The Pokémon World Championships is an invite-only trading card game and esports event organized by Play! Pokémon. It is held annually in August and features games from the Pokémon series, including the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon video games and Pokémon Go. Players earn invitations to the World Championships based on their performance in qualifiers and other tournaments held throughout the season and compete for scholarship money, prizes and the title of World Champion. With the exception of Asia, invitations to the World Championships are administered by the Play! Pokémon program.
History The Pokémon World Championships first began with the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) in 2004, which was around the time that the franchise was regaining its popularity. In 2008, Play! Pokémon began to organize competitive tournaments for the Pokémon video game series alongside the TCG, which is collectively known as the Video Game Championships (VGC). Like the TCG Championships, players compete with other players in their own age divisions (i.e. Junior, Senior and Masters) in different Premier Tournaments, and the season culminates with the best players earning an invitation to play the Pokémon World Championships in August. The tournaments in VGC were played with a different game each year, mainly the latest Pokémon game from its main series, up until 2025. From 2026, all VGC tournaments will be played on Pokémon Champions.
In 2013, the Pokémon World Championships marked the first time the tournament would be held outside the usual United States. It took place inside Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia of Canada. The 2015 Championships marked the first tournament to feature a spin-off game in the current tournament rotation, with Pokkén Tournament being included in the list.Official Pokkén Tournament website, http://www.pokkentournament.com/en-us/championship-series/ In 2018, the upper Pokkén Tournament DX was used instead. 2019 added its second addition of a spin-off game series into rotation, Pokémon GO.
The 2020 tournament marked the second time the tournament was hosted outside United States, and the first outside the North America continent. It was announced to be held at Excel London in London, United Kingdom. This is likely due to the setting of Pokémon Sword and Shield, which takes place in a region inspired by the United Kingdom known as Galar, and it is the set of games that would be played by the video game division of the Pokémon World Championships.
The 2020 tournament was originally planned to be held in 2020, but on March 31 that year, in-light with the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was postponed with its 2020 seasons being suspended, which proceeds from earlier announcements in March which saw the cancellation of the 2020 European International Championships and part of its season between March and June 2020. The tournament was not held in 2021 following another postponement on February 9, 2021, and that tournament ultimately held on August 18-21, 2022.
Prior to the 2022 series, in early January 2022, Play! Pokémon announced the inclusion of a third spin-off game into the competition lineup, Pokémon Unite; four months later, it was announced the Pokkén Tournament would host its last season, thus rotating the latter game out of tournament lineup from 2023 onwards. It marked the newest MOBA game to have an official esports tournament, after League of Legends.
The 2023 Pokémon World Championships marked its third tournament to be held outside United States, the first time to be hosted in their franchise's country of origin, and the first in the Asian region, at the Pacifico Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan (the basis of Vermilion City in the Kanto region). After the PWC ended, The Pokémon Company announced that the Pokémon World Championships would return to Hawaii for the first time since the previous World Championships in the state was held back in 2012. Both the 2025 and 2026 events were held at the state of California, in Anaheim and San Francisco, respectively. The 2026 tournament marked the first time where two separate venues were used for the tournament, with one for the main event and another, Chase Center, would serve as the venue for the Championship Sunday.
At the conclusion of the 2026 event, it was announced that Singapore would host the 2027 event, marking the return of the tournament to Asia for the first time since the 2023 event in Yokohama and the first time Southeast Asia is given the hosting rights, and the fourth overall outside United States. The tournament rules and season lineup were published on September 8, and also announced that Pokémon Unite is rotated out from the tournament rotation. Latin American Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese languages for the commentary will also be added towards the current languages for the commentaries.
List of World Championships As of 2026, PWC hosted 21 annual tournaments since its first tournament in 2004, except those in 2020 and 2021. They are mostly held across 11 venues from seven different states of the United States. Only four iterations were held outside United States, those being Canada in 2013, United Kingdom in 2022, Japan in 2023, and Singapore in 2027.
