There was also a stage, with very enthusiastic live entertainers that made me remember King Rah and made the Winter Challenge even more reminiscent of the good old Super Trainer Showdowns. All day long, there were announcements about how everyone should go and check out Pokémon Snap on the Pokémon Snap stand. They had intense marketing for it, though - I wonder why. It turns out the game's just being re-released for Wii's virtual console. When I first saw this, I was puzzled and suprised, then excited: "Wow, they're making a Wii sequel to the 7 year old N64 game Pokémon Snap, and letting Winter Challenge visitors try it before the game is even released?" I thought. This area is designed like a classroom, where instructors show you how to play, and let you try your very first matches. The Winter Challenges have several "corners" where you can participate in various activities. In fact, they don't crown a "winner" at all. The Winter Challenge events are not big tournaments designated to find the best player in a region. And what does he do only one month after making Pokémon history as the first player every to play the Worlds final two years in a row? He wins his country's National Championships and thus secures a double-invite to Worlds 2008. Yano won Worlds 2006 and thus got a free trip to World 2007, where he to everyone's astonishment went all the way to the finals again, going second at Worlds 2007 and qualifying for Worlds 2008 right there. Yano is in my opinion now without doubt the best Junior player Pokemon has EVER seen. Noteworthy results in September's Champions League included Yamato going second in Masters, losing his final to a Japanese Masters veteran known as "Mon" on the internet, and the absolutely incredible Hiroki Yano winning Juniors. Yes, Japan already has some players qualified for Worlds 2008! Unless I'm misunderstanding something. Held in September, this event once again selects Japan's Number One Player, and decides who will get to go to the next year's World Championships. From mid-July to early September, these events are held to select the players who can go to the Summer Champion's League. There are about 8 of these tournaments each year, and they're spread over a longer time period than the Spring Battle Roads. This year, Yamato won this tournament in Masters. The winners of Champion's League win a trip to Worlds, just like we do at tournaments called "National Championships". It's basically one month of Battle Roads, followed by a Champion's League, the season's final event where all the best players in the country meet. While our (Pokémon USA's) tournament season last from September to August (Worlds), with the final event of a country being in May - July (July for the US, May for some European countries), Japan's tournament season is much shorter. The only different is that it's held twice a year. The Champion's League is basically Japan's National Championship. The Battle Road Spring Winners gain entry to the Spring Champion's League. Each Battle Road selects a Junior, Senior and Master champion. These two areas are the Kansai area (where I live, and where you can find such cities as Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto all very close to each other) and the area of Kanto (where you find Tokyo, 'nuff said ). For two areas in Japan, this means that they have two Battle Roads for the area. Some of the more densely populated areas in Japan can have GIANT Battle Roads. Or, to be precise, in 6 different areas of Japan. There are about 8 of these tournaments each year, from mid-March to early April, and they're held all over Japan. If you're already lost by now, I will explain it in detail: The Winter Challenges are a new series of major events in Japan, and meant to fill up the long space between the Summer Battle Roads/Summer Champion's League and the Spring Battle Roads/Spring Champion's League. Today I went to the first Pokémon TCG "Winter Challenge" ever held in Japan (and the world, for that sake), in Nagoya.
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