If you think you're up to snuff, then make sure your DS is charged and head out to the cities below at the posted date, because that's exactly where you'll want to be to prove your worth as a Pokémon trainer. As of this weekend, the Pokémon Winter Regional Championships are underway.
Pokémon Championships are nothing new, but this competition will be the first time that gamers will be playing Pokémon X and / or Pokémon Y. The events are open to the public, and there's no prerequisites to enter, so if you think you've got the skill, here's the places and the times you'll want to be:
* Doswell, VA - January 11th-12th - (Trading Card Game both days, Video Game Jan. 12th only) - Exhibition Hall at Meadow Event Park, 13111 Dawn Blvd.
* Long Beach, CA - January 18th-19th - (TCG both days, Video Game Jan. 19th only) - Long Beach Convention Center, 300 East Ocean Blvd.
* Salem, OR - January 18th-19th - (TCG both days, Video Game Jan. 19th only) - Oregon State Fair and Expo Center, Columbia Hall, 2330 17th Street NE
* St. Charles, MO - January 18th-19th - (TCG both days, Video Game Jan. 18th only) - Saint Charles Convention Center, One Convention Center Plaza
* Orlando, FL - January 25th-26th - (TCG both days, Video Game Jan. 26th only) - International Palms Resort, 6515 International Dr.
Top finishers in the events get booster packs, trophies, and stipends from a pool of nearly $200,000 in travel allowances, which can be applied toward earning a Pokémon U.S. National Championships Travel Award. But the true blue ribbon is an invitation to the 2014 Pokémon World Championships in Washington, D.C. this August.
More information about each event and entry details can be found here.
Pokémon X and Y released this past fall to rave reviews as well as great sales numbers. It's also been reported by Nintendo Life that Masuda expressed interest in making more Mega Evolutions.
The games represent a radical change for the franchise, the top down perspective having been replaced with more of a three quarter perspective, and battles look radically different. As per usual, players will see several new pokémon, 5 of which were teased in the game's trailer at the time of the announcement. There's the usual array of new starter Pokémon, and each game will play host its own type of new, legendary Pokémon. And what's more, a number of classic Pokémon have earned mega-evolutions they can transform into during battle.
The games got off to a great start, but things could be going better. An influx of new monster hunters courtesy of Christmas led to an overcrowded Nintendo network, which caused the higher ups to delay the arrival of Poké-apps like the Pokémon Bank outside of Japan. As of yet, there's still no word on when the Bank is expected to arrive.
A post on Nintendo's Facebook page read, "Hi, Pokémon fans. As you may know, we are currently experiencing a large volume of traffic on the Nintendo Network service. Due to the high traffic, we are postponing the launch of Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter until further notice. As a Nintendo standard, we strive for the utmost quality before launching any of our applications. We truly regret the inconvenience, and wish to reassure you that providing a solution is our top priority. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your continued patience."
It's unknown how this will affect the free 30 day trial for anyone who downloads and activates the service prior to January 31, if at all. For Japanese players, the Bank has been working fine, and gamers were recently gifted with the legendary pokémon Giratina.