YearDateVenueHosting locationFormatRef. Main event Championship Sunday City Country TCG series Video Game Spin-offs2004August 20-22, 2004Wyndham Palace Resort & SpaOrlando, Florida e-Card Expedition Base Set-EX Hidden LegendsN/A (not held)N/A (no games)2005August 19-21, 2005Town and Country Resort and Convention CenterSan Diego, California EX Ruby & Sapphire-EX Emerald2006August 18-20, 2006Hilton AnaheimAnaheim, California EX Hidden Legends-EX Holon Phantoms2007August 10-12, 2007Hilton Waikoloa VillageWaikoloa Village, Hawaii EX Deoxys-Diamond & Pearl2008August 15-17, 2008Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista Orlando, Florida EX Holon Phantoms- Majestic DawnPokémon Diamond and Pearl2009August 13-15, 2009Hilton San Diego Bayfront San Diego, CaliforniaDiamond & Pearl- UnleashedPokémon Platinum2010August 13-15, 2010Hilton Waikoloa Village Waikoloa Village, HawaiiPokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver2011August 12-14, 2011Hilton San Diego Bayfront San Diego, California Majestic Dawn-Black & WhitePokémon Black and White2012August 13-15, 2012Hilton Waikoloa Village Waikoloa Village, Hawaii HeartGold & SoulSilver- Dark Explorers2013August 9-11, 2013Vancouver Convention CentreVancouver, British Columbia Black & White- Plasma FreezePokémon Black 2 and White 22014August 15-17, 2014Walter E. Washington Convention CenterWashington, D.C. Next Destinies-XY FlashfirePokémon X and Y2015August 21-23, 2015Hynes Convention CenterBoston, Massachusetts Boundaries Crossed-XY Roaring SkiesPokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Pokkén2016August 19-21, 2016San Francisco Marriott MarquisSan Francisco, California XY Kalos Starter Set-XY Steam Siege2017August 18-20, 2017Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California XY Primal Clash- Burning ShadowsPokémon Sun and Moon2018August 24-26, 2018Music City CenterNashville, Tennessee XY BREAKthrough- Celestial StormPokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon2019August 16-19, 2019Walter E. Washington Convention CenterWashington, D.C.Sun & Moon- Unbroken Bonds Pokkén, GO2020 Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic Ultra Prism-SWSH Darkness AblazePokémon Sword and Shield2021 Team Up- Chilling Reign2022August 18-21, 2022ExCeL LondonLondon, EnglandSword & Shield- Crown Zenith Pokkén, GO, UNITE2023August 11-13, 2023Pacifico YokohamaYokohama, Kanagawa Pokémon Scarlet and Violet GO, UNITE2024August 16-18, 2024Hawai'i Convention CenterHonolulu, Hawaii Brilliant Stars- Prismatic Evolutions2025August 15-17, 2025Anaheim Convention CenterAnaheim, CaliforniaScarlet & Violet- Ascended Heroes2026August 28-30, 2026Moscone Convention Center Chase CenterSan Francisco, California Temporal Forces- Perfect OrderPokémon Champions2027August 13-15, 2027Singapore Expo Singapore Indoor StadiumSingaporeGO
Qualification The qualifying process for the Pokémon World Championships varies each year and is dependent on a player's age division and the country in which they are located in. Players may also qualify to play on different days of the World Championships based on their performance in their respective qualifying programs; the best performing players will immediately advance to the second day of the World Championships playoffs (i.e. "Day 2") instead of playing through the first day (i.e. "Day 1").
Play! Pokémon program Players located in a country with a Play! Pokémon program (i.e. in North America, Europe, Latin America and Oceania) compete in a regular schedule of tournaments for Championship Points and receive invitations when they meet a predetermined threshold of points at the end of the season.
In 2015, the Play! Pokémon program expanded to include countries from the continents of Latin America and Asia (except Japan and South Korea). However, on June 10, 2020, it was announced that Asia would no longer be part of the Play! Pokémon program and will have its own qualifying system towards the Pokémon World Championships.
As of September 1, 2026, the list of territories in each rating zone sanctioned to organize Play! Pokémon events are as follows:
+North AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeOceaniaMiddle East and Africa Canada United States Puerto Rico Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Serbia Slovakia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Australia New Zealand South Africa United Arab Emirates
Pokémon GO Championship Series Pokémon announced in October 2021 that Pokémon GO would be added during the 2022 World Championships, along with it a qualification system through the Pokémon GO Championship Series, where the top two head to the World Championships. Any trainer who reached Legend rank during Season 9 of the Pokémon GO Battle League would qualify for the GO Championship Series.
2022 Championship Series The 2022 Pokémon GO Championship Series is a series with a purpose of acting as a qualification system to the 2022 Pokémon World Championship. The series consists of events spread throughout the globe. The series is divided into the Senior's and Master's divisions. The series' format revolves around the Great League. Players can enter the championship either by attaining Legend rank during either Season 9 or Season 10 of the GO Battle League, or by registering via Play! Pokémon after the Legend-rank registration closes. Every event is divided between a regional or international event. The top Pokémon players at these events would be given an invitation to the 2022 World Championship. The earliest event began on 26 March, in Liverpool, with the latest being on 24 June, in Columbus, Ohio.
A list of events featured in the series is listed below:
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