The 2026 Pokémon World Championships wrapped up on Sunday in San Francisco, and the closing ceremony doubled as a preview of what The Pokémon Company has planned across its competitive lineup. According to VGC, this year's Championship Sunday was broadcast from Chase Center, home of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, which is the biggest venue to ever host a Pokémon tournament and was completely sold out. The event ran alongside Pokémon XP, a convention built around the community and non-competitive side of the franchise.
Who won
VGC reports the full slate of champions across every discipline. In the Video Game Championships, Kazuke Kage took Junior, Vikram Thiagarajan won Senior, and Takuma Yamazaki claimed Master. In the Trading Card Game, Yuta Araki won Junior, Jake Ng took Senior, and Andrew Hendrick was crowned Master champion.
In the other titles:
- Pokémon Go: GGS489HIROMARU defeated Meweedle.
- Pokémon Unite: Zeta Division beat Komai, in what VGC notes is Unite's final appearance at the World Championships.
What was announced
After a musical performance and an intro from Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara, the ceremony rolled through updates title by title, per Kotaku.
Pokémon Go is bringing Mega Evolved Pokémon into official competitive play, starting with the Go Fest Mega Finale event on September 5. Armored Mewtwo also returns to the game for the first time in six years.
The Trading Card Game is getting a new set that adds Mega Evolutions introduced in Legends: Z-A, including the Z Mega Evolutions from the Mega Dimension DLC, along with the Legendary Beasts. A new card type was teased without further detail.
Pokémon Champions, the battle simulator that made its World Championships debut this year, showed off new arrivals in a trailer: Z Mega Evolutions for Absol and Lucario, plus Mega Heatran. Kotaku reports those join the roster on September 9.
The Pokémon Company also revealed a new animated movie, Pokémon Wild Card, which appears to draw from the TCG and features Mimikyu in its teaser. It is the first film in the series in seven years and is set for 2027.
Finally, the show confirmed that the 2027 World Championships will move to Singapore, running August 13 to 15.
What the ceremony skipped
The one thing the closing ceremony did not offer was any new look at the upcoming Switch 2 RPGs. Kotaku notes there was no fresh Winds and Waves footage, and points out the game has gone quiet since its Pokémon Day reveal back in February. Anyone hoping the biggest stage of the year would be the place for a proper reintroduction left empty-handed.
The weekend was not without controversy either. Kotaku separately reported that former World Champion Luca Ceribelli, along with Ruben Gianzini and Luca Lussignoli, were barred from the event after an incident involving the merchandise line, and that a Worlds pin rally was reportedly shut down by a fire marshal over overcrowding.
What this means for players
If you follow competitive Pokémon, the near-term calendar is now clear: Go's Mega competitive push kicks off September 5, Champions adds its new Megas on September 9, and the next TCG set leans heavily on Legends: Z-A content. For anyone tracking the Switch 2 games, though, the wait continues, since neither Pokémon Legends: Z-A follow-ups nor the RPG teased on Pokémon Day got any airtime here. Mark Singapore next August as the next likely showcase.