In 2010 and 2011, players took it upon themselves to stream the Pokémon World Championships using their phones (Thanks Alaka, DrFidget, and Danny). In 2012, we received our first ever official livestream at Worlds via GameSpot and NicoNico. In 2013 we saw The Pokémon Company International bring in expert commentators like Scott Glaza and Evan Latt. In 2014, the stream expanded to the US National Championships.
Now it is 2015 and we’re happy to report that the 2015 Regional Championships in St. Louis, Missouri will be streamed officially by Pokémon on their Twitch channel. The video game and trading card game will both span the course of two days over the weekend of February 14th and 15th in what should be one of the biggest events the midwest has ever seen! Your commentators for the video game will be veterans Scott Glaza (Nostrom) and Evan Latt (plaid). On the trading card game side will be the ever knowledgeable Kyle Sucevich (Pooka) and Joshua Wittenkeller (TheJWittz).
Additionally, we plan to stream the Southern California Regional in Lancaster, California on the Nugget Bridge Twitch channel so you can tune in to watch during any downtime. This is also a two day event.
New Abilities & Items
Hot on the heels of the Generation IV starters, the Generation II starters will be entering the metagame with brand new abilities. Meganium, Typhlosion, and Feraligatr will be available with Leaf Guard, Flash Fire, and Sheer Force respectively for anyone who uses Pokémon Bank between February 27th and November 30th, 2015.
Additionally, you can now obtain the Custap, Micle, Rowap, and Jaboca Berry by playing a new minigame in the PokeMileage Club on the Global Link!
Online Tournaments
There are two online ladder-based tournaments on the Global Link coming soon.
Generation Showdown
This follows the ruleset commonly referred to as GS Cup and is the template used for the 2010 Video Game Championships. You will be allowed to use two Pokémon from the restricted list on your team. Registration is open now and the event will happen at the same time as the Missouri, Oregon, Southern California, and Virginia Regional Championships. Check it out on the Global Link.
February International Challenge
Though it will follow the Standard format, this will not award Championship Points like International Challenges usually do. This seems to be more of a test and a concentrated pool to test out your teams in. Unfortunately it will happen during Florida Regional Championships and after all other Winter Regionals in Europe and North America are completed. Check out the full details here.
The post News Roundup: Regional Stream Details, New Hidden Abilities & Items, and PGL Tournaments appeared first on Nugget Bridge.