Registration is now open for the 2020 International Challenge February in Pokémon Sword and Shield. It will remain open until the end of Pokémon Day on Feb. 27.
The tournament will feature full VGC rules in a Double Battle format while also providing potential Championship Points for players trying to make it to Worlds. The event will begin on Feb. 27 at 6pm CT and run until March 1 at 5:59pm CT.
Since you can sign up for the competition now, the full list of rules is also available. That includes all of the Gigantimax Pokémon available for use, the list of banned Pokémon, and the basic layout for the format, which is basically just the standard VGC rules.
Rules
- Region: International
- Battle Format: Double Battles
- Battle Limits: 15 Battles per day
- Your Time: Seven minutes
- Pokémon Restrictions: Galar Pokédex Only.
- Pokémon Limits: Team of four to six Pokémon from Level one to Level 100. All Pokémon then set to Level 50
For a more detailed list of the rules and any other intricacies, you can view the official Play Pokémon page on the main Pokémon website.
Allowed Gigantimax Pokémon
- Charizard
- Butterfree
- Pikachu
- Meowth
- Eevee
- Snorlax
- Corviknight
- Drednaw
- Sandaconda
- Centiskorch
Banned Pokémon
- Zacian
- Zamazenta
- Eternatus
- Bulbasaur
- Ivysaur
- Venusaur
- Squirtle
- Wartortle
- Blastoise
- Mewtwo
- Celebi
- Jirachi
- Cobalion
- Terrakion
- Virizion
- Reshiram
- Zekrom
- Kyurem
- Kyruem-Black and Kyurem-White are also banned
- Keldeo
- Rowlett
- Dartrix
- Decidueye
- Litten
- Torracat
- Incineroar
- Popplio
- Brionne
- Primarina
- Cosmog
- Cosmoem
- Solgaleo
- Lunala
- Necrozma
- Marshadow
- Zeraora
- Meltan
- Melmetal
- All non-Galar native regional variants
- Such as Alolan Raichu or Kantonian Corsola
If you plan on trying to earn up to 50 CP toward qualifying for the Pokémon World Championship, you’ll need to link your Pokémon Trainer Club account to the Nintendo Account that you’ll be using for the event before registering for the tournament. This will let The Pokémon Company’s competitive circuit team track the placements and CP of every registered player more accurately.
The third online competition is going to provide all players who participate in at least one battle during the event a special Ball Guy T-shirt that you can wear in-game.
Registration for the event will close at 5:59pm CT on Feb. 27, with the competition beginning immediately afterward at 6pm.
