The Pokémon Company has posted a new trailer for Pokémon Masters in which, they reveal new features for the upcoming game. New characters were also revealed.

New Announced Features:

• 3-on-3 co-op play
• Real-time battling system
• Powerful sync moves

New Characters:

Characters profiles
	Professor Bellis Professor Bellis is the Pokémon Professor of the artificial island of Pasio. She's researching the relationship between Pokémon and sync stones, which are needed for sync moves.
	Lear Lear is a prince from some unknown country. Inspired by a past loss to a certain Trainer wearing a hat, he built the artificial island of Pasio and organized the Pokémon Masters League (PML) in order to conquer his own weakness.
	Sawyer Rachel Sawyer supports Lear as part of his loyal staff. Rachel respect Lear for his single-minded seriousness, despite his arrogant nature.
	Paulo and Rockruff Paulo is a rival Trainer who also aims to make it to the Pokémon Masters League (PML). An exceptional student with a strong sense of justice, he's collecting badges just one step ahead of the main character.

Source: https://pokemonmasters-game.com/en-US/buddies

YouTube Clip - Get ready to battle like never before in Pokémon Masters!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIwGe83JUo8

The Pokémon Company International has announced the 2020 Pokémon Regional Championships and the big surprise to many will be the fact that next seasons tournaments will once again initally use Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon instead of Pokémon Sword and Shield which many assumed would be the new games used for competitive play. It is implied that changes may occur to the tournaments format before next years world championships but the Pokémon Company International did not confirm nor announce there would be a transition or a transitional period from SM to SwSh.

When they announced 2017 Pokémon Regional Championships Schedule, they announced there would be a transition from ORAS to SM on December 1st, 2016, only a week and half after SM's release on November 18th, 2016. No such announcement was made for a transition to SwSh in the 2020 Pokémon Regional Championship press release.

2017 Pokémon Regional Championships Schedule

The 2020 Pokémon Regional Championships Schedule press release also does not say there will be a new format like they said in the 2017 schedule press release. All the 2020 press release says is there will be format updates, which normally occur throughout the seasons. Updates aren't the same as a new format.

SM to USUM was announced on December 6th, 2017 for implementation in January 2018, a month and a half after release. We will probably see something similar or maybe even a bit longer with SwSh as they will probably want to announce it with the launch of Pokémon Home for compatibility. The SM to USUM transition was extremely criticized back then as well for being very late, considering there was little difference between SM and USUM to warrant such a delay for competitive players.

This lack of a confirmed transition announcement in the schedule press release, is an indication that they're not fully confident in SwSh. Even starting this competitive season with USUM is a bit of a bad judgement. Masuda confirmed that not all National Dex Pokémon will be in Sword and Shield. For competitive and casual players alike, this means the entire competitive meta will be affected due to missing Pokémon. This transition is the most important transition in generations and starting off the competitive season with USUM seems pointless if a players Pokémon can't be used going forward into Sword and Shield.

2020 Pokémon Regional Championship

Battle in Pokémon TCG and video game Regional Championships taking place all around the world. After the Pokémon International Championships, the Pokémon Regional Championships are the largest events in terms of both attendance and Championship Point payouts.

• Up to $50,000 in prizes, scholarships, and gift cards (based on attendance)
• No qualifications or residency restrictions to enter

Pokémon TCG players need to bring their own 60-card deck that matches the format listed below; Pokémon video game players must bring their own system and a legal team.

All players who have a Trainer Club account and are in good standing with the Play! Pokémon program are welcome to participate.

2020 Pokémon Regional Championships Schedule

At the Pokémon Regional Championships, Tournament Organizers have the option of conducting Pokémon TCG events in the Standard or Expanded format. On the video game side, the 2020 season will begin with Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon on systems in the Nintendo 3DS family. Stay tuned for more information on format updates.

Most Regional Championships have both Pokémon TCG and video game competitions, although some events may be exclusive to Pokémon TCG players or VGC players. Please check the Event Locator for more information about events.

