Every so often, the Pokémon Global Link hosts International Challenges, online battle competitions using the Video Game Championship (VGC) battle format: 4v4 doubles out of a team of up to 6. These competitions bestow Championship Points (CP) upon the highest-ranking players of each division (based on player age), which, when enough points are accumulated, grant the player an invitation to compete in the World Championships in August. Normally, International Challenges are a great way for competitors to gain an extra bit of CP to help them try to gain their Worlds invite.

But even fans who don’t intend on competing seriously may want to consider signing up for this International Challenge. The participation prize is a Shiny Tapu Lele.

Tapu Lele, and the other guardian deity Pokémon, are “Shiny locked” in the Alola region games. This means they are programmed to never, ever be Shiny when you encounter them. The only way to get these special Shiny Pokémon is through a special event. But the only one that has ever been distributed this way was a special Shiny Tapu Koko back in 2017.

There is no way to know if this signifies upcoming Shiny distributions for Tapu Fini and Tapu Bulu, or even a re-distribution of Tapu Koko. But for now, players who want to earn a Shiny Tapu Lele of their own should consider signing up for the 2018 International Challenge November. The sign-up period begins on Tuesday, November 20, 2018, at 00:00 UTC, and runs until Thursday, November 29, 2018, at 23:59 UTC on the Pokémon Global Link website. 

You will need to register 4-6 Pokémon in your battle box. The battles will use the “2018 Sun format,” which boils down to no duplicate Pokémon or held Items, no Mega Stones, no Z-Crystals, no Dragon Ascent, no Red or Blue Orbs, no mythical Pokémon, and only up to 2 of the “mascot” legendaries (“minor” legendaries are all fair game, however). The battles will take place on Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon cartridges only, and the Pokémon registered must have a “black clover” on their status screen, indicating that they were bred or caught in the Alola games (if your Pokémon has a pentagon, a Game Boy, or no symbol at all on its status screen, that means it was transferred from an older game and cannot participate in this competition).

Once you have prepared your team and registered online, you’ll have to wait it out until battles begin on Friday, November 30, 2018, at 00:00 UTC. Then you’ll be able to download the competition rules through Battle Spot, which locks your battle box and allows you to participate until the competition is over. You have until Sunday, December 2, 2018, at 23:59 UTC to participate in at least 3 battles in order to qualify for your special participation prize! Don’t worry about winning or losing; as long as you complete at least 3 battles, you will receive the Shiny Tapu Lele after the competition is over!

For more in-depth details, including how long each battle can last, a complete list of usable Pokémon, and even how to register for a Play! Pokémon account to start getting CP, you can check out the official Pokémon Global Link article!