The annual Pokèmon World Championships wrapped up this past Sunday at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. The 2026 championship featured competitions across four different games in the Pokèmon Franchise: Pokèmon Trading Card Game (TCG), Pokèmon Video Game Championships (VGC), Pokèmon Go, and Pokèmon Unite. Pokèmon TCG has been included since the championships first took place in 2004, while the VCG category was added four years later in 2008, with an alternating title each year. Pokèmon Go and Pokèmon Unite, on the other hand, were not officially recognized until 2022, though Pokèmon Go was teased as an exhibition in 2019.
Despite Pokèmon being an esport, most competition is grouped into age brackets, similar to a traditional sport. The youngest competitors are classified as Juniors, and are usually between the ages of six and twelve. Since the Pokèmon World Championships operates on a birth year cutoff, rather than a specific age, this year’s Junior competitors must have been born before January 1, 2014. The next age bracket, Senior, is typically for trainers between twelve and fifteen, who are born after the Juniors cutoff, but before January 1, 2009. Anyone born after January 1, 2009, was placed in the Masters bracket for this year’s competition.
Pokèmon TCG
For TCG, cash payouts totaled $340,000 USD per division. Each winner is offered a choice between a scholarship, prepaid travel card, and, if they are over the age of eighteen, a cash prize. First place winners received $50,000 USD, and second place winners received $30,000 USD. Third and fourth place winners took home $20,000 USD each, and players placed in fifth through eighth earned $15,000 USD each. These winners were also offered an automatic invitation to compete in the 2027 World Championships. Various amounts were given to players up to and including the thirty-second place slot.
The Junior Pokèmon TCG winners, from first through eighth place, are as follows: Yuta Araki from Japan, Luke Giffen from the United States, Bo-Sen Chang from Taiwan, Michael Rubin from the United States, Reo Otake from Japan, Aoi Matsuno from Japan, Cedrik Balk from Finland, and Chihiro Goto from Japan.
The Senior winners are listed in descending order: Jake Ng from Australia, Cobey Huh from the United States, Jones Diaz from the United States, Prince Williams from the United States, Chau Chi Chung from Hong Kong, So Numata from Japan, Lee Hanjun from South Korea, and Conor Moore from the United States.
Finally, the winners for the Masters age bracket consist of Andrew Hedrick from the United States, Diego Cassiraga from Argentina, Brent Tonisson from Australia, Henry Chao from the United States, Rune heiremans from Belgium, Satoshi Matsui from the United States, Mateusz Łaszkiewicz from Poland, and Nathan Spry from Australia.
Pokèmon VGC
Pokèmon VGC’s payouts are less than TCG‘s, but still impressive, totaling a pool of $160,000 USD per division. First place winners in each division take home a prize of $30,000 USD, second place winners $20,000 USD, and third and fourth place winners $15,000 USD each. Players in fifth through eighth place received $10,000 USD. These championship finalists were all invited to compete in the 2027 World Championships, and were offered their prize payout through scholarship, travel credit, or cash (18+). Other amounts were awarded to players who placed through sixteenth place, with the same payout options.
The VCG Junior winners, in descending order are: Kazuki Kage from Japan, Kazutaka Hatahori from Japan, Francisco Leite from Brazil, Izhaq Hoggui from France, Sanghyeon Lee from South Korea, Anthony Beloni from Brazil, Rinako Tatsumi from Japan, and Oskar Biezaitis-Day from Australia.
The Senior bracket winners, in descending order, are: Vikram Thiagarajan from the United States, Carlos Verástegui from Peru, Lucas de Carvalho Barbosa from Brazil, Esa Ishaque from Canada, Leo Fontvieille from France, Alberto Fabi from Italy, Noah Alampay the Philippines, and Luke Whittier from the United States.
Finalists from the Masters category, are, in descending order: Takuma Yamazaki from Japan, Hiroshi Onishi from Japan, Zachary Weed from the United States, João Felipe Leite from Brazil, Antonio Sánchez from Spain, Yuya Wakasugi from Japan, Stefano Greppi from Italy, and Giovanni Pecitelli from Italy.
Pokèmon Go and Pokèmon Unite
Pokèmon Go is an exception to the age brackets, operating with an open age group. Winners in first place take home $20,000 USD, second place players take home $15,000 USD, third place players $13,000 USD, and fourth place players $12,000 USD. Players who tie for fifth place, along with those who tie for seventh place, each earn $9,000 USD and $5,000 USD, respectively, with the same payout options and limitations as other categories.
The winners, in descending order, are listed as followed: Hiroki Yamauchi from Japan, Maxwell Ember from Switzerland, Yoshihiro Umeda from Japan, Martin Galderisi from Argentina, Jack Fearn from the United Kingdom, David Bustos Nordgren from Sweden, Jasper McAvity from the United States, and Aiden Hedderly from the United States.
Pokèmon Unite is also an exception to age brackets, since the game is played in teams. Each team represents a nation, though multiple teams can represent one country. The first place team receives $100,000 USD to split amongst its players, the second place team $70,000 USD, and the third and fourth teams $50,000 USD. Fifth through eighth place teams each receive $37,500 USD.
The winning teams, along with their represented countries, are listed in descending order: Zeta Division from Japan, KOMAÏ from the European Union, Igzist from Japan, Gremio Esports from Brazil, T1 from South Korea, REJECT from Japan, C,C, from Japan, and Evil Geniuses from Nabibia.