US and Canada Regional Championships Schedule

Date	Location	TCG Format
Sept. 28–29, 2019	Atlantic City Convention Center One Convention Blvd Atlantic City, NJ	Standard
Oct. 11–13, 2019	Knoxville Convention Center 701 Henley St. Knoxville, TN	Standard
Nov. 2–3, 2019	Greater Richmond Convention Center 403 N 3rd St. Richmond, VA	Expanded
Nov. 8–10, 2019	Oregon Convention Center 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd Portland, OR	Expanded
Nov. 30–Dec. 2, 2019	Ocean Center 101 N. Atlantic Ave. Daytona Beach, FL 32118	Standard
Dec. 7–8, 2019	San Diego Convention Center 111 W Harbor Dr. San Diego, CA	Standard
Jan. 17–19, 2020	Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport 2334 N International Pkwy Dallas, TX	Expanded
Feb. 28–Mar. 1, 2020	Gateway Center 1 Gateway Dr. Collinsville, IL	Expanded
Mar. 13–15, 2020	The International Centre 6900 Airport Rd. Mississauga, Ontario, CA	Standard
Mar. 20–22, 2020	Charlotte Convention Center 501 S College St. Charlotte, NC	Expanded
Apr. 4–5, 2020	Salt Palace Convention Center 100 S West Temple Salt Lake City, UT	Expanded
May 9–10, 2020	Albany Capital Center 55 Eagle St. Albany, NY	Standard
May 22–24, 2020	Santa Clara Convention Center 5001 Great America Pkwy Santa Clara, CA	Standard
May 22–24, 2020	Grand Wayne Convention Center 120 W Jefferson Blvd Fort Wayne, IN	Standard
June 5–7, 2020	Wisconsin Center 555 W Wells St. Milwaukee, WI	Standard

Dates, locations, and formats subject to change. More events may be added at a later date.

European Regional Championships Schedule

Date	Location	TCG Format
Sept. 7–8, 2019	Ponds Forge Sports Centre Sheaf St Sheffield S1 2BP United Kingdom	Standard
Sept. 28–29, 2019	Sartory Säle Friesenstraße 44-48 50670 Köln Germany	Standard

Dates, locations, and formats subject to change. More events may be added at a later date.

2020 Pokémon TCG Regionals Championship Points

Best Finish Limit: 6 (Shared with Special Events)

Placement	Championship Points	Kicker (# of participants)
1	200	0
2	160	0
3–4	130	0
5–8	100	0
9–16	80	48
17–32	60	100
33–64	50	200
65–128	40	400
129–256	30	800

Championship Point totals subject to change.

2020 Pokémon VG Regionals Championship Points

The Championship Point payout for the Pokémon VG Regional Championships is:

Best Finish Limit: 6 (shared with Special Events)

Placement	Championship Points	Kicker (# of participants)
1	200	0
2	160	0
3–4	130	0
5–8	100	0
9–16	80	48
17–32	60	100
33–64	50	200
65–128	40	400
129–256	30	800

Championship Point totals subject to change.

Entry Fee

Entry fees are determined by the Tournament Organizer. Please contact the Tournament Organizer or visit the event page for more information.

Prizes

Prizes are awarded to the top players in each of three age divisions. Players must have a Pokémon Trainer Club account with a Player ID attached, and must have opted in to the Play! Pokémon program in order to earn points and awards.

For the Pokémon TCG and Video Game Regional Championships, the format of each prize is dependent on the age of the recipient. Here are the Regionals prizes for the 2020 Play! Pokémon Championship Series season.

18 years of age and older:

• Awards of $5,000 or more: Choice of scholarship or cash
• Awards under $5,000: Cash

Under 18 years of age:

• Awards of $5,000 or more: Choice of scholarship or Pokémon Visa® Prepaid Card
• Awards under $5,000: Pokémon Visa® Prepaid Card

Prizes and prize distribution may be subject to change.

All participants will receive 3 Play! Points and a Pokémon Regional Championships promo card (while supplies last), just for playing!

Prizes are based on attendance per age division. Unless otherwise specified, all prizes are paid in US dollars and subject to applicable tax withholding. Prize winners should consult a qualified tax professional regarding their tax obligations.

Pokémon TCG Regionals Prize Table

Placement	1–24 players	25–100 players	101–200 players	201+ players
1	$500	$1,500	$2,500	$5,000
2	$250	$750	$1,500	$2,500
3–4	$-	$500	$750	$1,500
5–8	$-	$250	$500	$750
9–16	$-	$-	$250	$500
17–32	$-	$-	$-	$250

Subject to change.

Additionally, in eligible markets, the top 64 Pokémon TCG players will receive Pokémon TCG booster packs, regardless of attendance.

1st–8th place: 108 booster packs
9th–16th place: 72 booster packs
17th–32nd place: 36 booster packs
33rd–64th place: 18 booster packs

Pokémon Video Game Regionals Prize Table

Placement	1–24 players	25–100 players	101–200 players	201+ players
1	$500	$1,000	$2,000	$3,000
2	$250	$500	$1,000	$2,000
3–4	$-	$250	$500	$1,000
5–8	$-	$-	$250	$500
9–16	$-	$-	$-	$250

Subject to change.

Additionally, the top 16 video game players will receive Pokémon TCG booster packs, regardless of attendance, in eligible markets.

1st–2nd place: 72 booster packs
3rd–4th place: 36 booster packs
5th–8th place: 18 booster packs
9th–16th place: 9 booster packs


Source: https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/pokemon-events/pokemon-tournaments/regional-championships/

Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution debuted in Japanese theaters on July 12th, 2019 and it was up against Disney's Toy Story 4 for their opening weekend. Movie 22 placed second behind Toy Story 4. It was shown on 408 screens and 454000 tickets were sold for Saturday and Sunday, generating 553 million yen. This placed it 110.6% above last years movie Everyone's Story in it's first week and it ended up with a final revenue of 3.9 billion yen, so it's a decent start for Movie 22. Toy Story 4 made 1.3 billion yen in the same weekend.

