Pokémon 'Catch A Million' Event Aims To Raise Money For Childhood Cancer Research

Pokémon is one of the most popular gaming franchises in the world, and as such can be utilised to bring players together. To that end St. Baldrick’s Foundation (the largest non-government funder of cancer research in the US) is planning a week-long Twitch marathon called 'Catch a Million to Conquer Kids’ Cancer', with the goal of raising $100,000 for global projects.

The initiative will have two branches. On the one hand there'll be a one week race between two 'teams' that'll have their communities play Pokémon Red and Blue through chat.

A 24/7 Twitch Plays race pits Team Bruce Greene and Team KaraCorvus in a race to complete as much Pokémon content as possible using the “Twitch Plays” chat-driven gameplay format. Each team’s community will play the classic Pokémon Red and Blue collectively by entering commands in chat.

Team captain Bruce Greene is an independent content creator who previously created gaming content for channels like Inside Gaming, Funhaus, and an array of Rooster Teeth productions. Captain KaraCorvus is a scientist and gamer. Previously employed as a microbiologist, she is now streaming, acting, modelling, and voice acting full time.

The second key part of the fundraiser is an integrated app that'll allow other Twitch streamers to take part; once they've registered they'll be able to add their Pokémon catches in any of the main games to a communal goal, which is to catch one million 'mon. That big-time goal is also there to encourage donations and fundraising while communities enjoy chasing the target.

Below are the official details:

- A Twitch-integrated app tracks the Pokémon participating streamers capture during the fundraiser and updates CatchAMillion.com live with the latest capture data and new challenges for participating streamers.
- As long as streamers are live on Twitch (with the tracker), their captures will count toward the million-Pokémon goal.
- Every Pokémon counts toward the million-Pokémon goal, from Red and Blue through modern releases.
- Participants MUST register for the event on CatchAMillion to contribute towards the overall goal.

It could be a lot of fun to follow for fans of Pokémon that also enjoy chilling out with some Twitch streams. It'll run for a week from 24th April, so we'll be sure to keep an eye on its progress.