2000 - 2001

Next: January - July 2002

New TCG Set To Be Released! NEO 4: Destiny! - 12/29/01 When it comes, it keeps on coming. Yet another new Pokemon Trading Card Game set is scheduled to be released in the Spring of 2002. The NEO series is growing rapidly, as there are already 3 NEO sets already available. NEO Genesis, NEO Discovery, and NEO Revelation (which wasn't released that long ago). As more new sets are introduced, official tournaments will ban cards from previous sets. Cards from sets that are currently banned from official tournaments are the Base, Jungle, Fossil, and Base 2. However, basic energy cards can be used from banned sets. Why are these sets banned? Well, they (as is the Wizards of the Coast, creators of Pokemon TCG), say that "it creates a new kind of playing field with the new cards". Give me a break. Everyone should know this is a strategy to get people to buy the newer cards. WotC does the same for the world wide popular TCG, Magic: The Gathering. The next one to go is the Team Rocket set. Its sad that cards from older sets can't be used in official tournaments, but we can still have fun playing with them on our own as long as we want to... Pokemon 5th Movie Comming Summer 2002 in Japan! - 12/15/01 Ok, this may be a bit confusing to some people. So some of you need to read this really carefully so you don't get your facts all mixed up. Its been announced that the 5th Pokemon movie will be in theatres July 13, 2002, in Japan (Again, this is the 5th Pokemon movie to be released in Japan, no release date for US). Remember folks, here in the United States, we haven't yet got the 4th Pokemon movie. The 4th Pokemon movie is expected to be in theatres during sometime of Spring Break or Summer 2002. Since the 5th movie is going to be released during the summer, I expect the the 4th Pokemon movie for the US to be released sometime near Spring Break. Some of you may say, "man, we are way behind, we need to catch up". Well, the fact is, we have catched up. Pokemon got to the US after almost 2 years of existance in Japan. Games and movies, Nintendo and others has done a descent job on keeping the US not far behind Japan. Come back here to Pokemon Elite 2000 for any updates about the 4th and 5th Pokemon movies... Pokemon Makes the Guinness World Records, Again! - 12/07/01 On November 22, 2001, the 75th year of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held. Setting the stage for a new world record, for the "World's Largest Inflatable Parade". Last year, was a record year with 25 huge inflatable giant helium balloons (not your ordinary balloons, lol). This year, it had 30 colossal characters flying in the air, which includes 5 all new balloons. Which includes the debut of the Pikachu balloon. Ofcourse, this is not the first time Pokemon was mentioned in the Guinness World Records. Pokemon Yellow Version for Gameboy is the fastest selling game in the world, ever, period. Pokemon Yellow sold 1 million copies in its first 10 days. That averages out to over 100,000 units sold per day! Pokemon Stadium was the best selling game for the year 2000, beating all the competition that came from N64, Playstation, etc. "Pokemon: The First Movie" holds the record for the most money made for a animated film on its first 3 days (it would have made even more if it had been released during the weekend, because it was released during mid-week, Wednesday). With Pokemon around, records will be broken... Super Smash Brothers Melee For Gamecube! - 12/02/01 The release of the second Super Smash Brothers series is almost here. The release is set at December 6, this coming Thursday. Many fans may be dissapointed (espicailly those with N64, but don't have Gamecube) to hear that this game is only for the Gamecube console, not for N64. Super Smash Brothers Melee will feature all the starting characters from the previous Smash Brothers game, Pikachu and Jigglypuff is still in the game. There will be new secret characters to unlock, which includes Pichu and Mewtwo from Pokemon, and others such as Dr. Mario and Link Jr. New battle areas have been created also. If you liked the previous Smash Brothers game, you'll love this one... Sequel to the Hit "Pokemon: The First Movie" to be Released! - 11/06/01 Surprise! The sequel to the first Pokemon movie will be exclusively available on DVD/VHS. The movie will not hit the big screens. This is a special feature film that connects to the story after what happened in "Pokemon: The First Movie". Ash, Misty, and Brock continue exploring Johto, After Team Rocket kidnapped Pikachu, the search led the group to the one and only, Mewtwo. Thats