| Event | Pokémon Trainers Cup 2023 Final Round |
|---|---|
| Location |  Seoul, South Korea |
| Date | 3–4 June 2023 |
| Attendance | Tournament cancelled (MA) 4 qualified players (SR and JR) |
| Videogame | Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet |
| Season | 2023 Season – VGC Regulation Set C (before HOME ver. 3.0.0) |
| Format | Bo3 single-elimination bracket Open team lists, but with closed Tera Types Players only can check team lists before the match |
| Organizer | Pokémon Korea |
Table of Contents
Teams and results
Master Division
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | List | Exp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12-2 |  | Abdullah Mohayyuddin (sempra) | 200 CP $3000 |       |  |  |
| 2 | 11-3 | | Ryan Loseto (SableyeVGC) | 160 CP $2000 |    |  | |
| 3 | 11-3 |  | Dylan Salvanera (Dylan) | 130 CP $1000 |      | | |
| 4 | 11-3 | | Aaron Zheng (CybertronVGC) | 130 CP $1000 |   | | |
| 5 | 12-2 | | Zackary Thornberg (Zack) | 100 CP $500 |      | | |
| 6 | 11-3 | | Neil Patel (Neil) | 100 CP $500 | | | |
| 7 | 11-3 | | Gavin Michaels (HUH?!!) | 100 CP $500 |      | | |
| 8 | 11-3 | | Demitrios Kaguras (DEMITRI) | 100 CP $500 |  |  | |
The Masters Division tournament was cancelled after all participating players were disqualified.
Senior Division
| # | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | Exp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | Yeomyeong S. | Worlds Day 2 + F&A |   | |
| 2 | | Jaesung L. | Worlds Day 2 + F |    | |
| T4 | | Minjae K. | Worlds Day 2 + A | | |
| T4 | | Chaewon J. | Worlds Day 2 + A |   |
Junior Division
| # | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | Exp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | Harin K. | Worlds Day 2 + F&A |  | |
| 2 | | Sian L. | Worlds Day 2 + F |   | |
| T4 | | Byungkwan P. | Worlds Day 2 + A |    | |
| T4 | | Se-um S. | Worlds Day 2 + A |  |
Check here to see the seeds for top cut from the Day 2 Swiss standings!
| # | Swiss | Flag | Player | Prize | Team | TL | Exp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 105 | 7-3 |  | Ian Roberts (76) | 40 CP |  | |
Streaming
This event was recorded and later streamed, only featuring the Senior and Junior Divisions, with Dongmin Park and Mori Ahn as casters:
- Junior Division: stream starts on 17 June 2023 at 08:00 UTC
- Senior Division: stream starts on 17 June 2023 at 10:00 UTC
Senior Division
| Round | Player 1 | vs | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 4a | Minjae K. | vs | Jaesung L. |
| Top 4b | Yeomyeong S. | vs | Chaewon J. |
| Finals | Yeomyeong S. | vs | Jaesung L. |
Junior Division
| Round | Player 1 | vs | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 4a | Sian L. | vs | Byungkwan P. |
| Top 4b | Harin K. | vs | Se-um S. |
| Finals | Sian L. | vs | Harin K. |
Participating players
The Final Round of the 2023 Pokémon Trainers Cup is open only to the players that qualified through the following criteria:
- Top 4 players in the Pokémon Trainers Cup (28 May tournament)
NOTE: 1st place Seunghoon Cha‘s participation in the Final Round was revoked by Pokémon Korea. 5th place Hyungyu Ko was invited in his place.
That tournament was also invite-only: players needed to qualify to it by placing top 50 amongst the players in South Korea in Global Challenges I, II or III.
NOTE: Initially, the invites to the Final Round were going to be awarded to the top 4 players in the Pokémon Trainers Cup 14 May tournament. However, the anomalies experienced in that tournament forced to repeat it. As a result, the 28 May tournament was announced and the results from 14 May were voided, giving the best 16 players an invite to the 2024 Pokémon Trainers Cup as compensation.
Qualified players need to sign up to an invite-only Online Competition (Poké Portal → Battle Stadium → Online competitions → Search for a competition) and as a form of team submission as per the indications sent to them by email (even though this event is not played as a ladder competition). The newly available items and Egg Moves are banned to maintain the format of the qualifiers events.
Venue and schedule
The tournament is held in a recording studio in Seoul, with Juniors and Seniors players playing on 3 June 2023. Masters players were scheduled to play on 4 June 2023 before they were disqualified the previous day. Information about location has only been released to the participating players.
The players will face in a best-of-3 single-elimination bracket. The event will feature open team lists, except Tera Types, which will be closed. Additionally, during the tournament’s player meeting, players were told they could only check out their opponent’s team list before the match, not being able to take any notes.
Prizes
This event is an official tournament and is part of the 2023 official circuit in South Korea.
All participants are guaranteed a Day 2 invite to the 2023 World Championships, but the highest-placed players earn different kinds of Travel Awards and other prizes, as well as a set of Pokémon Trainers Cup goodies.
| Placement | Worlds | Travel Award | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Worlds Day 2 invite | Flight + accommodation | Nintendo Switch OLED (Scarlet & Violet edition) |
| Runner-up | Worlds Day 2 invite | Flight | – |
| Semifinalists | Worlds Day 2 invite | Accommodation | – |
Qualified players from the main stage must participate in this event to confirm their Worlds Day 2 invite.
Overview
The Pokémon Trainers Cup is the most important VGC competition for players in South Korea, where Pokémon Korea is responsible for the circuit, and is the only tournament through which players in South Korea can earn invites to the World Championships.
It is the fourth edition of the Pokémon Trainers Cup, which has been the major tournament in South Korea since the Korean points system with Leagues and a National was abandoned in the 2020 season. See the previous editions:
- 2020, won by Sangyoon Jeong
- 2021, won by Wonseok Jung
- 2022, won by Wonseok Jung for the 2nd time
Previous editions of the Pokémon Trainers Cup have always been open to any player in South Korea and played in a double-elimination format, with the main stage played online and the top 4 being played in-person and streamed live. The 2023 edition’s main stage is the first to require qualifying (through a high standing at the Global Challenges) and being played in an in-game ladder format, and the Final Round (top 4) is the first to be played in a single-elimination format.
The ruleset is VGC Regulation Set C, with open team lists except Tera Types, which will be closed. This is the first time an official tournament has been held with such a rule on team lists!
A little bit of history
South Korea has been a part of the official Pokémon Korea circuit since the first years of VGC, running in parallel to the TPC and TPCI circuits. It has hosted multiple major events, including Korean Leagues, Trainers Cups and old-era National Championships. South Korea’s greatest VGC success was the iconic victory achieved by Sejun Park at the 2014 World Championships. Juyoung Hong also achieved this feat in the Senior Division at the 2017 World Championships.
The last time the Pokémon Trainers Cup was held was the 2022 edition, with the finals hosted in Seoul, South Korea, and played in Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield with the VGC Series 12 ruleset in May and June 2022. The finals saw 2021 Trainers Cup champion Wonseok Jung defeat fellow countryman Jeongso Lee to renew his title in a rematch from the 2021 finals.
American James Evans, the 2018 Senior Division World Champion, defeated Brazilian Gabriel Agati in the NAIC finals.
