More Online Competitions Are on the Way!

Plus, GAME FREAK’s Shigeki Morimoto has a personal message for Pokémon Trainers everywhere.

Start preparing your strategy for a series of Online Competitions running throughout the summer and into autumn! Online Competitions are a fun way to battle and improve your skills against real opponents in advance of live tournaments. Online Competitions often have unique rules and regulations, so be sure to consult each event’s regulations page when you register.

Upcoming Online Competition events:

• June 6-8: Think Fast Competition: Single Battle
  This newly announced Single Battle competition will be the shortest and the fastest yet. For those who have a tough time setting aside time for battling, this competition is perfect for you. Use this chance to quickly and easily experience battling other Pokémon players from around the world.
• Late June: International Challenge June
  In the international arena, we will continue to run preliminaries for the Pokémon World Championships to help determine who will get to represent their country at Worlds! Master Trainers of the world, take part!
• July: Eevee Friendly Match (tentative title)
  This Rotation Battle competition will be limited to Eevee and its evolutions only!
• July: All Star ☆ Battle (tentative title)
  This all-star Double Battle competition will allow you to use any Pokémon you wish, including Legendary and Mythical Pokémon! Plus, for this competition only, you will also be able to use Pokémon that you have brought from past games in the series using the Poké Transporter!
  Note: You will only be able to include a maximum of two of certain Legendary Pokémon and Mythical Pokémon in your Battle Box.
  Note: Diancie will not be eligible for entry in this competition.
• August: Think Fast Competition: Double Battle
  In this competition, you will not get to see your opponent's team before the battle begins. And with only one backup Pokémon allowed on your team, each contestant will be limited to three Pokémon total! This will be the fastest and shortest Double Battles from the time you send out your Pokémon until the battle is over.
• Autumn: Fairy Type Cup (tentative title)
  Look forward to a competition where entry will be limited to Fairy-type Pokémon. The battle format is to be determined.
• Autumn: Halloween Party (tentative title)
  In a special competition for the Halloween season, we will have a special Single Battle competition for Ghost-type Pokémon only. And that's not all—every contestant must include Gourgeist in their Battle Box, as well!

Specific information for each competition and its regulations will be announced two to three weeks before the competition's start date. The timing and content of upcoming competitions may be subject to change.

In addition to these Online Competitions, don’t miss out on new challenges that await you in Rating Battle Seasons 5 and 6. Visit the Pokémon Global Link for details on these upcoming opportunities to battle.

Look forward to competing in these exciting events, and stay tuned to Pokemon.com and the Pokémon Global Link for more information.

And now, GAME FREAK’s Battle Director Shigeki Morimoto has a special message for Pokémon Trainers:

Pokémon players around the world! I'm very, very grateful to see so many people participating in Pokémon battle events again this year, including the Pokémon World Championships and online competitions. How have you done in the rankings? For everyone located in regions that are holding World Championship preliminary events, keep giving it your all!

It appears that Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire have been announced! I think these games are going to cause another huge change in the world of battling. They will be released in November of this year, so until then you'll still be battling using Pokémon X and Pokémon Y. So, we have prepared a whole lot of fun competitions and events to showcase all that Pokémon X andPokémon Y have to offer for battle!

Of course, furious Pokémon battles will continue with the release of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire. Draw forth Pokémon's full potential in a variety of different battle formats!

Additionally, I am personally looking forward to seeing what kind of Pokémon will be used in Inverse Battles in Season 4 of the rating battles, which has just begun. It looks like Garchomp and Kangaskhan might still have an edge, but this time Garchomp has a 4x weakness to Electric-type moves!

I hope you'll continue to take part in random matchups and competitions. And let's get pumped up waiting for Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire! Until then, even I, Morimoto, will secretly take part in battles, too!

From the Battle Director of the Pokémon series,

Shigeki Morimoto, GAME FREAK Inc.

Thanks, Mr. Morimoto. And good luck to Pokémon Trainers everywhere!