Announced earlier this month alongside Play! Pokémon 2022 updates, Niantic is ready to share more details about the very first Pokémon GO Championship Series. Held in part with The Pokémon Company, Pokémon GO Trainers will be able to battle it out to be the very best next year with the finalists representing their region in London at the 2022 Pokémon World Championships.
Previously, Niantic stated that Trainers who want to get a head start could do so by obtaining Legend rank in Pokémon GO Battle League Season 9. Yet, Trainers also needed to make sure they met the requirements for Senior and/or Master age divisions (born in 2009 or earlier). Now with that said, here are the new details as shared on the official Pokémon GO blog.
Pokémon GO Championship Series
Format
The format for the 2022 Pokémon GO Championship Series will be the Great League.
Registration
Trainers will be able to register for Pokémon GO Championship Series events via a two-phase registration window.
- Early Registration: Players who achieve Legend Rank in a GO Battle League season will be able to register for certain events before anyone else during a short early-registration window.
- Open Registration: * Once the early-registration window closes, all remaining spots will be made available for players of any rank.
When to Register
Online registration for the earliest events will open in January 2022. Tournament organizers will handle registration. An entry fee may apply, and events may sell out.
How to Register
To register for Pokémon GO Championship Series events, you’ll need to link your Pokémon GO account to a Trainer Club account and have a Play! Pokémon Player ID.
This account link is separate from the account-linking system used to log in to Pokémon GO.
You’ll be able to link your accounts for Pokémon GO Championship Series registration toward the end of 2021. Details about tournaments will also be available through the Event Locator at that time.
Pokémon GO Championship Series events
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, and some will even earn a travel award to the World Championships, too! World Championships invites will be distributed at each qualifier as follows for each age division.
Regional Championships
- 1st place: World Championships invite and travel award
- 2nd place: World Championships invite
International Championships
- 1st place: World Championships invite and travel award
- 2nd place: World Championships invite and travel award
- 3rd and 4th place: World Championships invite
- Prize money is also awarded at each event.
Visit Pokemon.com to find up-to-date details on qualifier-event locations, dates, prizing, and more.
Play! Pokémon shared the locations of the Regional Championships, Special Events, and International Championships for North America and Europe too. According to the Pokémon Company, “[a]dditional Regional Championships and Special Events may be announced later.” Currently, here’s the planned line-up for the 2022 season and events marked with an * will include the Pokémon GO Championship Series:
Play! Pokémon Regional Championships and Special Events – North America
- March 18–20, 2022: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- March 25–27, 2022: Orlando, FL, USA*
- May 6–8, 2022: Indianapolis, IN, USA
- May 20–22, 2022: Secaucus, NJ, USA
- May 27–29, 2022: Vancouver, BC, Canada*
- June 17–19, 2022: Milwaukee, WI, USA*
Play! Pokémon Regional Championships and Special Events – Europe
- March 26–27, 2022: Liverpool, UK*
- May 7–8, 2022: Bilbao, Spain (Special Event)
- June 4–5, 2022: Milan, Italy (Special Event)
2022 Pokémon North America International Championships
- June 24–26, 2022: Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, OH, USA
2022 Pokémon Europe International Championships
- April 22–24, 2022: Messe Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Before you know it, it’ll be the end of March 2022 and the first in-person Pokémon GO Championship Series events will be taking place! Start practicing now and earn an early registration slot thanks to GO Battle League Season 9 today.
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Written by Jennifer Burch
Illustrator, designer, writer and big Nintendo geek, you can find Jennifer with an N3DS within reach 24/7. As the oldest of three, she has survived many Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sessions intact in addition to getting her brothers hooked on some really weird games. (Cubivore anyone?)
