Big Pokemon Announcement/Info

[Anthony Akahoshi]

Well, a lot of you know me for my support of the Pokemon TCG. Some of you have asked for a post with information in regards to this game, so here it is.

First off, I would like to thank all the players that stayed with the game, and have continued to support league/tournaments.

For the first time in a LONG while, Hawaii will get a taste of the premier events Pokemon Organized Play (POP) has to offer.

In October, we will have a Battle Road tournament.  Battle Roads are one of the first tournaments a player can participate in to work on their Premier Rating to potentially earn an invitation to the Pokemon National Championships or even the World Championships!  Check our calendar or the Pokemon
Organized Play website for date, time, and more information on this event. 
I'm sure that if we have a good turn-out for this event, we might be able to get
Prereleases and maybe even City/State Championships.

A lot of people I talk to feel that there are no prizes or events for this game, and that may be true locally, but that is far from true nation-wide and world-wide.  Pokemon events offer great prize support, tournaments/events, and event coverage.  Best of all, ALL premier level events are free!  There is a breakdown of prizes for the premier events later in this post.

People may also argue that only kids play the game, but attendance is to the contrary.  Pokemon events are divided up into age divisions; Junior, Senior, and Masters.  While not confirmed, the divisions for the 2009-2010 seasons should be Juniors (born 1999 or later), Seniors (born in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998), and Masters (born in 1994 or earlier).  Each prize
breakdown is for EACH age division, which means three times the number of prizes
listed are actually given out.  Pokemon Nationals this year broke the
record for attendees at almost 1200 players, over half of them were in the
Masters division.  The Last Chance Qualifier for Worlds had 125 Junior, 160
Senior, and 457 Masters players.

In addition to all of the events POP has to offer, they have a player rewards program as outlined in this link: http://www.go-pokemon.com/op/whatisop/playerrewards.htm

The big reason I'm posting about this is that the World Championship is coming back to Hawaii.  Next year, the final event of the tournament season will return to Kona, Hawaii to test the skill of top-players from all over the world.  Back in 2007 the World Championship came to Hawaii, and I was able to participate in the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) and side events.  My
rogue deck did well, but not good enough to get me into the championships. 
The 2009 LCQ for worlds allowed many players (30ish in each age division) to get
into the championships, so we may come to expect similar numbers next year.

Not only does POP offer an excellent program, but their coverage of the National and World Championships are spectacular.  Here are the websites for the previous events:
Worlds 2009 Hilton San Diego @ San Diego, California - http://www.go-pokemon.com/worlds/2009/
Worlds 2008 Hilton Walt Disney World Resort @ Lake Buena Vista, Florida- http://www.go-pokemon.com/worlds/2008/
Worlds 2007 Hilton Waikoloa @ Kona, Hawaii - http://www.go-pokemon.com/worlds/2007/
Worlds 2006 Hilton @ Anaheim, California - http://www.go-pokemon.com/worlds/2006/

It is very rare for players of any game to experience this type of high-level event.  Local Magic players got to play in Pro Tour Honolulu back in 2006 and again this year (2009), Yu-Gi-Oh! Players had Shonen Jump Honolulu in 2008, and Pokemon players had the World Championships back in 2007 and now 2010.  I hope to be able to put together a team of players who are interested in going
and participating and representing Da-Planet/Hawaii at this event.  More
details will come later if and when this happens.

For those who have interest in playing, you can come to participate in the Leagues/Tournaments scheduled on Sundays.  I will be running these events on the floor most of the time, and can answer any questions you may have.  There is a lot of information in this post, and all questions should be able to be answered with one of the many links, but you can send me a message if you
have any questions at all.

Here are some resources to look at:
Online rulebook - http://www.go-pokemon.com/op/strategy/rulebook.html
Other documents - http://www.go-pokemon.com/op/tournaments/rulesandresources.html
Major community website - http://pokegym.net/
Collection of rulings, errata, etc - http://compendium.pokegym.net
- Click the Compendium LvX in the left-hand column.

Here's a breakdown of what has been given away in the 2008-2009 season in general order of events occuring.  Each image/name of the event is a link to the official page.  Those pages have the complete information about those events.

