Pokemon World Championships 2017 COUNTDOWN - Start time, schedule, live stream, tickets

POKEMON World Championships 2017 are about to kick-off. Here is all you need to know about how to live stream, tickets, the schedule and start time.

Pokemon World Championships 2017 are about to kick-off, with the world’s best Pokemon players heading to the Anaheim Convention Center in California.

The Championships will cover the core video game and trading card game series, as well as Pokken Tournament - soon heading to the Nintendo Switch.

It’s an invite-only event, with only those who have earned enough points at qualifying events throughout the year invited to play.
Those win in the video game and trading card categories will share over $500,000 in prizes.

For those taking part in the Pokken Tournament competition, they will be competing for a $20,000 prize pool.
The Wii U version of the game is what competitors will compete on.

The Pokemon World Championships 2017 is taking place between August 18 and August 20.

The action of the first day of this year’s Pokemon World Championships begins at 6pm BST on Friday.
On Saturday and Sunday it all kicks off one hour earlier - at 5pm BST.

If you wish to play, unfortunately tickets are invite only - with the last qualifying round taking place between June 30 and July 2.
Pokemon fans wanting to go down and watch the action can register online. Spectators are able to register for badges until they are completely sold out.

Tickets will be available until Sunday August 20 1pm, and the registration fee for all ages is $10.

Registration fees are nonrefundable, and all spectators will receive two booster packs when they pick up their badge.
A maximum of six spectator badges can also be purchased at one time.

If you wish to live stream the Pokemon World Championships 2017 and watch it online, it couldn’t be simply.

A live stream of the action will be shown on the official Pokemon World Championships website.

The Pokemon World Championships is now in its ninth year of running.

The champions last year were:
• Wolfe Glick (VGC Masters)
• Carson Confer (VGC Seniors)
• Cory Connor (VGC Juniors)
• Shintaro Ito (TCG Masters)
• Jesper Eriksen (TCG Seniors)
• Shunto Sadahiro (TCG Juniors)
This year will also see the return of the Nintendo World Championships. The 2017 event will be held in New York on October 7.