The Pokémon Company recently hosted the 2024 Pokémon World Championships. Read on below to learn more:
Closing ceremony announcements included reveals from across the franchise: exciting new details about Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, a returning mechanic for the Pokémon Trading Card Game, updates for Pokémon GO and Pokémon UNITE, and the locations of the 2025 and 2026 Pokémon World Championships.
BELLEVUE, Wash. — Aug. 19, 2024 — The 2024 Pokémon World Championships, hosted by The Pokémon Company International, concluded yesterday following three days of intense matches and friendly competition in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The best Trainers from around the world attended the annual event to take part in the premier tournament for the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) and Pokémon video games. This year’s event featured the Pokémon TCG, the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet video games, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE. More than 13,000 players and fans from around the globe gathered at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center for the world’s most prestigious Pokémon event. Winners of each division can be found here:
Pokémon Trading Card Game Junior Division:
1st place: Sakuya Ota [JP]
2nd place: Logan Bailey [US]
Pokémon TCG Senior Division:
1st place: Evan Pavelski [US]
2nd place: Haruku Umehara [JP]
Pokémon TCG Masters Division:
1st place: Fernando Cifuentes [CL]
2nd place: Seinosuke Shiokawa [JP]
Pokémon Video Game Championship Junior Division:
1st place: Kevin Han [US]
2nd place: Tatsuomi Shimanuki [JP]
Pokémon VGC Senior Division:
1st place: Ray Yamanaka [JP]
2nd place: Luke Kroll [US]
Pokémon VGC Masters Division:
1st place: Luca Ceribelli [IT]
2nd place: Yuta Ishigaki [JP]
Pokémon GO:
1st place: Yekai0904 [HK]
2nd place: Inadequance [NL]
Pokémon UNITE:
1st place: FENNEL [JP]
2nd place: XoraTigersGaming [KR]
In addition to crowning this year’s top competitive Pokémon players, new announcements and experiences were revealed across the brand.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket Launches October 2024
During the 2024 Pokémon World Championships, The Pokémon Company group announced that the highly anticipated Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, a new app that reimagines the experience of collecting Pokémon TCG cards in an innovative digital format, will be launching around the world beginning Oct. 30, 2024. Trainers can preregister for it now on the App Store and Google Play. Furthermore, Trainers in New Zealand will be able to participate in the soft launch for Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket prior to the global launch.
In Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, players will be able to enjoy the thrill of opening booster packs and collecting cards showcasing special visual effects that can only be achieved digitally. Players will be able to open two booster packs every day at no cost, including cards with nostalgic illustrations as well as new cards found only in the app. Fans can learn more about Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket via a new trailer on the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
Trainer’s Pokémon Coming to the Pokémon TCG in 2025
In 2025, fans can look forward to collecting and playing with new Pokémon TCG cards featuring Trainer’s Pokémon, including Lillie’s Clefairy ex, Marnie’s Grimmsnarl ex, N’s Zoroark ex, and an illustration rare card featuring N’s Reshiram.
More details will be shared in the future. In the meantime, fans can watch the announcement trailer for Trainer’s Pokémon, as unveiled during the 2024 Pokémon World Championships, here.
Pokémon GO Reveals Morpeko and Teases Upcoming Features
Morpeko will soon be making its debut in Pokémon GO, accompanied by the new battle-only form feature, allowing Trainers to alter the form of certain Pokémon during battles by using a Charged Attack. Additionally, something big and mysterious is on the horizon for Pokémon GO. Stay tuned for more on this significant update!
500-Point Battles and New Unite Licenses Coming to Pokémon UNITE
A new type of battle is coming to Pokémon UNITE. In this casual battle format, Trainers will lead their favorite Pokémon and team up to defeat wild Pokémon and opponents, collecting Aeos energy to score in the enemy’s goal zones. The first team to reach 500 points wins! Look forward to the launch of this exciting type of battle in spring 2025.
Armarouge, Darkrai, and Psyduck are also set to join the Pokémon UNITE roster. Stay tuned for further updates on their unique abilities and roles in the game. More information about Pokémon UNITE can be found here.
