pokémon series, which were added alongside the original 151. The update also included the addition of new berries, new Pokémon encounter mechanics, and an expanded selection of avatar clothing options. Some of the Pokémon introduced in Ruby and Sapphire were added in late 2017, starting with a Halloween event in October and 50 more in December. A weather system

23491-481: The security issues in a Tumblr post—later backtracked on his claim and was not "100 percent sure" it was valid. Dan Guido, CEO of the security company Trail of Bits, analyzed the app's programming and discovered that although the game did request full account access, this did not enable third-party usage as initially conveyed. Guido found that this did enable Niantic to access people's email addresses and phone numbers unintentionally. A subsequent iOS app update reduced

23660-418: The side as Prize cards. Play alternates between players who may take several actions during their turn, including playing additional Basic Pokémon, evolving their Pokémon, attaching an Energy card, playing Trainer cards, and using Pokémon abilities and attacks. After Trainer cards are played, cards are discarded by effects from Trainer cards or Abilities, and after Pokémon were "Knocked Out", they are put into

23829-571: The similarity after fans of both himself and Pokémon noted the similarities between him and Kadabra, He remarked that the lightning patterns on its abdomen is popular with the Waffen-SS and that Nintendo had "turned [Geller] into an evil, occult Pokémon character". A Nintendo director denied this, stating that they had no knowledge of any Pokémon named "based on the image of any particular person". In 2008, Pokémon anime director and storyboard artist Masamitsu Hidaka stated that Kadabra would not be used in

23998-457: The strength of the Pokémon license. In 2001, Nintendo created its affiliate Pokémon USA, Inc., so that it could recover the US licensing rights to the game. In June 2003, Nintendo transferred the publishing rights from Wizards of the Coast to The Pokémon Company . Wizards sued Nintendo on October 1, 2003, and accused the company of poaching employees and violating its patent; the lawsuit was settled out of court. The Pokémon Trading Card Game

24167-538: The subcategory Pokémon Tool cards to attach to a Pokémon and provide for different effects. Stadium cards provide global effects both players can use, usually once per turn. Supporter cards have considerably the strongest effects, but they are limited to one per turn. Starting with Scarlet & Violet , Pokémon Tool cards are considered as a separate category from Item cards; existing Pokémon Tool cards have received errata to conform to this change. ACE SPEC Trainer cards have powerful unique effects but only one ACE SPEC card

24336-528: The subsequent expansions "Jungle", "Fossil", "Base Set 2", "Team Rocket", "Gym Heroes", "Gym Challenge", make up the "First Generation Sets" published by the original English-edition publisher Wizards of the Coasts . Similarly, the "Second Generation Sets" published by Wizards comprised "Neo Genesis", "Neo Discovery", "Southern Islands", "Neo Revelation", "Neo Destiny", "Legendary Collection", "Expedition Base Set", "Aquapolis", and "Skyridge". The "Second Generation Sets"

24505-473: The tournament, and each round was played with a set of best-of-three matches. The top 8 players after the Swiss rounds advances to the best-of-three Single Elimination matches. The defending World Champion Arash Ommati and former three-time World Champion Ray Rizzo did not advance to the single elimination rounds. The 2015 Pokémon World Championships was the seventh annual edition of the championships. The event

24674-489: The tournament. However, in 2019, players would compete in tournaments organized by the Korean League and earn an invite based on the number of points they had accumulated by the end of the season. There are other less common methods of qualifying for the World Championships which include finishing at least top 4 or better in the prior year's World Championships or by participating in a single-elimination tournament known as

24843-455: The usage of counters to indicate damage dealt and status effects. The Pokémon TCG has been the subject of both officially-sanctioned and informal tournaments. Wizards of the Coast staged multiple tournaments across American malls and stores. Official tournaments are currently overseen by Play! Pokémon , a division of The Pokémon Company, and are hosted on a local, national, and international basis. In addition, numerous video game adaptations of