Event	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place	Other
Battle Road Autumn	8  packs. A Victory Medal—Silver promo card	4 packs.	Note that these are the 2008-2009 season prizes.  For the 2009-2010 season, 1st will be 4 packs, 3rd and 4th get 2 Pokémon TCG booster packs, and the A Victory Medal—Silver promo might be changed/replaced.  Keep an eye on the event and POP sight for details.
City Championships	18 packs A City Champion medal	10 packs	4 packs	4 packs
State Championships	A Pokémon TCG S/P/T 1st Place trophy A $300 travel allowance to participate in the Pokémon TCG National Championships (U.S. & Canada). 36 packs Other cool Pokémon merchandise	A Pokémon TCG S/P/T 2nd Place trophy 16 packs	A Pokémon TCG S/P/T 3rd Place trophy 8 packs	A Pokémon TCG S/P/T 4th Place trophy 8 packs	5th through 8th Place 4 packs
Event	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place	Other
Regional Championships	A Pokémon TCG Regional Championships 1st Place Trophy A Travel Award for the winner (including a parent or legal guardian for players under 18), U.S. residents only, to the 2009 U.S. National Championships at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri. A scholarship award worth $1500 (Click here for scholarship details and restrictions). A combination of 36 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions Other cool Pokémon merchandise	A Pokémon TCG Regional Championships 2nd Place Trophy A scholarship award worth $1000 (Click here for scholarship details and restrictions). A combination of 36 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions	A Pokémon TCG Regional Championships 3rd  Place trophy A combination of 36 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions	A Pokémon TCG Regional Championships 4th Place trophy A combination of 36 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions	5th Place through 8th Place A combination of 18 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions 9th through 16th Place A combination of 9 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions
Battle Road Spring	8  packs. A Victory Medal—Gold promo card	4 packs.
Event	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place	Other
National Championships	A Pokémon TCG National Championships First-Place Trophy An invitation to the 2009 Pokémon TCG World Championships A Travel Award for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players under 18) to the 2009 World Championships A scholarship award worth $5000. Click here for scholarship details and restrictions A Nintendo DSi™ Game System A combination of 72 booster packs from the current Pokémon TCG expansions Other great Pokémon-themed merchandise!	A Pokémon TCG National Championships Second-Place Trophy An invitation to the 2009 Pokémon TCG World Championships A Travel Award for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players under 18) to the 2009 World Championships A scholarship award worth $3000. Click here for scholarship details and restrictions A Nintendo DSi™ Game System A combination of 72 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions Other great Pokémon-themed merchandise!	A Pokémon TCG National Championships Third-Place Trophy An invitation to the 2009 Pokémon TCG World Championships A Travel Award for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players under 18) to the 2009 World Championships A scholarship award worth $1500. Click here for scholarship details and restrictions A Nintendo DSi™ Game System A combination of 36 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions Other great Pokémon-themed merchandise!	A Pokémon TCG National Championships Fourth-Place Trophy An invitation to the 2009 Pokémon TCG World Championships A Travel Award for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players under 18) to the 2009 World Championships A scholarship award worth $1500. Click here for scholarship details and restrictions. A Nintendo DSi™ Game System A combination of 36 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions Other great Pokémon-themed merchandise!	5th through 8th Place An invitation to the 2009 Pokémon TCG World Championships A scholarship award worth $750. Click here for scholarship details and restrictions A combination of 36 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions 9th through 16th Place A combination of 18 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions 17th through 32nd Place A combination of 9 booster packs from current Pokémon TCG expansions
Event	1st Place	2nd Place	3rd Place	4th Place	Other
World Championships	A Pokémon TCG World Champion Trophy An invitation to the 2010 World Championships A Travel Awards for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players considered a minor) to the 2010 World Championships A scholarship award worth $7,500 (Click here for scholarship details and restrictions) One box of each of the most current Pokémon TCG expansions for a year Cool Pokémon World Championships commemorative items A customized Pokémon Nintendo DSi™!	A Pokémon TCG World Championships Second-Place Trophy An invitation to the 2010 World Championships A Travel Awards for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players considered a minor) to the 2010 World Championships A scholarship award worth $5,000 (Click here for scholarship details and restrictions) One box of each of the most current Pokémon TCG expansions for a year Cool Pokémon World Championships commemorative items A customized Pokémon Nintendo DSi™!	A Pokémon TCG World Championships Third-Place Trophy An invitation to the 2010 World Championships A Travel Awards for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players considered a minor) to the 2010 World Championships A scholarship award worth $3,500 (Click here for scholarship details and restrictions) One box of the next upcoming Pokémon TCG expansion Cool Pokémon World Championships commemorative items A customized Pokémon Nintendo DSi™!	An invitation to the 2010 World Championships A Travel Awards for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players considered a minor) to the 2010 World Championships A scholarship award worth $3,500 (Click here for scholarship details and restrictions) One box of the next upcoming Pokémon TCG expansion Cool Pokémon World Championships commemorative items A customized Pokémon Nintendo DSi™!	5th through 8th Place A scholarship award worth $1,500 (Click here for scholarship details and restrictions) 36 booster packs from the next upcoming Pokémon TCG expansion Cool Pokémon World Championships commemorative items A customized Pokémon Nintendo DSi™! 9th through 16th Place A scholarship award worth $1,000 (Click here for scholarship details and restrictions) 36 booster packs from the next upcoming Pokémon TCG expansion A customized Pokémon Nintendo DSi™! 17th through 32nd Place 36 booster packs from the next upcoming Pokémon TCG expansion A customized Pokémon Nintendo DSi™!