| Event | Pokémon Japan Championships 2023 Main Battle (additional event) |
|---|---|
| Location | Online |
| Date | 28 May 2023 |
| Attendance | 386 qualified players (363 in attendance) |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2023 Season – VGC Regulation Set C |
| Format | In-game ladder competition |
| Organizer | The Pokémon Company (TPC) |
Table of Contents
Teams and results
Check here the full top 64 standings!
A more complete list of teams can be found here, thanks to our colleagues from Liberty Note!
Platform and schedule
The tournament is held online, in your Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game, at the Online competitions section of the Poké Portal’s Battle Stadium.
The tournament starts on 28 May 2023 at 9:00 JST (00:00 UTC). You are able to play up to 20 battles until 15:00 JST (06:00 UTC).
You need to complete at least 10 battles to be eligible for prizes.
This tournament was announced on 17 May 2023 after the Online Competition anomalies experienced in the Japan Nationals Main Stage 14 May event, which required a patch to the Pokémon Scarlet & Pokémon Violet games and forced a change in the structure of the Japanese circuit. The Online Competition issue was fixed in version 1.3.1 of the game, released on 25 May.
Prizes
This event is an official tournament and is part of the 2023 official circuit in Japan.
It is unknown if there will be any participation prize.
Additionally, the highest-placed players earn invites to the live stage of Japan Nationals.
| Placement | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st to 64th | Japan Nationals live stage invite |
Overview
The main stage of the 2023 Japan National Championships is an official Online Competition featuring double battles, and is region-locked. It is the sixth Online Competition in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet games for players in Japan, and the fifth one relevant in the VGC circuit for them.
Online Competitions have been featured in the official circuits for some years now. Region-locked Online Competitions are something new to Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, and they have been chosen to act as qualifiers to the National Championships in South East Asia or even as National Championships themselves.
Previous editions of the Japan Nationals have featured different formats and qualifying systems, but in the last few years qualification has been through in-game ladder qualifiers to a live event. The 2023 edition’s main stage is the first since 2021 to be played as an in-game ladder competition itself before the live event, and due to the anomalies that happened in the first main stage, it is the first time to feature two competitions.
The ruleset is VGC Regulation Set C.
A little bit of history
Japan has been a part of the official TPC circuit since its inception. It has hosted multiple major events, including old-era Regionals and National Championships, and is particularly successful in the online competitions. As the most successful country in VGC, Japan’s greatest trophies have been brought home by 4 World Champions (Kazuyuki Tsuji in 2009, Shoma Honami in 2015, Ryota Otsubo in 2017 and Naoto Mizobuchi in 2019), as well as the 2008 VGS Champion (Izuru Yoshimura) and other 7 in the Senior and Junior divisions throughout the years.
The most recent tournament held for players in Japan was held was the 2023 Japan Nationals Main Battle, played online as an in-game ladder competition earlier this month. First place was earned by an unknown player, while Global Challenge III 2nd place Kaito Arii got again second.
American James Evans, the 2018 Senior Division World Champion, defeated Brazilian Gabriel Agati in the NAIC finals.
Sign-up instructions
The tournament is open only in the cartridges that qualified through any of the following criteria, only available if the Online Competition settings are configured to Japan and for players that have not already qualified to the Japan Nationals live stage through the main stage on 14 May:
- Top 150 among players in Japan in the Japan Nationals Qualifier #1 (Global Challenge I)
- Top 150 among players in Japan in the Japan Nationals Qualifier #2 (Global Challenge II)
- Top 150 among players in Japan in the Japan Nationals Qualifier #3 (Global Challenge III)
Sign-ups for the event are done through your own Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game, starting on 26 May 2023 at 9:00 JST (00:00 UTC). To register, enter the Poké Portal → Battle Stadium → Online competitions → Search for a competition (in the Official Competitions column).
You will need to register and lock a team at the time of registration.
Sign-ups close on 28 May 2023 at 8:59 JST (27 May at 23:59 UTC).