right, Mewtwo is back! The DVD/VHS will be available on December 4, 2001. Into something off topic, the Pokemon the 4th Movie is planned to be in theaters soon. I say "soon" because there isn't any accurate date on the release yet (they keep changing it all the time!), but there has been some possible dates announced. Originally, the movie was scheduled for December of 2001, but now it may be scaled back to Spring Break or Summer of 2002. Check back here in the news column for any new updates... First Ever "Pokemon Center" Store to Open in New York City! - 11/06/01 Pokemon stores are scheduled to make debuts in many major cities across the nation, a plan that was made nearly a year ago has finally become reality. The first debut of a Pokemon store will be made at New York City at the 10 Rockefeller Center (48th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenue). The grand opening is scheduled for November 16, a Friday. How big is this particular store you ask? Well, if you know your square-foots well, its a whopping 13,000-square-foot store on two levels. The store will feature over 2,500 products ranging from stickers to electronics. At Pokemon stores, you can find many different Pokemon products such as games and trading cards, as well as other Nintendo goods such as Gameboy and N64. It is expected that more Pokemon stores will open across the nation later on... Tropical Mega Battle Tournament Results! - 9/09/01 Near the end of August, the Tropical Mega Battle TCG tournament held about every year or so, was a spectacular tournament that had the best players from all over the world competing for the title of world best. The TMB tournament is not available to just anyone, only those that have finished on the top of major tournaments are invited to play. Players from all over the world including Japan, USA, United Kingdom, Denmark, Portugal, France, Germany, and some others, compete with each other to determine who is really the best in the world. The final match for the championship was between Jorge from Portugal, and Andy from Denmark. After an intense battle between the two, Jorge eventually emerged as the winner of the TMB tournament. Remember that all participants are top players from all over the world, all are masters/experts of the game, which makes this tournament the king of all TCG tournaments. Jorge can now be considered, as of now, the best in the world... West Super Trainer Showdown TCG Tournament! - 9/09/01 Its what you have been waiting for after the East STS (Super Trainer Showdown). Maybe you missed the East STS tournament, or just simply didn't do as well as you wanted to. Here's your second chance. The West STS tournament kicked off on Saturday (8/08/01) in San Francisco California. The actual two-day West STS tournament doesn't begin until December 1-2. The tournaments going on right now, eventually spreading all over the nation, is call qualifier tournaments. If you place in the top 2 in the qualifier tour, then you will win all sorts of products, as well as a paid flight and accommadations to the West STS tournament held as San Diego, California. For more information about the West STS, click on the West STS and/or the West STS Schedule links under the Extra Coverage column at the main page. Good luck to all participants... Pokemon 3: The Movie Tops Video Selling Charts! - 9/09/01 The first Pokemon movie topped video selling charts, as well as the second movie - and here we go again. Pokemon 3: The Movie was recently released on VHS/DVD, and is doing really well in sales. Included inside the Pokemon 3: The Movie DVD, was some goodies, such as a "Unown Decoder" wheel. And ofcourse, a special promo card will be included, Unown J. Here's this week's Top 5 Selling Videos: 1. Pokemon 3: The Movie 2. Recess: School's Out 3. Scooby Doo: Spookiest Tales 4. Bring It On 5. Rugrats: All Growned Up Nintendo Does Not Make Gameshark or Game Genie! - 8/15/01 This isn't really news, since most of you should know already that Nintendo does not make Gameshark or Game Genie. However, there has been talk lately from people saying that Nintendo didn't include Mew or Celebi in the US versions so that Nintendo can make money from Gamshark and/or Game Genie sales. People, the first thing Nintendo wants to get rid of is these cheating devices, such as Gameshark. A company named Interact owns Gameshark. Nintendo spends a lot of money trying to prevent Gameshark cheating in their games. Pokemon Gold/Silver for instance, if you use Gameshark on the game, there is a unsually high chance that it will mess up your game. Being a webmaster myself, I've heard of many people