The 2015 Pokémon Video Game World Championships is scheduled for August 2015, and the Pokémon Company just announced that the tournament will offer $2 million in scholarship grants and cash prizes.
The $2 million will be split into different regional tournaments and events. The World Championship event itself will have a $500,000 pool of awards. These awards will be given to the top 16 tier players of the final event in each of the three age divisions, with a $10,000 scholarship award for the first spot, $7,500 for second place, $5,000 for third and fourth place, $3,000 for those in fifth to eighth place, and $1,500 for ninth to 16th place.
According the announcement in the game's website, the first and second place winners will also receive:
- A Pokémon World Championships Trophy
- A Travel Award for the winner (and parent or legal guardian for players considered minors) to the 2016 World Championships
- An invitation to the 2016 World Championships
- Two boxes of the most current Pokémon TCG expansion
The path to Pokémon World Championship will involve qualifying events in 40 different European countries. National Championship events will be held at the following locations and dates:
- May 16-17 – Germany Nationals to be held at the Carl Benz Arena in Stuttgart
- May 30-31 – U.K. Nationals to take place at EventCity in Manchester
- June 13-14 – Italy Nationals to happen at Mediolanum Forum in Assago
In the United States, the Winter Regionals already concluded. It ran from Feb. 14 to March 1 in California, Florida, Missouri, Oregon, and Virginia. All of the events are available for live viewing via Twitch.
Winners of the National Championship events will be granted enough points to join the World Championship event to be held in Boston, Massachusetts from Aug. 21 to 23.
"Pokémon X/Y", "Pokémon Omega Ruby" and "Pokémon Alpha Sapphire" will be the primary games in the competition. The Pokémon Trading Card tournament will also take place during the same events.
One of the biggest changes for this year's tournament is that there will no longer be wildcards thrown into the competition. Only players with sufficient Championship Points will be given slots in the World Tournament.
