Posted Sun Feb 21, 2016 at 08:37 AM PST by Connor Sears
Winners go to the Pokémon US National Championships.
Saturday, February 27, is Pokémon Day, a celebration of the ubiquitous franchise's 20th birthday. Many events are planned to celebrate the anniversary, and the upcoming 'Pokkén Tournament' fighting game is getting in on the action, even if it's not technically out in the West yet.
On Saturday, eight GameStop locations will be hosting a 'Pokkén Tournament' Early Access Competition, where anyone can sign up to play the Pokémon/Tekken crossover against a bracket of opponents. The compeitions will be divided into two age groups—those born in 2001 or later and those born in 2000 or earlier—and the two winners from each regional tournament will win a training session with a professional fighting game player before traveling to the newly renovated New York Nintendo store to compete for a spot at the 2016 Pokémon US National Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
Even if you don't have dreams of becoming the next American 'Pokkén' champ, you can still head to one of the participating GameStop locations and sign up to play so you can try out the game before its worldwide Wii U launch on March 18. Registration for the regional Early Acces Compeitions begin at 10 a.m. local time, with the matches kicking off an hour later. The eight GameStop locations are listed below:
Source: Nintendo (via Polygon)
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