Nintendo UK has announced that they are searching for the very best Pokémon Experts and newcomers to participate in the Pokémon X and Pokémon Y Battle Tournament 2014. Tournament consists of 4 different categories: Ultimate Pokémon Expert, Junior Pokémon Expert, Pokémon Apprentice and Ultimate Pokémon Team.

Regional Heats

The Regional Heats are single elimination knock-out for each tournament category. All tournament rules adhere to the official rules for the Pokémon Video Game '14 Season unless stated otherwise. The winner of each tournament heat is entered into the Grand Final in London on April 26th, 2014.

Qualification Locations:

• Bullring, Birmingham – 1st March
• GAME Churchill Square, Brighton – 1st March
• GAME Murraygate, Dundee – 2nd March
• Intu Eldon Square, Newcastle – 8th March
• GAME Hamleys, London – 8th March
• GAME St. David’s Centre, Cardiff – 8th March
• WestQuay, Southampton – 15th March
• GAME Meadowhall, Sheffield – 15th March
• GAME Castle Street, Banbury – 15th March
• Bluewater, Kent – 22nd March
• GAME Back Of The Inns, Norwich – 22nd March
• GAME Victoria Centre, Nottingham – 22nd March
• Intu Trafford Centre, Manchester – 29th March
• GAME Westfield Stratford City, London – 29th March
• Intu Braehead, Glasgow – 5th April
• GAME Cribbs Causeway, Bristol – 5th April

Ultimate Pokémon Expert

Ultimate Pokémon Expert is for players aged 13 and over. Players must bring their own console and copy of Pokémon X or Pokémon Y for use in the tournament. The battles are conducted under Double Battle Flat Rules. The Grand Final prize is a trip to Tokyo for two people for seven nights, including flights, accommodation and a trip to the Pokémon Centre. The winner and runner-up at the Grand Final will receive fast track entries to the second round of the Official Play! Pokémon UK VCG Championships in May 2014. Winners will be placed in the appropriate age category for the Play! Pokémon series events based on The Pokémon Company International rules set for the season.

Junior Pokémon Expert

Junior Pokémon Expert is for players aged 12 or under. Players must bring their own console and copy of Pokémon X or Pokémon Y for use in the tournament. The battles are conducted under Double Battle Flat Rules. The Grand Final prize is a family trip for four to The Alton Towers Theme Park & Resort, including 3 nights' accommodation and weekend access to the theme parks. The winner and runner-up at the Grand Final will receive fast track entries to the second round of the Official Play! Pokémon UK VCG Championships in May 2014. Winners will be placed in the appropriate age category for the Play! Pokémon series events based on The Pokémon Company International rules set for the season.

Pokémon Apprentice

Players can bring their own console and copy of Pokémon X or Pokémon Y for use in the tournament, or they will provide players with a console and game with a pre-set team. Battles are conducted under Double Battle Normal Rules. All Pokémon entered as part of the team may not hold items, including Mega Stones, or exceed Level 50 in their normal state. The Grand Final prize is a bundle of Nintendo 3DS games coming out in 2014, plus a collection of Pokémon Trading Card Game packs.

Ultimate Pokémon Team

The Ultimate Pokémon Team is for family teams of two. The older player must be aged 16+, and the younger aged 12 or under. Players can bring their own console and copy of Pokémon X or Pokémon Y for use in the tournament, or they provide players with a console and game with a pre-set team. Battles are conducted under Four Player, Double Battle Normal Rules. All Pokémon entered as part of the team may not hold items, including Mega Stones. The younger team member's Pokémon may not exceed Level 50 in their normal state. The older team member can enter Pokémon at any level. The Grand Final prize is £250 of Nintendo UK Online Store Vouchers, plus a trip for four to London including tickets to the EGX London exhibition.

Full tournament rules are available on Nintendo's website. Players can also register at the Battle Tournament website.

