North Carolina city holds world’s largest Pokémon Regional Championship

What happened: Over 3,000 players reportedly competed at the tournament across three different games, including the Trading Card Game (TCG), “Pokémon Go” and “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet” under the Video Game Championship (VGC) category. TCG and VGC both have Masters, Seniors and Juniors divisions, while “Pokémon Go” only has one division.

Christine Noah, an organizer for Overload Events, acknowledged the massive number of players who attended the tournament that kicked off on Friday. She told WCNC Charlotte that the weekend event has become the “largest regional tournament worldwide ever.”

What winners got: More than $50,000 in cash and scholarship prizes were up for grabs at the weekend event. Winners can choose to receive their winnings in either cash or scholarship, according to The Pokémon Company.

Aside from scholarships or cash prizes, winners will receive Championship Points. These are needed to secure their slots in the 2024 Pokémon World Championships, which will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Who won: Brazilian player Vinicius Fernandez won the TCG Masters tournament in a best-of-three match and took home a grand prize of $10,000, while U.S. player Wolfe Glick won $6,000 in a best-of-three in the VGC Masters grand finals. Canadian player Kyle “LyleJeffsIII” Jeffs won first place in a Best-of-Five in “Pokémon Go,” bagging a $2,500 cash prize.

What’s next: North America has five regional tournaments left in the current 2023-2024 Pokémon Championship season. These will take place in Knoxville, Tennessee, from Feb. 2-4; Vancouver on March 22-24; Orange County, California, on April 12-14; Indianapolis on May 3-5 and in Los Angeles from May 24-26.

Meanwhile, the final two legs of the 2024 Pokémon International Championships are set to take place in London from April 5-7 and New Orleans on June 7-9. All tournaments will culminate in the World Championships at Honolulu, which is expected to take place in the second or third week of August.