2012 Pokémon World Champions crowned

While athletes from around the world were filing into Olympic Stadium for the Closing Ceremony, signifying the end of the games, competitors were still fighting for their countries on the other side of the globe in the 2012 Pokémon World Championships.

Months of preparation culminated in Waikoloa, Hawaii, as Ray Rizzo of the United States won the title of Master’s Division champion for the third straight year, defeating Wolfe Glick, also of the United States, 2-0 in the best-of-three battle.

The Pokémon Video Game Championship Series takes place annually, starting with regional tournament and national competitions, where players in three age groups, Juniors, Seniors and Masters, try to move on and become best in the world.

The matches are double battles, using official rules, where participants choose four Pokémon from their teams of six, and two Pokémon from each team are sent out at once. Pokémon are set to level 50, and matches move quickly, rarely reaching the 15 minute time limit.

The United States swept all of the age groups with Junior Division Champion Abram Burrows and Senior Division Champion Toler Webb. A video of the entire event, along with the Pokémon: The Card Game Championship is available on YouTube.

The winners each received scholarship prizes, a Pikachu trophy, a return invitation to next year’s event and the chance to be immortalized with their teams in the upcoming games Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2, as downloadable competitors for the in-game World Tournament.

Rizzo’s championship team consisted of Tyranitar, Garchomp, Cresselia, Hydreigon, Rotom-W and Metagross, often using Tyranitar’s Sand Stream ability to manipulate the weather in the field and gain an advantage. Glick failed to counter with his sun-based team of Cresselia, Terrakion, Exeggutor, Charizard, Thundurus and Heatran.

The 2013 Pokémon World Championships will be held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, the first time in the 8-year history of the event for it to take place outside of the United States.