Update: Fixed the commentary on the misinterpreted species clause. Sorry for causing confusion - I didn't get any sleep and the announcement's wording is ambiguous! XD

Basic details for this year's Pokemon Video Game Championships have been announced, as you can read below. You can use one of any Pokemon you want, excluding the special event Legendary Pokemon listed below. You are also limited to using a maximum of two Pokemon out of the list of Dialga, Giratina, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Lugia, Mewtwo, Palkia, and Rayquaza, meaning you will never see three of these Pokemon on one team.

Get ready for the Pokémon Video Game Championships, returning in spring 2010 to cities across the globe! Returning participants will notice that most of the rules and guidelines are the same as last year, but we've been working hard to make exciting changes that will make the 2010 Pokémon Video Game Championships better than ever! These changes include:

• Players now using Pokémon HeartGold or SoulSilver Version games exclusively
• Pokémon Level 51 and higher being automatically graded down to Level 50 for the duration of the battle using a new auto-leveling feature
• Each Pokémon keeps all of the moves it knew before being adjusted
• Pokémon that evolve after Level 50 don't devolve
• Any Pokémon below Level 50 will stay at its current level
• Virtually every Pokémon found in the National Pokédex of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions is eligible, including Pokémon traded in from earlier games, with the following exceptions:
• Arceus, Celebi, Darkrai, Deoxys, Jirachi, Manaphy, Mew, Phione, and Shaymin cannot participate
• A team cannot contain more than two of Dialga, Giratina, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Lugia, Mewtwo, Palkia, and Rayquaza during a battle

Stay tuned for more information regarding the upcoming Pokémon Video Game Championships! Look for details around March 14th when Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions arrive in stores!

Update (7:00 AM) - Bangiras has finished translating all of the cards in Revived Legends after several hours of work, including the main set's cards, the Tyranitar deck's cards, and the Steelix deck's cards! We're both going to sleep right now after being up all night, so if there's any errors or problems, we'll fix them later in the day. Enjoy, and feel free to discuss the set in this forum topic!

With special thanks to Toho, we now have early scans of Revived Legends, which you can view below. Translations of all of the cards in the set are available on our Revived Legends page with a huge thanks to Bangiras. The set will officially be released in Japan on Thursday.

A new Alph Lithograph card is the secret rare in the set (#81/80). It has new card text, a different texture, and a darker color than the previous two Alph Lithograph cards in LEGEND: HeartGold & SoulSilver Collection. It seems each of the LEGEND sets will have an Alph Lithograph card with different effects.

What is up with the Suicune LEGENDs? The first one has a turtle mouth and the legs of the second one look completely messed up; it looks like the back leg is a hand. If you cut it off, the art would probably look more normal. Suicune sure is getting shorted lately. They even made it shoot Aurora Beams out of its heinie (1:22) in HeartGold and SoulSilver.

Below are the main set scans, followed by the Tyranitar theme deck and Steelix deck cards. Click the thumbnails below for larger images, and use your left and right arrow keys to scroll through them like a slideshow.

CoroCoro's website has also posted the new Pokemon's silhouette; it is seen among a timeline of past Pokemon games, which all point to a new series. Since all of the games shown are from the main Pokemon series, the image essentially confirms that the new games will be the fifth generation's, in case that wasn't already obvious when the initial announcement stated that new Pokemon would be featured. Click the thumbnail to the right for a larger image.

It is important to note that in our previous story, we assumed that the new Pokemon silhouette was "Z" when it could in fact be a completely different Pokemon. Because Pokemon Sunday said they were going to reveal "Z's" identity on their February 21st show and then later stated they would be revealing the new Pokemon's silhouette at that time as well, we figured both Pokemon were the same. However, it is possible that the two revelations are for two different Pokemon - "Z" and the new Pokemon silhouette. In reviewing the episode, it is also never explicitly stated that the Pokemon silhouette is "Z." Therefore, we could be dealing with two new Pokemon!