sending me questions about their games. These people have very wierd problems such as not able to withdraw/deposit any Pokemon, not able to get badges after winning, not able to fight the Elite 4 (when they are suppose to fight them), etc. There are many different types of problems. I wasn't able to figuire out what the problem was, but then I started to ask the question, have you ever used Gameshark on your game? Then the problem was clear, Gameshark. I'm not saying Gameshark will have a chance of 100% mess up your game, but there is the risk... Celebi is NOT in Pokemon Crystal! - 8/09/01 Nintendo USA strikes again, they removed Celebi from Pokemon Crystal version. In the japanese version of Pokemon Crystal, you were able to capture the #251 Pokemon, Celebi. However, the USA version of Pokemon Crystal does not have Celebi in the game. It wasn't some kind of mistake of anything, its intentially removed by Nintendo. I feared that this might happen, this has happened in the past. In Pokemon Red/Blue version in Japan, you were able to capture Mew in the game. The Red/Blue version here in the USA, were changed so that Mew can't be captured. So why did Nintendo do all this? Maybe to make Mew and Celebi a bit more special than they already are. This also gives Nintendo the oppurtunity to give away these special Pokemon at Pokemon related events such as the Pokemon Fun Fest (will be discussed later). So how can you get Celebi? Through special promotions and such. There is a contest for Celebi going on at "www.pokemon.com". Also, at Six Flags amusement parks, they will be giving out Celebi for a limited time only. This is called the "Pokemon Fun Fest". For more info on the Pokemon Fun Fest, go to the Extra Coverage column at the main page and click on Pokemon Fun Fest. #1 Ranked Pokemon TCG Player Suspended! - 8/09/01 This is some news, #1 ranked player in the USA in the Pokemon TCG was suspended for 4 years from WotC (Wizards of the Coast) tournaments. Phil Mondiello is without a doubt the best TCG player. All that enter tournaments fear the day that they might have to battle Phil. Phil was suspended for 4 yours because of "False Tournament Reports - Providing false information to DCI". Phil was being a judge at a tournament, he was hoping that he can increase his friend's ranking/rating in the DCI (a ranking/rating system created by WotC). What he did was he reported back on battle results that said his friend won but his friend really didn't win. There were many wins that his friend got from Phil's false reports. Providing false information to WotC (in other words, cheating), has happened before in the past. All of which got the same consequences. It was clear that any type of cheating will be dealt with seriously as shown in the past. What Phil did is completely wrong, but you can't help but feel sorry for the guy. He wasn't cheating for benefit of himself, but for his friend. Some think the 4 years suspension is too harsh. I personally think that 4 years suspension isn't that harsh. Everyone got 4 years in the past for doing the same crime, Phil should get the same consequences. If a lighter suspension was enforced, there may be more cheating. Phil was the #1 ranked player, now he has to wait 4 years until he can play again... Pokemon 4th Movie Making Its Way To USA! - 7/15/01 Despite a comment made by representative from Nintendo saying there may be a possibliity that Pokemon the 4th movie won't make it to the USA, sources now confirm that the recently released Pokemon movie in Japan will make its big screen debut in the USA sometime during December 2001. The Pokemon 4th Movie features the first ever appearance of Celebi. A Pokemon 5th movie is scheduled for the summer of 2002 in Japan. In other news, if you are planning to get the Pokemon 3rd Movie on VHS/DVD, you will get a Unown J promo card. The Pokemon 3rd Movie VHS/DVD will be release on August 21, 2001... Its Official, a Pokemon 5th Movie Will Exist! - 7/10/01 After many speculation about the question whether a 5th Pokemon movie will ever be made, it is now all clear that yet another Pokemon movie will make it to the big screens. After Pokemon the 4th Movie was shown in Japan, sources from Japan has confirmed that there is indeed a Pokemon 5th movie comming along. When the 4th movie ended, a movie trailer for the 5th movie was shown and its release date is expected to be sometime during the summer of 2002 in Japan. Also, the trailer did suggest some hints that there are even newer Pokemon comming that has never been seen before ever. The 3 new Pokemon that are beyond 251 which made their big screen appearance in the