Tournaments ($100 USD Prize) Nintendo Cup 1997: Circuit Revival Open II

PKMN Master™ · Feb 1, 2026

The Nintendo Cup 1997's
Circuit Revival OPEN II

WEEK FOUR
DEADLINE: MARCH 29, 2026
Join The Discord
https://discord.gg/9z9UEMHFMW
SCHEDULE in this section
┆sign-ups┆drop-outs┆schedules

Cash PRIZE (USD)
1st: $100
2nd: $20
3rd: $10

This Tournament will mark the beginning of the Nintendo Cup 1997 Circuit!
Points will awarded to top entrants of the tournament.

The 1st Pokémon League Nintendo Cup 1997 was a groundbreaking official tournament in Japan, with participation determined through a lottery system advertised in the Monthly コロコロコミック (CoroCoro Comic). Prospective players submitted postcards for a chance to enter regional qualifiers; only lottery winners could compete, making entry quite exclusive.

The tournament spanned 15 regions across Japan, each hosting 256 players who battled through multiple rounds to earn badges such as the グレイバッジ (Gray Badge) and culminating in the prestigious グリーンバッジ (Green Badge aka Earth Badge) for regional champions.

The national finals were held at the prestigious スペースワールド (Space World) event at Makuhari Messe, where champions who were middle school students, competed. ATTENDENANCE RECORD OF 135,011 general exhibition visitors went to the event on Novemember 22 and 23, 1997 along with having 109,957 visitors who queued at the Pokémon Mew giveaway zone!

COMMERICAL OF THE EVENT

The machine used to get the Pocket Monster MEW!

Matches were conducted under strict rules including level caps and team sizes, and participants underwent rigorous cartridge inspections to prevent cheating. This event was covered by media including 64 MarioStadium, contributing to its popularity.

64 Mario Stadium was a Japanese TV program hosted on TXN (TV Tokyo stations)

Winners received unique prizes such as a tournament cartridge and special badges, while all participants got commemorative items. The tournament's data later contributed to the Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Stadium, immortalizing participants as in-game challengers. Attendance at Space World was massive, highlighting Nintendo's effort in promoting competitive Pokémon culture in 1997!

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION & RULES

All matches must be played on the official Pokémon Showdown server or on SmogTours a recognized server of Smogon!
All games will be updated on Smogon as the tournament progress and here ┆tournament-standing┆大会の順位⁠

BASIC RULES

• Matches are played in a Best of 3 (Bo3) format. Players must use the Bo3 function to lock their teams during the set.
• Players may update their team compositions and move sets once they advance to the next round.
• Swiss rounds will be paired according to players’ win records.
• You can continue playing in Swiss even if you lose—every round counts!

TOURNAMENT STRUCTURE

• After 6 Swiss rounds, the Top 16 players will advance to Phase II.
NOTE: A Tie Breaker System will be used if need be
• Phase II (Playoffs): Single elimination, Best of 5
• Phase III (Finals): A live event where the Top 4 finalists face off in a single day stream!

PRIZE POOL – $130 USD

1st Place — $100
2nd Place —$20
3rd Place — $10

MATCH PROCEDURES

• Schedule all matches via DM to your opponent and then put your CONCRETE date/time in this channel ⁠┆sign-ups┆drop-outs┆schedules so tournament staff can verify times.• If you cannot attend a scheduled time, reschedule in advance with your opponent.• If your opponent does not message you within 15 minutes of your match time, you may claim an activity win.

PLEASE send a live play link: for example, https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-gen1randombattle-2526110148-sfdwhqatqi9avgev7s2dhttps:// to ⁠┆chat┆競技者チャット-r where players can watch your battles live!

REPORTING RESULTS

• Report match results with replays in ⁠┆win！replays.
• Matches without replays will not count—this is your only warning.

DROPS & ACTIVITY

• To drop from the tournament, message the host via DM.
• Any player with three activity losses will be automatically dropped.

Cartridge Sleep Clause: If a Pokémon on the opposing team is already asleep, landing a sleep move on a different awake Pokemon and sleeping it means an immediate Disqualification.
Species Clause: No duplicate Pokémon species on a team.
Clerk Clause: All Pokémon must be fully healed and free of status conditions before battle.
Move Clause: Pokémon may only use moves obtainable in Pokémon Red and Green (e.g., Charizard cannot learn Fly).
Level Clause (50 to 55): Bring six Pokémon but choose three for battle; combined level of these three must not exceed 155.
Uber Clause: Only Pokémon numbered 1 to 149 in the Pokédex are allowed; Mew (#151) and Mewtwo (#150) are banned.
Struggle Clause: In Pokemon Red, Green and Blue, the game never allowed for the pokemon to “Struggle”. Instead, it forced the player to SWITCH Pokemon. That being said, using “Struggle” will constitute as a FORFEIT.
Self-Ko Clause: If a game is ended via Self-destruction or Explosion, the trainer whose Pocket Monster self-K.O.’d loses.
Recoil Damage Clause: If that last remaining Pocket Monster uses a recoil damging move and self-ko's itself along with the LAST remaining Pocket Monster of the opponent, the recoil damage using Pocket Monster player is declaired the winner of the game.
Endless Battle Clause: In the case a trainer forces Endless Battle, that is in the form of constantly switching when a pokemon is frozen locked due to hyper beaming and being frozen, they will be Disqualified

Nintendo Cup 1997 Hub
Sample Teams & Updated Viability Rankings
Old Sample Teams (Acounting for the IRL meta where PP stall wasn't used.)
Level and Moveset Restrictions for Nintendo Formats
Flying Press Article for NC97

REMINDERS!!! THIS IS A BEST OUT OF 3, YOU MUST USE THIS FUNCTION!

Cartridge Sleep Clause

If a Pokémon on the opposing team is already asleep, landing a sleep move on a different awake Pokemon and sleeping it means an immediate FORFEIT

Struggle Clause

In Pokemon Red, Green and Blue, the game never allowed for the Pocket Monster to “Struggle”. Instead, it forced the player to SWITCH Pokemon. That being said, using “Struggle” will constitute as a FORFEIT.