So what is this new Pokemon? Some people think it looks like an evolution of Lucario, but I personally see it as a completely new Pokemon or an evolution of Mightyena. Plastic bags advertising the movie showed all of its stars (Celebi, the beasts, Lugia, Ho-Oh), Tangrowth, and Mightyena. We already knew Tangrowth would be in the movie because of how heavily it was advertised with movie products, so it is probably safe to assume that Mightyena will be as well. In comparing Mightyena with the new Pokemon silhouette, there are also some obvious physical similarities - it looks like Mightyena became a bipedal werewolf. And I'm not totally sure about this, but don't werewolves shapeshift? At least in Harry Potter they do. This movie is called The Ruler of Illusion, so if the new Pokemon is werewolf-esque this theory could fit. There's also the fact that Munchlax, Bonsly, Mime Jr., and Weavile were all related to existing Pokemon when they were revealed as the first fourth generation Pokemon, which means this new Pokemon could be too. But alas, this is JUST a theory, and since fans are almost never right about these sort of things, don't expect me to be either. :p It could just be a new Legendary Pokemon unrelated to other Pokemon.

What do you think the new Pokemon is? Feel free to speculate in this forum topic! There's already fan art too! XD

Update: In reviewing the episode, we're not totally sure the Pokemon below is "Z" due to the fact it was implied rather than stated. If it's not, it's possible we could see two new Pokemon in a few weeks. Either way, we still have one new one!

Uploaded this literally ten seconds after it aired! Junichi Masuda's video message showed a silhouette of the new fifth-generation Pokemon codenamed "Z," as you can see below. It is the "Z" from the 13th movie's title, The Ruler of Illusion: Z. Masuda also mentioned that this Pokemon holds the key to the movie. Pokemon Sunday will reveal the Pokemon in full on their February 21st show, which is in two weeks. CoroCoro magazine will be out before then and may reveal it first, though. How exciting is this?! Feel free to speculate what this Pokemon is in this forum topic!

Pokemon Sunday is still airing, so this isn't all the news yet.

In regards to The Master of Illusion: Z, the Pokemon Sunday crew stated that they will reveal who "Z" is on their February 21st episode in two weeks. CoroCoro magazine will be out before then and will probably reveal it themselves, however.

We still are waiting for Junichi Masuda's video message, which may contain important news.

Pokemon Sunday is going to air in an hour! Junichi Masuda is set to make a big announcement on the show via a video message, and the Pokemon Sunday crew is going to play a game where they try to guess who "Z" is (though whether they find out remains to be seen). Will we find out the names of the new Pokemon games that are coming out by the end of this year? Will we see a new Pokemon? A new forme? Silhouettes? Something else? All will be revealed soon, so be sure to check back here! In the mean time, feel free to speculate in this forum topic!

Update: This is why I can't take real math classes in college. If you have four Slowking in play, you can flip up to four coins to cause your opponent's Trainer card to fail, which means there is only a 6.25% chance their Trainer will work. Yes, the mistranslated Slowking was that powerful, and yes, I'm dumb when it comes to evil math. :D

Sneasel from Neo Genesis is to be reprinted in Revived Legends with updated artwork and the same attacks. However, it will now have a new Fighting weakness and will only resist Psychic-type Pokemon by 20 damage instead of the original 30.

Back in ye olden days of the TCG, Sneasel was banned from the game due to its ability to deal up to 140 damage on the player's second turn. Realistically it would deal less than that due to the coin flips required, but since the HP of Pokemon was much lower back then, Sneasel could still deliver serious and swift damage. Sneasel was banned along with the powerful Slowking at one point, though the latter was due to a mistranslated Pokemon Power that, at its worst, would only allow the opponent to use their Trainer cards 25% 6.25% of the time. In the current format, however, Sneasel won't be as much of a threat due to its low 60 HP. Isn't it interesting to see how much the TCG has changed since 2001?

There will also be a Weavile in the set, as you can see to the right. It has a Pokemon Power that allows you to view your opponent's hand to discard a card, though the Power can only be used when you place Weavile from your hand on to Sneasel. Its attack allows you to snipe any of your opponent's Pokemon for 30 damage.

