Pokémon players demand changes to unfair tournaments in Asia

Pokémon players are tired of how The Pokémon Company is handling tournaments in Asia, and they’ve begun to protest for things to change.

For most players around the world, their path to the World Championships involves participating in regional and international tournaments to earn Championship Points (CP). Each player who has a certain number of CP by the end of the season will be invited to the World Championships. 

But players in Asian regions follow a completely different structure that doesn’t feel as fair. Rather than basing qualifications on CP, many Asian regions such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan first hold online competitions in a best-of-one format. Top players from those competitions will move on to the national tournament in their region in a single elimination bracket. Those results then determine which players qualify for Worlds.

One of the biggest issues with this is the best-of-one format and single elimination bracket. With just one match to play against each opponent, a lot can come down to luck or a gimmick. This is why regionals and internationals in North America, Latin America, Oceania, and Europe opt to use a best-of-three format with swiss rounds. 

On May 28, one VGC player, Chien-Chien Tsai, explained the messy situation leading up to the Taiwan National Championships.

In addition to having a qualification system that greatly differs from the rest of the world, there were also many instances of poor communication involved. From not keeping players updated with the latest information to refusing to listen to players’ concerns, The Pokémon Company (TPC) isn’t doing the best job at handling the whole situation either. In fact, earlier this month, World Champion Ray Rizzo was invited and quickly uninvited from this year’s Worlds due to a huge error in the Japanese tournament system.

Related: After 3 years, Pokémon is finally supporting smaller tournaments again

During the Taiwan National Championships this weekend, Chien-Chien Tsai found a creative way to protest the unfair system in Asia. While battling the tournament’s livesteam, he used a team of Pokémon with nicknames like “Reject single elimination” and “Want to play swiss rounds.” These nicknames were broadcasted on stream until the judges asked him to keep them hidden.

Ultimately, players in Asia like Chien-Chien Tsai just want to be respected and heard by TPC. If the tournament structure and qualification system can be changed in future seasons to align with non-Asian regions, the system would at least be fairer with fewer issues moving forward.