25012-465: The way up to the Pokémon World Championships, the single invite-only event of the year. Players can earn invites to the World Championships by winning or ranking high at International Championships, doing well at tournaments to get Championship Points, or by qualifying in the Last Chance Qualifier. Some of these methods are only used in the United States, as PUI and POP are based in the United States, but they are represented by local distributors who provide

25181-467: The younger crowd." In the United States, Wizards of the Coast reported in early 1999 that it had sold 400,000 packs of Pokémon trading cards in less than six weeks of its release. In 2016, it was the year's top-selling toy in the strategic card game subclass. In 2017, it had an 82% share of Europe's strategic card game market. As of March 2023, the game has sold over 52.9 billion cards worldwide. The Pokémon Trading Card Game video game adaptation

25350-482: Was "secretly the best exercise app out there" and that it changed her daily walking routine. Patrick Allen ( Lifehacker ) wrote an article with tips about how to work out using Pokémon Go . Julia Belluz ( Vox ) said it could be the "greatest unintentional health fad ever" and wrote that one of the results of the game that the developers may not have realized was that "it seems to be getting people moving". Users took an extra 194 steps per day once they started using

25519-460: Was a fan of developer Niantic's previous transreality game , Ingress , and saw the game's concept as a perfect match for the Pokémon series. Niantic, a subsidiary of Google, used the crowdsourced data from Ingress to populate the locations for PokéStops and gyms within Pokémon Go , data from Google Maps to spawn specific Pokémon on certain terrain, and map display from OpenStreetMap since December 2017. The game's application logic uses

25688-420: Was accompanied by Pokémon Card GB2: Great Rocket-Dan Sanjō! , a Japan-exclusive sequel released in March 2001. In addition to the Pokémon Trading Card Game video game, Wizards has developed another digitized adaptation, Pokémon Play It! , which consisted of two versions that offer players a beginner's introduction to the different gameplay aspects of TCG as they slowly transitioned into "Advanced Challenges" in

25857-404: Was added alongside the latter, allowing real-world weather to affect gameplay. In November 2018, a game developed by Game Freak and heavily inspired by Pokémon Go , Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! was released on the Nintendo Switch . This game features Pokémon Go style catching with Joy-Con and integration between the two games. In addition, new Pokémon species Meltan

26026-525: Was announced that Asia would no longer be part of the Play! Pokémon program and will have its own qualifying system towards the Pokémon World Championships. Pokémon announced in October 2021 that Pokémon GO would be added during the 2022 World Championships, along with it a qualification system through the Pokémon GO Championship Series, where the top two head to the World Championships. Any trainer who reached Legend rank during Season 9 of

26195-600: Was announced that Pokémon GO would be added during the 2022 World Championships . A qualification system titled the Pokémon Go Championship Series was announced. Any trainer who reached a certain threshold of the Go Battle League would qualify for the Go Championship Series. The top two players would be allowed to participate in the World Championships. Pokémon Go was later brought back in

26364-512: Was announced that the 2021 Pokémon World Championships would postponed till 2022 for the same reasons. In early January 2022, it was confirmed that Pokémon Unite would be played at the World Championships, making it the newest MOBA game to have an official esports tournament, after League of Legends . In May 2022, after six seasons, Play! Pokémon announced the end of the Pokkén Tournament Championship Series after

26533-447: Was announced, titled Pokémon Trading Card Game Live . A closed beta of Pokémon Trading Card Game Live was released for Canadian players on February 22, 2022. Later, a global beta of Pokémon Trading Card Game Live was released on November 15, 2022 on Android , iOS , Microsoft Windows . The game is now also available on macOS . Upon the full release, Pokémon Trading Card Game Live replaced Pokémon Trading Card Game Online , and

26702-584: Was developed by Hudson Soft and Creatures and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color console. It was released in Japan in December 1998 and later in North American and Europe in 2000, reappearing in the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console released in 2014. The adaptation are similar in gameplay and rules, featuring 226 cards from the TCG with infrared linking for multiplayer and trading. The video game