Update (8:30 PM): New cards from the Tyranitar deck have been revealed! Bangiras has translated them all below. Bill is almost completely and utterly useless with Team Rocket's Handiwork in the format.

Houndoom - Darkness - HP90
Stage 1 Pokemon - Evolves from Houndour

[D] Bonfire Strike: 20 damage. If your opponent has any Fighting-type Pokemon in play, this attack does an additional 60 damage.
[D][D] Dark Roar: 50 damage. Your opponent discards 1 card from his or her hand.

Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance: Psychic -20
Retreat: 1

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Weavile - Darkness - HP80
Stage 1 Pokemon - Evolves from Sneasel

Poke-Power: Snatch Claw
You can use this power once during your turn, when you play this card from your hand to Evolve a Pokemon. Look at your opponent's hand and discard 1 card.

[D][C] Feint Attack: Does 30 damage to 1 of your opponent's Pokemon. This damage isn't affected by Weakness, Resistance or effects on the targeted Pokemon.

Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance: Psychic -20
Retreat: 0

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Rattata - Colorless - HP40
Basic Pokemon

[C] Gnaw: 20 damage.

Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance: none
Retreat: 1

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Raticate - Colorless - HP80
Stage 1 Pokemon - Evolves from Rattata

[C] Cutting Fang: Does 10 damage times the number of damage counters on the opponent's Active Pokemon.
[C] Chew Apart: 30 damage. Discard 1 Special Energy card attached to the opponent's Active Pokemon.

Weakness: Fighting x2
Resistance: none
Retreat: 0

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Team Rocket's Handiwork - Supporter

Draw 2 cards from your deck. Then, your opponent discards 1 card from his or her hand.

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Flower Shop Lady - Supporter

Show your opponent 3 Pokemon and 3 Basic Energy cards from your discard pile, return them to your deck, and shuffle your deck.

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A new Revived Legends commercial is currently airing in Japan and has been posted on the official Pokemon Card website. Two adults at one of the Pokemon Center stores are trying to convince a kid to buy one of the set's two theme decks (instead of both?), and in the first commercial, he picks the Steelix deck, while in the second, Tyranitar's is his choice. The commercial shows a few cards from each deck, which you can see to the right (click the thumbnail for a larger image). Remember, Revived Legends will be released in Japan next Thursday, and we will of course have scans and translations before then.

In other news, there is a 70% chance I'm going back to Japan again this summer through the same program! I want to go again so I can grab fifth generation news, report on the thirteenth movie (maybe early again? :p), and go to the Ghibli Museum. The only thing that might prevent me from going is if my academic adviser tells me I should do my film internship this summer rather than next, but I'll find out what my options are next week. I actually have a choice between going to Japan for a second time and going to Hawaii for the first time (around the time of Worlds). But since TPCi hates my guts and I don't feel like promoting something of theirs due to all the trouble some people in their TCG department give me, I don't think I'll get much out of going there (other than threats from their lawyers or tomfoolery concerning why I can't have a press pass :/).

Two new Hoothoot and Noctowl promos are available early at Target stores in a blister pack containing a HeartGold & SoulSilver pack, a POP 9 pack, and both of the aforementioned promos. Hoothoot is HGSS #5 while Noctowl is #6, obviously meaning that all of the black star promos have been reset and are using the "HGSS" prefix now instead of "DP." Promos one through three are probably going to be the Pokemon Prime reprints of Feraligatr, Meganium, and Typhlosion, while the fourth promo will most likely be the Pikachu available in the set's three-pack blister. Click the thumbnails below for larger scans, which were sent in by menoknow3.

Famitsu magazine's Pokemon page for this month's issue has been leaked on to the Internet. It doesn't contain any information we don't already know, but nonetheless reaffirms that the new games are most likely for the fifth generation. There appears to be some sort of interview on the bottom of the page, but it is too blurry to make out. Hopefully a larger scan will come out soon. Click the thumbnail to the right for a larger image.

We've waited 4 years since Diamond and Pearl... the development of a completely new Pokemon series has been confirmed! What's more, it will be released this year!? New Pokemon will appear!