As of yesterday, August 28, 2026, it is officially Pokémon World Championship weekend. 2026 marks the twenty first anniversary of the event, which is held in a different location each year, though it should be mentioned that the 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first officially recognized world championship was held in 2004 at a hotel in Orlando, Florida.
Through 2007, the Pokémon World Championships only hosted tournaments for the officially licensed Pokémon trading card game. Events did not include any of the Pokémon video games until 2008, when parallel tournaments in Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (2006) were introduced. Since then, the championships have offered physical card brackets alongside video game tournaments, with a specific title selected each year. 2026’s featured video game is, fittingly, Pokémon Champions (2026).
This year, the Pokémon World Championships are being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, and, for the first time in history, are being hosted in conjunction with Pokémon XP. Pokémon XP is a massive Pokémon fan event, similar to a large comic con. Unlike the World Championships, Pokémon XP is not an annual event, and intends to remain active only for select years. In fact, 2026 is the first year the convention has taken place. This event is open to the public, and will likely host many small scale open Pokémon battles.
The Pokémon World Championships, however, are different. According to the event’s website, “worlds is the annual capstone event of the Pokémon Championship Series, where the title of World Champion is determined with tournaments for each game.” While the event can be viewed by the public, competition is on an invitation only basis. Players are paired to compete against each other based on skill level, and do not get eliminated after a loss. Instead, they must meet a certain wins to loss ratio in order to advance to the next round. Once these rounds are over, players then enter ‘sudden death’ rounds in the finals to determine the champion. The 2026 Pokémon World Championships are broadcast via the official Pokémon Twitch channel, and on the event website.