26871-623: Was divided into four sessions with three solely restricted to elementary school players and one allowing players up to junior high. The top three player of the tournament were awarded the No.1, 2, and 3 trainer trophy cards; this practice continue through subsequent Pokémon TCG tournaments and organized plays. Players in a tournament are split into three age categories: Junior (11 years old and younger), Senior (12 to 15 years old), and Master (16 years old and older). Notable references include Austin Brewen who won

27040-696: Was held alongside the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston , Massachusetts. The tournament was transmitted with live streaming from the official Pokémon Twitch channel. The defending Video Game champions for the year were Se Jun Park from South Korea (Masters Division), Nikolai Zielinsky from the United States (Senior Division) and Kota Yamamoto from Japan (Junior Division). Players could only gain an invitation to play in

27209-569: Was held in 2004 at Orlando, Florida, U.S. The venue was organized by Wizards of Coasts, with more than 100 invited contestants from various countries. To qualify for the championships, players are required to collect Championship Points across regionals and other official tournaments, which can vary based on each championship and different regions. In November 2000, Israeli magician Uri Geller alleged that Kadabra's spoon bending and Japanese name, Yungera, were unauthorized appropriations of his identity, leading him to sue Nintendo. Geller learned of

27378-553: Was illustrated by Atsuko Nishida, the original designer of the Pokémon species including Pikachu. The Japanese imprint reads: "We certify that your illustration is an excellent entry in the Pokémon Card Game Illust Contest. Therefore, we state that you are an Officially Authorized Pokémon Card Illustrator and admire your skill." While the Pikachu Illustrator Card purchased by Logan Paul has the record for

27547-574: Was one of the most used and profitable mobile apps in 2016, having been downloaded more than 500 million times worldwide by the end of the year. It is credited with popularizing location-based and AR technology , promoting physical activity , and helping local businesses grow due to escalated foot traffic. However, it attracted controversy for contributing to accidents and creating public nuisances. Various governments expressed concerns about security, and some countries regulate its use. The game had over 147 million monthly active users by May 2018, over

27716-470: Was revealed in September, becoming the first new Pokémon to debut in Pokémon Go . On October 10, 2018, The Pokémon Company and Niantic announced plans to introduce Pokémon from Diamond and Pearl into Pokémon Go . On October 12, Niantic teased one of the Generation IV Pokémon that would be coming to Pokémon Go . On October 25, a feature known as Adventure Sync was announced, which will record

27885-442: Was set at $ 150,000. On December 2, 2015, their trial was set for May 9, 2016, however, in early April 2016, their trial was postponed to November 2016. Following the release of Pokémon Go in July 2016, Stumbo's attorney indicated that the case would be resolved soon. Norton and Stumbo were later sentenced to two years in prison with an additional two years probation once their prison term ends. The 2016 Pokémon World Championships

28054-559: Was the eighth annual edition of the championships. The event was held at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco , California, from August 19 to August 21. For the first time in the tournament history, the Pokkén Tournament invitational was featured alongside the Video Game Championships (VGC) and Trading Card Game (TCG) tournaments. Side events and an official store with event merchandise occurred alongside

28223-420: Was the first Asian country to have the game playable, despite the game not being officially released in that region until August 6. In South Korea, the game was not officially released as major restrictions on the use of online mapping data exist. However, due to a glitch , a small area around Sokcho in the northeastern part of the country was considered a part of Niantic's North Korea mapping region, making

28392-504: Was the first option out of the three Leagues introduced in the GO Battle League. The Great League only allows Pokémon with a combat power (CP) of 1,500 or lower to participate. The Ultra League only allows Pokémon with a CP no higher than 2,500. The Master League has no limit on the CP value of the Pokémon. The Go Battle League has been used in competitive Pokémon play. In October 2021, it

28561-471: Was used to support its qualifiers and competitions. In 2019, it was announced that the 2020 Pokémon World Championships would take place in London , United Kingdom, the first time in which the World Championships would be held in a location outside of North America . This is likely due to the setting of Pokémon Sword and Shield , which takes place in a region inspired by the United Kingdom known as Galar, and it

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