Tournament Trailer

Source: https://microsite.nintendo-europe.com/pokemontournament/

Palkia has been confirmed to make an appearance in the upcoming Super Smash Bros for Wii U and Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS games. Masahiro Sakurai (桜井政博), Director of the games, posted on Miiverse that in the upcoming games, Palkia can come out of a Poké Ball and use its signature move Spacial Rend.


Source: https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAACAADRUqFtqsdrEA

The Pokémon X and Pokémon Y Beta Competition (インターネット大会 テスト Internet Tournament Test) is the first Pokémon Global Link online tournament to permit Kalos-region Pokémon. The tournament is split into two divisions, the Junior Category for those born in 1999 or later and the Master Category for those born in 1998 or earlier. Initial registration started on January 27th, 2014 to participants who played enough matches to make it to the ranking list. On January 31st, 2014, the open-to-all registration was made available with limited positions and tournament positions were determined by lottery rather than the first-come-first-serve rule used in earlier online tournaments. Players that registered have an equal chance to be chosen to play in the tournament. Those that are chosen to play in the tournament will notified by e-mail on February 14th, 2014.


All Pokémon are changed to level 30 for the tournament and players are allowed 20 battles each day of the tournament. Unused battles from a previous day are carried over to the next day for a total of 60 battles. All Pokémon from the National Dex are allowed but they need to have been caught or hatched in Kalos. Players could not cannot use Pokémon that were brought to Pokémon X or Pokémon Y using the Nintendo 3DS downloadable software Poké Transporter, nor can they use Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Xerneas, Yveltal, or Zygarde.

Results will be published February 28th, 2014. Players in the Junior Category are not allowed to battle between 11PM and 5:59AM local time. Participants will also get a questionnaire to fill out to report on how they felt about the tournament which will then used to help decide on changes for upcoming tournaments.

English Game Registration

To be considered for the Pokémon X and Pokémon Y Beta Competition, player must sign in to Pokemon.com and follow these steps exactly. If players do not follow these steps exactly, they may not be added to the invitation request list.

1. Go to the Pokemon.com support center.
2. Click on the "Home" tab
3. Click on “Ask a Question.”
4. In the Department dropdown menu, select “Video Games.”
5. Do not select anything in the Inquiry Type dropdown menu (this field is not required).
6. Click the checkbox for “Request Invitation to Beta Competition”
7. Type “XY Beta Competition” in both the Summary field and the Details field, and then submit the form.

Japanese Game Registration

Both the Pokémon Global Link and the Pokémon Daisuki Club have a news item linking people to the tournament introduction page on the Global Link site. Click on the registration link here to be redirected to the tournament registration page on the Daisuki Club site, which will prompt you to log into your Daisuki Club account. Once logged in, simply click on the button to register for the tournament.

We have created a Pokémon X and Y Online Competitions page that will keep track of all the tournaments for the game.

Sources: http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/pgl_beta_competition-2014-01-31/ and http://www.pokemon-gl.com/pre_competitions/

Nintendo has announced on their Current Network Status page that Pokémon X and Y will undergo Extended Maintenance on Monday, January 27th, 2014 at 4:00 PM Pacific Time until 10:00 PM. Online Play, Rankings and other features that require the Nintendo Network will be unavailable for players of Pokémon X and Y.

Source: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/network/en_na/network_status.jsp

All 8 Pokémon Center locations in Japan will be distributing Gangar (ゲンガー) and Hassam (ハッサム) to players of Pokémon X and Y. The previous Ghost (ゴースト) and Strike (ストライク) 2013 Christmas Exchange was a very popular event according to the official Japanese Pokémon website. From Saturday February 1st, 2014 until February 28th, 2014 players have a chance to get Gangar and Hassam once again at the Pokémon Centers. This time though instead of trading with a Pokémon Center staff member, players can directly get Gangar and Hassam via a local wireless Mystery Gift.

Gangar and Hassam will be distributed at different times of the day. Each Pokémon is rotated hourly each day during the distribution time period. The table below lists the times and which one is being distributed at that time.

Distribution Time Chart

Time	Pokémon
10:00am to 11:00am (10時～11時)	Gangar (ゲンガー)
11:00am to 12:00pm (11時～12時)	Hassam (ハッサム)
12:00pm to 1:00pm (12時～13時)	Gangar (ゲンガー)
1:00pm to 2:00pm (13時～14時)	Hassam (ハッサム)
2:00pm to 3:00pm (14時～15時)	Gangar (ゲンガー)
3:00pm to 4:00pm (15時～16時)	Hassam (ハッサム)
4:00pm to 5:00pm (16時～17時)	Gangar (ゲンガー)
5:00pm to 6:00pm (17時～18時)	Hassam (ハッサム)
6:00pm to 7:00pm (18時～19時)	Gangar (ゲンガー)
7:00pm to 8:00pm (19時～20時)	Hassam (ハッサム)
8:00pm to 9:00pm (20時～21時)	Gangar (ゲンガー)

Gangar is level 25, has the OT (親名) Pokesen (ポケセン), has the Ability Levitate (ふゆう) and knows the following moves: Night Shade (ナイトヘッド), Confuse Ray (あやしいひかり), Sucker Punch (ふいうち) and Shadow Punch (シャドーパンチ).

Hassam is level 25, has the OT (親名) Pokesen (ポケセン), has the Ability Swarm (むしのしらせ) or Technician (テクニシャン) and knows the following moves: Metal Claw (メタルクロー), False Swipe (みねうち), Agility (こうそくいどう) and Fury Cutter (れんぞくぎり).

Players can then get the Mega Stones to Mega evolve both Gangar (ゲンガー) and Hassam (ハッサム) during battles.

Source: http://www.pokemon.co.jp/info/2014/01/140122_p01.html

The Pokémon Company International released a digital remastered soundtrack for Pokémon HeartGold and Pokémon SoulSilver on iTunes on January 14th, 2014. It can be downloaded on iTunes at the following link: https://itunes.apple.com/gd/album/pokemon-heartgold-pokemon/id796790051. Information about the soundtrack can be found in our CD database. The soundtrack was originally released in Japan on October 28th, 2009.

Press Release - Pokémon HeartGold & Pokémon SoulSilver: Super Music Collection launches on iTunes today.

The Pokémon Company International today has released a digital remastered soundtrack from Pokémon HeartGold and Pokémon SoulSilver.

The game, which released in 2010, featured in-game music composed by Junichi Masuda, Gō Ichinose, and Morikazu Aoki, and included remixes of iconic 8-bit themes from Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver.

The soundtrack releasing today includes beautifully adapted and orchestrated versions of the original music.

Fans can expect more to come in 2014 from the Pokémon musical archives, including the soundtracks of:

1. Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire
2. Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl
3. Pokémon Black and Pokémon White
4. Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2

The launch follows previously released soundtracks of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, and Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen, under the Super Music Collection moniker.

Ghost (ゴースト) and Strike (ストライク) will be distributed to players of Pokémon X and Y in Japan at the 8 Pokémon Centers and the participating 45 Toys R Us locations as a Christmas Exchange (クリスマス交換会) event distribution. In the spirit of exchanging and giving during Christmas time, players can exchange one of their Pokémon in a trade to get either Ghost or Strike starting on December 21st, 2013 until December 26th, 2013.

Any caught Pokémon from Pokémon X and Y can be traded but easily caught Pokémon such as Horubee or Yayakoma are recommended as they are available early in the games. Players can then use the Player Search System (PSS) to trade their Pokémon with a store staff member.


The Ghost (ゴースト) players will receive will evolve into Gangar (ゲンガー) at the end of the trading process. Gangar is level 25, has the OT Christmas (クリスマス), has the Ability Levitate (ふゆう) and knows the following moves: Psychic (サイコキネシス), Confuse Ray (あやしいひかり), Sucker Punch (ふいうち) and Shadow Punch (シャドーパンチ).

Strike (ストライク) will be holding the Metal Coat item and it will evolve into Hassam (ハッサム) at the end of the trading process. Hassam is level 25, has the OT Christmas (クリスマス), has the Ability Technician (テクニシャン) and knows the following moves: Aerial Ace (つばめがえし), False Swipe (みねうち), Agility (こうそくいどう) and Fury Cutter (れんぞくぎり).

