Pokemon Marathon Out in the Wild on Friday

From the weekend's Mario Marathon news – which is currently at nearly $50,000, by the way – to this news of an equally worthy charity event, this time focusing on the Pokémon series instead.

ExtraLives.org is a site dedicated to gaming marathons that, in just one year, has raised nearly $27,000 for charities around the world. To celebrate the site turning one year old, the staff will be revisiting its beginnings by completing a Pokémon Marathon starting this Friday, July 2nd at noon Eastern Time (9am PST, 5pm BST). Two gamers will race to complete each game side-by-side, starting with the original Red before progressing through Japanese-only release Pokémon Green, virtual electric mouse simulator Hey You Pikachu! and a number of bootlegged titles.

Each donation goes towards Free the Children, a charity that provides clean water, healthcare, food and education to children in third world countries, with the goal being to raise $8,500 to build a school house in a developing nation. Donating $5 will enter the donor into a raffle for a t-shirt, and giving more than $20 could get you featured on the live stream by taking on one of the Pokémon marathoneers in a WiFi battle.

You can find out more over at the Extra Lives website and don't forget to tune in from this Friday.