mini-movie, also suggest that Pokemon might take it beyond the 251 Pokemon mark. Remember Togepi when it made it first debut in the TV series? Togepi was beyond 151 thats for sure, but what we didn't know back then was there was even more new Pokemon not included in the original 151. Well, now we have 251 Pokemon. With 3 new Pokemon introduced, theres a strong possibility (almost certain) that there will be more new Pokemon to come. Hold on to your seats folks, because Pokemon is here to stay... Japan Release Date of Pokemon 4th Movie Is Near! - 7/03/01 Many in Japan has been waiting for the day of the release of the 4th Pokemon movie. The 4th movie will feature none other than Celebi, and Suicune, one of the Legendary Dogs, will also make an appearance. A lot "major" Pokemon has made it to the big screen: Mewtwo, Mew, Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Lugia, and Entei. The 4th movie will add Celebi and Suicune to the list. Which now leaves us with one question, will Ho-oh and Raikou ever make the big screen? In a news conference in Japan months earlier, producers of the film wouldn't say if the 4th movie will be the last Pokemon long feature film. In the short mini-movie before the main feature of the 4th Pokemon movie, the "three new Pokemon" (you can find pictures of them on the main of page of this site in the Three New Pokemon section) will be making their first ever appearance. These three new Pokemon is beyond 251, which raises yet another question, will there be more Pokemon to come? Why not? Pokemon is too good to end too soon, hopefully they would make it a very long series like the Final Fantasy series and Dragonball. The future of Pokemon is up in the air... Pokemon 3: The Movie On VHS/DVD August 21, 2001 and More! - 7/03/01 Now you can experience Pokemon 3: The Movie in your home in VHS or DVD on August 21, 2001. The Pokemon 3: The Movie DVD will include yet again a set of handy features such as commentary throughout the movie and a POSSIBLE trailer of upcomming movie Pokemon 4: The Movie. Heres the big story right here, weeks after the release of the Pokemon 3: The Movie, a person from Nintendo said that they were considering not releasing the Pokemon 4th movie here in the USA. However, that was the only comment I ever heard from Nintendo USA regarding the 4th Pokemon movie. It may just a be a move to make people talk about this, so that people get talking, therefore free publicity. A simular situation happened not so long ago, Wizards of the Coast said that the 15+ age group will no longer exist in tournaments, specifically towards the STS East 2001 tournament. This stirred up a lot of attention, espicially TCG fans that are 15+ older that wanted to enter the tournament. About two weeks after the decision, WotC decided to withdraw their decision. Instead, they made a completely different tournament for 15+ older during the STS East 2001, Result: 280 people entered the 15+ age group tournament at Meadowlands, New Jersey. So you never know, just assume for now that Pokemon 4th movie will release in the USA. More on the Pokemon 4th movie and other things as well in the next news (which should come soon, most likely later today)... PokemonElite2000 Took Action On Fake Pokemon Products! - 7/03/01 I think this is the first time that this site made the headlines on the news here. Anyways, there were two different fake Pokemon products selling on Ebay ("Pokemon Diamond Version" and "Pokemon Jade Version), many of them. Well, many people were talking about this news, many of which were digusted and mad over the ordeal because the people selling them are getting away with a crime, and people buying them paid a hefty price of almost $40 per game (what the buyers actually got is unknown). But, no one did anything about it, or at least, anything thats noticable. So what I did, I search the Ebay site on some help on reporting prohibited items. After some searching, I found a page where I could file a report on items that are not allowed on Ebay (it had a list of prohibited things). So I then filled out the form, writing down some comments explaining that the two games didn't exist and I also gave them a seller ID that was selling a lot of the fake games. I was suppose to get an email response within 1 or 3 days. It took them nearly a week to respond to me. I guess they had to check with Nintendo first to confirm that the games are indeed fake first. I was thinking, "man, so many of those games on Ebay, I can't stop them all. New ones come out everyday practically." Ebay did even better than I expected, not only did the seller ID I provided Ebay with was