The 2025 Pokémon World Championships took place this weekend, crowning several Pokémon World Champions and revealing updates and news for several Pokémon games, as well as a brand-new Pokémon fan experience.
When it comes to esports and the TCG championship, Pokémon Champions were crowned across the video games divisions (Pokémon Scarlet/Violet), the trading card game, Pokémon Go, and Pokémon Unite. The first and second place winners are as follows:
- Video Game Junior Division: 1st place – Luke Whittier (US), 2nd place – Sosuke Arinori (JP)
- Video Game Senior Division: 1st place – Kevin Han (US), 2nd place – Sian Lee (KR)
- Video Game Masters Division: 1st place – Giovanni Cischke (US), 2nd place – James Evans (US)
- TCG Junior Division: 1st place – Yuya Okita (JP), 2nd place – Jose Cruz Galindo Resendiz (US)
- TCG Senior Division: 1st place – Fuguan Liao (CN), 2nd place – Gabriel Fernandez (BR)
- TCG Masters Division: 1st place – Riley McKay (CA), 2nd place – Justin Newdorf (US)
- Pokémon Go: 1st place – Ved “Beelzeboy” Bamb (IN), 2nd place – Leo “P4T0M4N” Marín Torres (ES)
- Pokémon Unite: 1st place – Perú Unite (LATAM – South), 2nd place – Zeta Division (JP)
Pokémon fans can watch all of the action from the last rounds of the competitions below:
As for new reveals, The Pokémon Company had a few things up its sleeve. First off, the 2026 Pokémon World Championships will include a brand new fan experience called PokémonXP.
PokémonXP will include activities and surprises for those attending the 2026 Pokémon World Championships in San Francisco. PokémonXP will lead up to the finals, where every event will be featured live on a main stage at the Chase Center for the first time in front of fans.
Tickets for PokémonXP will go live on September 17, 2025.
The 2026 Pokémon World Championships will also see the switch for the video game sector of the championship. Instead og playing on Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, players will compete in Pokémon Champions.
Pokémon Champions is the upcoming “free-to-start” game coming to mobile devices, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2 next year.
Additionally, more information was revealed about Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Brand-new features called Link and Ranked Battles will be part of the game.
Link Battles, which take place at the Z-A Battle Club, pit four players against each other. They’ll race to KO as many Pokémon within a specific time limit.
Rank Battles aren’t entirely new, though they’ll look a bit different in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Up to four players will compete online in a global ranked scene, earning points to rise through the ranks. Players will start out at Rank Z and can progress to Rank A.
Link Battles and Ranked Battles offer in-game rewards as well, which will vary by in-game seasons.
Mega Evolution, which is one of the main features in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, is also getting more attention.
In Pokémon TCG, new Mega attack rare cards are coming. These Mega Evolution cards have attack names written in katakana, a callback to the original Pokémon EX cards from the XY Series. The examples shown off included Mega Charizard X ex, Mega Gardevoir ex, and Mega Lucario ex.
Mega Evolution is also coming to Pokémon TCG Pocket. It will hit the mobile game in Fall 2025, bringing cards like Mega Gyarados ex, Mega Blaziken ex, and Mega Altaria ex.
Last but not least is some news for Pokémon Unite and Pokémon Go. Empoleon, Dhelmise, and Vaporeon are coming to Pokémon Unite. Empoleon will be the first of these releases, coming on September 19, 2025. Pokémon Go players saw Eternatus arrive this weekend, along with Max Battles.
Fans can check out some images from the 2025 Pokémon World Championships below:
