Pokémon Trainers, this is the moment you've been waiting for!

This spring and summer, thousands of Pokémon Trainers from around the globe will battle it out with their prized Pokémon for a chance to win it all at the 2009 Pokémon Video Game World Championships. The only official Pokémon video game competition of its kind—placing the world’s best Pokémon players in head-to-head competition—will begin Regional Qualifier Tournaments on Saturday, May 9, kicking off the largest video game tournament season in Pokémon history.

The format for the Pokémon VGC will include six different U.S. stops in addition to tournaments being organized in Europe and across Japan. Pokémon fans will play in the U.S. Regional Qualifier Tournaments and Pokémon Video Game National Championships and if successful will meet their international rivals from Japan and Europe at the Pokémon VGC World Championships, which take place in San Diego on August 14 and 15.

The 2009 Pokémon VGC schedule will include competitions in six cities with weekend stops in Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Nashville. At each regional, up to 128 players for each age division (Juniors and Seniors) will be selected at random from those in attendance but all registrants will walk away with a character distribution of a powerful, and rarely seen, level 50 Shiny Milotic. Details about the tournament and each of the event locations can be found at www.pokemonvgc.com.

May 9 – Seattle, WA
May 16 – San Francisco, CA
May 23 – Phoenix, AZ
May 30 – Dallas, TX
June 6 – Philadelphia, PA
June 13 – Nashville, TN
June 27 – St. Louis, MO

Winners from each of the regional tournaments will win trips to play in the Pokémon Video Game National Championships in St. Louis on June 27 and 28— before landing one of only 60 coveted international invitations to compete on the ultimate stage—the Pokémon Video Game World Championships.

Competitors will be required to play with Pokémon Platinum Version, which became available on March 22 at retailers nationwide. Players will need to bring their own copy of the North American Pokémon Platinum Version to participate and will compete using the "2-on-2 Double Cup" format, with no Pokémon allowed to exceed level 50. European players will use Pokémon Diamond Version or Pokémon Pearl Version at their qualifier tournaments.

For more information, visit www.PokemonVGC.com!