deleted, every single auction that had Pokemon Diamond or Jade was removed. So, Pokemon Diamond and Jade versions fakes on Ebay isn't a problem anymore. The last time I checked, I couldn't even find a single one. Great job Ebay, lets keep it that way... Pokemon TCG Set: Cross Trainer, Cancelled! - 6/21/01 Its official, Wizards of the Coast has decided to cancel the release date of the Cross Trainer set, which was suppose to be realease on July 10, 2001. As of now, there is no new release date for Cross Trainer. In fact, it might never be released. The reason? Wizards of the Coast announced that they wanted to spend more time on other future sets that will be released, the Southern Islands set and the NEO Revealings set. There are many possibilites here: 1)Cross Trainer might be combined into other sets in the near future, 2) It might be released sometime later on, 3) it won't be released at all, 4) the unknown. There is no telling what the future holds for the Cross Trainer set. Cross Trainer is also known as the Base Set 3. Theres a Base Set, Base Set 2, and Cross trainer was suppose to be Base Set 3. Well, we'll see what happens... The East 2001 Super Trainer Showdown Ready To Start! - 6/21/01 The highly anticipated tournament is almost about to begin, the two day tournament will start this weekend on Saturday through Sunday (June 23-24, 2001). Everything is all set, all participants must have already registered to be in the tournament. Winners of the qualifier tours in each city have already got a seat in the STS, with free air fare and paid expenses (not bad). The East 2001 STS is held at Meadowlands, New Jersey. Players from across the country will participate huge event. For more information about the East 2001 STS, go to the STS East 2001 link under the Extra Coverage column on the main page. Good luck to all that are participating in the East 2001 STS... Beware! Pokemon Fakes at Ebay! - 6/19/01 Ebay, one of the most popular auction sites on the internet, unsurprisingly contains many fake Pokemon products. What is surprising however, is many people are falling for it. Recently, the products "Pokemon Diamond Version" and "Pokemon Jade Version" can be found at Ebay; they don't go cheap either. Some pay as much as $50 for their Diamond or Jade version. The sellers describes it as "rare" and "hard to find", well, ofcourse its "rare" and "hard to find", its not real. The reality is, there is no such thing as a Diamond or Jade version. Sure, they have a picture of the game's box, but the picture they show is just a very low quality edited picture of a Pokemon game box. If its too good to be true, then it probably is... Pokemon Discovery Released (Maybe)! - 6/03/01 Wizards of the Coast (makers of the Pokemon Trading Card Game) really need to get their act together. They announced the release date for Pokemon Discovery was June 2001. Well folks, we are sitting here on June 2001. There are some people that are confirming that Pokemon Discovery is out already, some say its not out yet. Its a mystery. The best I can say for right now is Pokemon Discovery is out in some areas, if not released in your area yet, it will be soon. Fair enough? The Wizards of the Coast website, as of now, still has not yet said Pokemon Discovery is out. Anyways, below are some specific release dates for some upcoming Pokemon TCG sets that will be comming out soon here in the USA, also, Pokemon Crystal version will be released on July 30, 2001. Pokemon: Cross Trainer (July 10, 2001) Pokemon: Southern Islands (September 15, 2001) Pokemon: NEO Revealings (September 21, 2001) Pokemon Stadium 2 The Best Selling Game of April! - 5/26/01 Amazing isn't it? Pokemon Stadium 2 takes first place on the top selling video games of the month of April. Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver has been out in stores for quite some time now, but it still took in the number sixth and seventh spots. Now thats impressive. Ofcourse, Pokemon has always been known for its selling success. The original Pokemon Stadium was the best selling game overall in the year 2000. Pokemon Yellow is the fastest selling video game ever, it sold 1 million copies in just 10 days. The achievement is so great, the Pokemon Yellow selling record is in the Guinness World Records. In the Guinness 2001 edition, it had the record in the book and it also displayed a picture of the Pokemon Yellow game box. And lets not forget the frenzy when Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue came out. Pokemon will try to yet again to prove its the best by attempting to capture its second straight best selling video game award with