Basic Rules for 2011’s Video Game Championship Series Announced

Pokemon.com has announced some basic rules and information for the 2011 Video Game Championship Series. The tournament rules, thus far, match up with those of Japan’s tournaments. You can read the news article below. It looks like the tournaments must have been pretty popular last year for TPCi to decide to expand the number of age divisions!

Join players from around the world and get ready to compete in the 2011 Pokémon Video Game Championship series! The series starts this spring and consists of multiple events across the United States and Europe – events where anyone can compete. Top players from the National Championships will be invited to the Pokémon Video Game World Championships, taking place this August in San Diego, California!

Here’s a quick snapshot of the major changes you’ll see at the 2011 Pokémon Video Game Championship competitions.

All of the events will be played exclusively on Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version, which will launch in early March. Players will be limited to Pokémon from the Unova Pokédex only, and no two Pokémon on a player’s team can have the same Pokédex number.

Players will compete in one of three age divisions, based on their date of birth:

• Junior Division: Born in 2000 or later
• Senior Division: Born in 1996, 1997, 1998, or 1999
• Masters Division: Born in 1995 or earlier

Each battle will use the Double Battle rules. Players may register 4–6 Pokémon at the beginning of the tournament. Before the start of each battle, players will select 4 Pokémon to use that round, with two Pokémon active at once.

During each battle, all Pokémon will be capped at Level 50. Any Pokémon that is Level 51 or higher will temporarily be reduced to Level 50 for the duration of each battle. Pokémon that are Level 49 or lower will not be raised to Level 50. Pokémon retain all moves they’ve learned, regardless of when they were learned.