Source: https://eiga.com/ranking/

Theaters in five remaining territories still showing "Pokémon Detective Pikachu" propelled the adventure movie past US$436m worldwide, a new record for films based on video games. Cinemas in Norway, New Zealand, Slovenia, Portugal and Colombia generated US$6,994 over the weekend of July 12-14, 2019 per data published by Amazon's Box Office Mojo.

The movie has made $143.3 million USD (domestic, as of July 14th, 2019) and $286 million USD (foreign, as of July 7th, 2019) combing for US$436m. Pokémon Detective Pikachu overtakes Warcraft in terms of both critical response and box office revenue.

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/pok-mon-detective-pikachu-becomes-highest-grossing-video-103240549.html

The official Pokémon movie website has updated. Translations follow:

We Will Hold a Supportive Screening of "Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution" on Friday July 19th

Join your fellow fans in showing your support for those emotional impressions we've all experienced

The legendary event that sold out immediately after tickets went on sale last year
is going to be held once again!

You'll be free to express your support for your favorite Pokémon!
And you can cheer for your favorite characters too, if you want!

Let's all loudly scream out our passionate feelings towards the movie screen!



And she'll be joining you again this year as well!
Shoko Nakagawa, who handled the theme song alongside Sachiko Kobayashi,
will be sitting there in the audience with you, cheering passionately.

Tickets are available until midnight Tuesday July 16th!
Get them here!

Make sure to take the opportunity to join!

Theater: Shinjuku Wald 9
Date and time: Friday July 19th, 9:40pm
*This event is for those age 18 or older only.
*Talking and singing during the movie is allowed.
*Cosplay and props like glowsticks etc are allowed. (Musical instruments are not allowed)

Notes regarding the supportive screening:
Introduction:
"I want to return to being a kid once again - I wonder if I can't become one, even for a day?"
This is a screening for adults that feel this way; Adults that want to return to when they were Pokémon-obsessed kids and cheer on Satoshi and Pikachu once again.

Fill your pockets with lots of Fantasies and come to the theater.

About supporter items:
You may bring supporter items like fans and glowsticks to the screening.
*When you really feel like Pikachu is being super cute, wave a yellow glowstick.
*When you want to show your respect to Mewtwo, act dignified with purple.
*When Satoshi shows off his Super Masaran power, cheer him on with red.
*When the tomboyish mermaid Kasumi overflows with cuteness, make a splash with blue.
*When the mythical Pokémon Mew appears, impress it with pink.

About cheers:
Since you went to the trouble of attending this screening, you should cheer your lungs out! Quips, shouts of joy, cheers; you name it, it's allowed. Even if it's unclear what you're saying, "everyone should understand how you feel"!

*When Mewtwo wakes up in the lab, we should yell the answers to his questions at him.
"Where am I?" -> "The theater!"
"Who am I?" -> "Mewtwo!"
*When your favorite Pokémon appear, you should scream its name.
"Donfaaaaaaaaaaan!"
"Xuuuuuuuuuuuuux!"
"Barnaaaaaaaaaard!"
*You should sing along to "Mezase Pokémon Master"!!
Everyone should sing "Getto daze-i-e-i-e-i-e-i-e-i-e-i-eeee"!

About manners in the theater:
*It's forbidden to suddenly challenge the person next to you to a battle or to throw a monster ball at the screen. In addition, please make it clear to any Pokémon you bring along that they're not to use any moves or such while watching the movie.
*Taking photos or recording video during the movie is strictly forbidden. Junsa-san will be keeping a close watch.

Other notes:
Please tell your future children the tale of this summer when you one day meet them.

Source: https://www.pokemon-movie.jp/news/?p=3785

Niantic has announced that they will be supporting the One Piece Kumamoto Revival Project which manga artist Eiichiro Oda is involved with. The 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes were a series of earthquakes, including a magnitude 7.0 mainshock, which severely damaged Kumamoto and Ōita prefectures in Japan. To promote the ONE PIECE Kumamoto Revival Project, there will be a few promotions in Pokémon GO.


On July 22nd, 2019, ONE PIECE will celebrate its 22nd anniversary and Pokémon GO will celebrate its 3rd anniversary since its launch in Japan. In commemoration of this collaboration, Pikachu wearing a red ribbon straw hat will appear for a limited time all over the world and a red ribbon straw hat will be available as an outfit for trainers from July 22nd, 2019 until July 29th, 2019.

"ONE PIECE Kumamoto Revival Project" https://op-kumamoto.com/

Sources: https://pokemongolive.com/ja/post/strawhat/ and http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/kiji_28503.html