Players can then get the Mega Stones to Mega evolve both Gangar (ゲンガー) and Hassam (ハッサム) during battles.

Lucky Egg Serial Code

Players of Pokémon Black or White, Pokémon Black 2 or White 2, as well as Pokémon X and Y can also receive a serial code to get a Lucky Egg. Only serial code will be given per person and there is only a limited number of serial codes that will be distributed.

Commercial

During Pokémon Get TV 10, a commercial aired to announce the distribution at the Pokémon Centers.

Wal-Mart in the United States has revealed that they will be selling copies of Pokémon X and Y that feature exclusive unlock codes to download Garchomp and Scizor. Those that purchase a copy of Pokémon X from Wal-Mart from November 28th, 2013 until June 30th, 2014 will be able to get an exclusive Garchomp. Those that purchase Pokémon Y from Wal-Mart during the same time period will be able to get an exclusive Scizor. Players should look for the specially marked copies that have the label's on the covers.


Sources: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pokemon-X-Wal-Mart-Exclusive-Nintendo-3DS/33060453 and http://www.walmart.com/ip/Pokemon-Y-Wal-Mart-Exclusive-Nintendo-3DS/33060454

The official Tretta website updated this week with a lot of new information. On November 28th, 2013, the 8th Tretta set, Fes Set 3, entitled Did you see that? An all-new power!! (みたか！ あらたなパワー！！) will be released in Japan. This set debuts Bashamo as a Master Class Tretta and the new Tretta color Deep River Blue (ディープリバーブルー). Details about the Fes Set 3 have been added to our Tretta page and will be updated as information is revealed.

Sonansu Tretta Event Distribution for XY

Sonansu makes its debut in Pokémon Tretta Fes Set 3 and those that trade in their SUPER CLASS (8-19) or NORMAL CLASS (8-39) Sonansu by putting the Tretta in a special machine can then exchange their Sonansu Tretta for an event download version of it for their Pokémon X and Y games. Tretta players though will loose the ability to use that Sonansu in Tretta as the machine will return an blank version of the Sonansu Tretta.


The exchange machine will be available at the Pokémon Card Game Battle Festa (ポケモンカードゲーム バトルフェスタ) which is being held on December 15th and 23rd, 2013, at the World Hobby Fair '14 Winter (次世代ワールドホビーフェア'14Winter) on January 15th, 2014 in Nagoya, January 25th and 26th, 2014 at Makuhari Messe, on February 2nd, 2014 in Fukuoka and finally February 9th, 2014 in Osaka.

Pokémon Tretta Lab for Nintendo 3DS - Version 1.2

On November 13th, 2013, version 1.2 of Pokémon Tretta Lab for Nintendo 3DS was made available for download on the eShop. The patch fixes Tretta scanning detection. The patch is 34 blocks.


Sources: http://www.pokemontretta.com/tretta/t08/index.html, http://www.pokemontretta.com/event/e131115_4/index.html

Nintendo announced on October 25th, 2013 that a patch to fix Pokémon X and Y was available to download from the eShop. The 1.1 patch fixes the bug that corrupted saves when people saved their games in certain parts of Lumiose City (Miare City ミアレシティ). The patch also fixed a problem that could lead to errors when trying to use a filter on the GTS function to exchange Pokémon with players all over the world. The update requires 227 blocks.

How to Download the update

Scan one of the QR codes below with your Nintendo 3DS which is connected to the Internet. Please note that the updates are different for Pokémon X and Pokémon Y.


Download the update by selecting the "Pokémon X Ver 1.1 Update" or the "Pokémon Y Ver 1.1 Update". After the download completes, the update will automatically be preformed.

To confirm the patch was successful, start Pokémon X or Pokémon Y and look at the Ver. number on the bottom right corner of the lower screen. It should indicate that it is "Ver. 1.1".

Source: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/3ds/ekjj/update/index.html