Pokemon Stadium 2. The original Pokemon Stadium did it, why not Pokemon Stadium 2? Don't forget, Pokemon Crystal is comming soon... Pokemon Crystal Version Release Date and More! - 5/07/01 Its official, Nintendo announced that Pokemon Crystal, for Gameboy Color only, will be released on July 30, 2001. Pokemon Crystal is an "upgraded version" of Pokemon Gold/Silver. It will include many new features such as the option to choose a male or female trainer. You will also be able to capture #251 Celebi in Pokemon Crystal. More about Pokemon Crystal can be found at the main page in the Pokemon Crystal section. In other news, Pokemon Stadium 2 is continuing to be the best seller ever since it's release date. For 5 straight weeks, Pokemon Stadium 2 has been on top of the best selling games. Pokemon Gold/Silver is still holding ground eventhough its release was quite some time ago. Ok, we all know that Pokemon Stadium 2 is the best selling game, but it is also the most rented game also. Coming in second on the most rented game list is Conker's Bad Fur Day. Pokemon Stadium 2 is ahead of Conker's Bad Fur Day by over 3 to 4 times as much. Nothing to do now, but to wait till July 30... New Release Date For Pokemon Crystal Version! - 4/29/01 Nintendo already made an announcement a couple months back, that Pokemon Crystal will be released on September 2001. Well, a new release date has been announced. This is the part where you "oh no". Nintendo has been known for their "not good" handling of release dates, espicially for Pokemon titles. But this is good news, the release of Pokemon Crystal will be earlier than expected, about 2 months earlier. The newly schedule release date is now July 2001 instead of September 2001. For those that have no idea yet what Pokemon Crystal is, its basically the same as Pokemon Gold/Silver with some improvements. So, Pokemon Crystal is like Pokemon Yellow which is a improvement of Pokemon Red/Blue. Crystal its almost the same as Gold/Silver, with some changes. Major changes include the option to choose a male or female trainer to begin with. Ho-oh can not be captured in the game, instead, Suicune will takes it's place (Lugia will still be in the game). Celebi can be captured in the game. A new page on Pokemon Crystal page will be created soon... Rules For Decks at STS East at New Jersey! - 4/29/01 Don't get confused about this. The STS (Super Trainer Showdown, a trading card game tournament) tour currenty going on right now is a Qualifier Tour. Meaning, if you place on the top 3 in the Qualifier tournament, then you will go to the STS East at New Jersey for free (paid air fare and other expenses). Anyone can enter the STS East if they can get there. New rules has been set for the STS East. A major one is the rule saying no Pokemon cards from the Basic, Jungle, Fossil, and Base 2 sets; cards from these sets are not allowed in the deck, but basic energy cards from those sets are allowed. Remember, this rule only exists at the STS at New Jersey. This rule alone has canceled my trip to the Qualifier tour. If I did win, I wouldn't have a good enough deck to compete in the STS East. My deck consists of many cards from the past sets, and I do not have enough quality cards from other sets to create a deck that can have a shot of winning. Yeah, I was furious after I found this out. I can see why only using cards from the newer sets can change the style of play, instead of seeing the same type of cards over and over. Still don't like it though... STS To Hit The European Countries! - 4/19/01 A lot of big time trainers in Europe feels left out being in Europe with no STS. Not anymore. The West Coast STS Qualifier tour will be at 10 countries in Europe. Ofcourse, locations will also be here in the USA. The WOTC site says that the Grand Prize at the STS Qualifier is a trip for two to the West Coast STS at San Diego, California. It didn't describe it much further, so its not yet known if a single or multiple grand prize will be given at one location or all locations combined. They might have more information on the European Qualifier later on. This is the first time WOTC have ever done this at a STS event. This will make the West STS much more challenging if several of Europe's top players come over here to compete, but as mentioned, its still not known how many players from Europe will come to the West STS. A link with locations dates and details is posted on the main page under Extra Coverage, STS Europe Tour. The STS Europe Tour kicks off on May 6th in Amsterdam... Spring Break! Time For Pokemon 3 The Movie! - 4/07/01 Pokemon 3 The Movie is in theaters now. The movie made