Pokemon world champion repeats title at 2012 tournament

At the 2012 Pokemon World Championships - held this weekend in Hawaii - Pokemon virtuoso Ray Rizzo re-established himself as the dominant force in competitive Pokemon.

Rizzo has now won the Championship three years running, and this year he and other top performers will actually be featured as downloadable trainers along with their chosen Poke-squads in Pokemon Black and White 2.

However, Rizzo's victory was in the video game category for players born before 1996 (Masters division.) The younger and card game divisions had their own champions. The junior division for players born after 2001 - aka the adorable division - was won by Japan's Shuto Itagaki (card game) and the video game champion was Abram Burrows of the USA.

The middle age group was won by Canada's Chase Maloney (TCG) and the USA's Toler Webb in gaming. The oldest group, the masters division was taken by Igor Costa of Portugal (TCG) and of course, Ray Rizzo in the video game.

For a taste of what it's like at a Pokemon tournament, check out some of the amazing pics we snapped at the 2011 Nationals event.