2025 Global Challenge I for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet announced — Online competition to run from January 31st to February 2nd

Following the first three Grand Challenges taking place at the end of last year, the first Global Challenge of VGC's 2025 series has now been announced. Registration for this online competition is open until January 30th, at 11:59pm (UTC), with the event itself scheduled to run from January 31st at midnight UTC through to February 2nd at 11:59pm (UTC).

This event uses the Regulation Set G ruleset, allowing the use of every Pokemon able to be caught in or traded to Scarlet and Violet, including Paradox Pokemon, Legendary Pokemon, and a maximum of one Restricted Special Pokemon per team. The only Pokémon unable to be used are every Mythical Pokémon as well as any Greninja with the Battle Bond ability.

The list of Restricted Special Pokemon available in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is as follows.

• Mewtwo
• Lugia
• Ho-Oh
• Kyogre
• Groudon
• Rayquaza
• Dialga
• Palkia
• Giratina
• Reshiram
• Zekrom
• Kyurem
• Cosmog
• Cosmoem
• Solgaleo
• Lunala
• Necrozma
• Zacian
• Zamazenta
• Eternatus
• Calyrex
• Koraidon
• Miraidon
• Terapagos

Entries are limited to one per user per game version per Nintendo Switch console, and no entries will be accepted once the competition period has started. All players who participate, by completing at least 3 battles, receive a participation prize of 100,000 League Points, a Gold Bottle Cap, and an Ability Patch. Trainers will be limited to 15 matches per day, however any unused matches will be carried over to Trainer's limits for the next day of the competition.

Players who rank high at the end of the event will also receive Championship Points, a rating that allows players with a high enough score to be invited to the 2025 Pokémon World Championships. At the end of the series, the 75 players in the Masters Division with the highest amount of Championship Points in the US and Canada region are invited, alongside the highest-scoring 75 from the Europe region, the top 50 from the Latin America region, top 20 from the Oceania region, and top 5 from the Middle East & South Africa region.

To register for the competition, follow these steps:

1. Launch your Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game.
2. Open the X menu.
3. Select Poké Portal.
4. Select Battle Stadium.
5. Select Online Competitions.
6. Under Official Competitions, select Search for a Competition.

To check rankings after the competition is over, follow these steps:

1. Launch your Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game.
2. Open the X menu.
3. Select Poké Portal.
4. Select Battle Stadium.
5. Select Online Competitions.
6. Select Previous Results.