its debut on Friday. The 3rd Pokemon movie features the first ever appearance of Entei in TV or movie. A free Entei Pokemon TCG (trading card game) promo will be given to each ticket sold. The card is a hologram, its hologram design is simular to the Ancient Mew promo card that was given out at the last Pokemon movie. Like the past two Pokemon movies, Pokemon 3 will feature a short length film before the main movie itself. In the short length film, Pikachu and two Pichu go on an adventure. They will encounter some other Pokemon as well. See the picture with Pikachu and two Pichu above the news column? Thats right, its from the short length movie. After you got your Entei Promo card and saw the movie, theres directions included to join the Pokemon League if you want to. If you do join, you will be given a free holo Pichu promo card. Anyways, don't miss out on this great movie... More On Super Trainer Showdown East 2001! - 3/31/01 The Super Trainer Showdow (STS) East 2001 is a bit complicated to understand. Instead of having me describe the entire tournament, Wizards of the Coast has already created an area dedicated to STS East 2001. The link is on the main page under Extra Coverage, then click on STS East 2001. There you will find details about the tournament as well as a schedule. The STS East 2001 tournament is the actual tournament. A tournment called STS Qualifier tournament will be making stops all over the nation. While the STS East 2001 will be at Meadowlands, New Jersey. For each day of play, the top 3 players in the STS Qualifier tournament will be given a Prize Package. The Prize Package includes paid travel tickets and accommodations for the player and the parent (guardian) at the STS East 2001. Also, those winners will skip the first 3 rounds of the STS East Tournament, and will start the tounament at round 4. Thats right, if you win you will be heading to the STS East 2001. What if you don't win in the STS Qualifier? You can still enter the STS East 2001 tournament, that is if you can get there (located at Meadowlands, New Jersey on June 23 and 24). Entry fee? None, all STS events are free. Again, for more detials head to Wizards of the Coast's coverage on STS East 2001. The link is under Extra Coverage, and then click on STS East 2001. Good luck to all participants... Pokemon TCG2 For Gameboy Info! - 3/24/01 The Pokemon TCG2 for Gameboy will be soon out in Japan, and the game will be released here in the USA this summer. The game's title is "Pokemon TCG2: Return of Team Rocket". Yeah, this game will be packed with Team Rocket members to battle. Team Rocket has taken over the world, and you must defeat the Rockets. In the original Pokemon TCG for Gamebody you didn't get to choose whether a male or female trainer, but Pokemon TCG2 allows you to pick the gender. Like the original, Pokemon TCG2 will bring back a mentor to help you, and a rival (gotta have those). Gym leaders are all replaced with Team Rockets, so you will have to battle them for medallion. The game will have more than 500 different cards. As you progress in the game and win more battles, you will get more cards. In Pokemon TCG2, for the first time, you will be able to print out the Pokemon cards you have collected if you have a Gameboy Printer. This new game is coming out this summer... Ok, So Its April 6, 2001! - 3/20/01 To clear things up, Pokemon 3 The Movie will be in theaters April 6, 2001. Ignore the date the movie trailer said (which said April 11, 2001). The movie will debut Entei, which is one of the three Legendary Dogs, for the first time here in the USA. The Pokemon Unown will also play a big role in the movie. The movie poster kept no secrets as it reveals Ash sitting on, supposively, his Charizard. Now wait a minute, if you have been up to date with the Pokemon TV series, you probably know that Charizard left Ash in the episode "Charizard's Burning Ambition". Is this movie timed before that episode? Or does Charizard come back to Ash for this adventure? Whatever the answer maybe, this will be a great movie like the past two Pokemon movies. Like all Pokemon movies, this will movie will feature a short film in the begginning simply titled "Pikachu and Pichu". A Pokemon card will be given out to every purchased movie ticket, which is the Entei Pokemon promo card. There will be a note for fans: inviting them to join the Pokemon League at participating stores to get a free holo Pichu card. Not a bad deal at all... About Past News (4/28/01): News from 8/28/00 to 3/18/01 were deleted. Once the Past News page gets full with too much news, it will be cleared out.

Next: January - July 2002