Pikachu trophy

After grueling national tournaments across the globe, more than 500 players from over 30 countries will convene at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. this weekend for the Pokémon World Championships, competing in both Pokémon X & Y and the Pokémon Trading Card Game; to give you a taste of the excitement to come, the Pokémon Company International has launched a new hype video for the event:

Worlds will take place this Friday through Sunday, 15th-17th of August – Friday will be the last-chance qualifiers for tournament competitors, while the tournament proper is Saturday and Sunday. You can catch all the Saturday and Sunday action streaming live right here on Nintendo Life, or head over to Pokemon.com or Twitch; the two full days of coverage begin with the opening ceremony Saturday at 9:00 AM Eastern (2:00 PM in the UK) and end with the closing ceremony Sunday at 6:00 PM Eastern (11:00 PM in the UK). You can check out the full schedule on the Pokémon website here.

In addition to the live streaming, a certain Nintendo Life contributor will be reporting live from Worlds all three days, with daily recaps and interviews to sate your Poké-palate. If you're in the D.C. area (or just a diehard Poké-fan willing to travel the distance), the tournament will be open to the public with all sorts of vendors and side events slated to take place throughout the Convention Center – it's easily Metro-accessible, located one block west of the Mt. Vernon Square station. Come say hi to to us while you're there!