Grab your Nintendo DS and your Pikachu, folks — Pokemon is coming to town.

The national championships for playing video games based on the famous Japanese anime and manga franchise are scheduled for June 27-28 at America’s Center. Winners from half a dozen regional tournaments and champion wannabes are meeting there to decide who continues on to the world championships in San Diego in August.

But there’s still time and room for you to get involved. Registration for two competition classes, one for senior level players (born before Jan. 1, 1997) and another for junior level players (born after Jan. 1, 1997), will begin at noon June 27 at America’s Center. Each competitor must bring his or her own North American copy of “Pokemon Platinum Version” for Nintendo DS to compete and expect to play in a two-on-two double-cup format. No Pokemon is allowed to exceed level 50.

All participants must provide proof of age. Shiny Milotics will be issued to all registrants, so bring a DS or one of its successor systems at least for that.

The overall winner and the runner-up will earn travel tickets for two to San Diego, a first-place trophy, a new Nintendo Wii as well as a Nintendo DSi system, plus oodles of Pokemon swag. Everyone who finishes from third to 16th place will receive travel tickets but not the hardware or other goodies.

So if you hope to get in on the action, or at least watch some of it, be at America’s Center before noon June 27. In fact, prospective players should try to arrive well before noon to beat the crowds — competition in each age division is limited to 128 participants

More details are coming later to the Pokemon Video Game Championship Series website.