2025 and 2026 Pokémon World Championships Locations Unveiled
The locations for the 2025 and 2026 Pokémon World Championships were revealed during the closing ceremonies on Sunday evening. Trainers from around the globe can anticipate next year’s thrilling Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, California, scheduled to be held from Aug. 15 to 17, 2025. The following World Championships will then be hosted in San Francisco, California, and are scheduled to be held from Aug. 28 to 30, 2026. Fans can learn more about this unveiling on the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
For more information about the Play! Pokémon program, please visit play.pokemon.com.
These Trainers rose to the challenge in the capstone event of the 2024 Championship Series season.
The Pokémon World Championships took place over three exciting, match-filled days in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi from August 16–18, 2024. This global capstone event of the 2024 Championship Series season featured heated competition between players from across the world in the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG), Pokémon Video Game Championships (VGC), Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.
These are the top finishers from the Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament by age division:
| Junior | Senior | Masters | ||||
| 385 players | 403 players | 1147 players | ||||
| 1 | Sakuya Ota | JP | Evan Pavelski | US | Fernando Cifuentes | CL |
| 2 | Logan Bailey | US | Haruku Umehara | JP | Seinosuke Shiokawa | JP |
| 3 | Gregory Vexenat | FR | Benjamin Hebert | CA | Jesse Parker | US |
| 4 | Cobey Huh | US | Gabriel Fernandez | BR | Raz Wolpe | IL |
| 5 | Koutarou Matsudaira | JP | Tristan Tse | CA | Isaiah Bradner | US |
| 6 | Levon Fatunz | DE | Omar Cortes | US | James Goreing | AU |
| 7 | Edison Chein | US | Alberto Zamuner | IT | Ian Robb | US |
| 8 | Kio Nagisa | JP | Justin Newdorf | US | Michael Davidson | US |
These are the top finishers from the Pokémon Video Game Championships tournament by age division:
| Junior | Senior | Masters | ||||
| 118 players | 130 players | 694 players | ||||
| 1 | Kevin Han | US | Ray Yamanaka | JP | Luca Ceribelli | IT |
| 2 | Tatsuomi Shimanuki | JP | Luke Kroll | US | Yuta Ishigaki | JP |
| 3 | Keisuke Furusho | JP | Min Jun Oh | KR | Michael Kelsch | DE |
| 4 | Minato Kodama | JP | Michael Vono | CA | Seong Jae Jeong | KR |
| 5 | Yudai Fukue | JP | Adam Colson | US | Diego Ferreira | AU |
| 6 | Kapono Masuda | US | Robbie Schaaij | NL | Chenyue Zeng | JP |
| 7 | Fabian Musikant | DE | Charlie Kim | US | Navjit Joshi | CA |
| 8 | Hideo Uezu | JP | Kosuke Miyahara | JP | Yuxiang Wang | JP |
These are the top finishers from the Pokémon GO tournament:
| 208 players | |||
| 1 | Yip Kai Cheng | Yekai0904 | HK |
| 2 | Martijn Versteeg | Inadequance | NL |
| 3 | Martin Galderisi | MartoGalde | AR |
| 4 | Ved Bamb | Beelzeboy | IN |
| T-5 | James Smyth | LurganRocket | UK |
| T-5 | Aiden Hedderly | OutOfPoket | US |
| T-7 | David Bustos Nordgren | PvpDavid07 | SE |
| T-7 | Carlos Rocha | rochababyface1 | MX |
These are the top finishers from the Pokémon UNITE World Championships tournament:
| 26 teams | ||||
| Placement | Team Name | Trainer Name | Full Name | UCS Region |
| 1 | FENNEL | FL_Lucapo | Yuma Sato | JP |
| FL_py1 | Shouki Takada | |||
| FL_yume爱 | Yumeto Tanabe | |||
| FL_Ma•shio | Mashika Shirakawa | |||
| FL_TON・GG | Haruki Yoshiura | |||
| FL_Panchop | Ryuto Isamu | |||
| 2 | XoraTigersGaming | XTG.Mule | Yongsik Kim | KR |
| XTG.JJong | Minjun Choi | |||
| XTG.Chobo | Hyunsu Kim | |||
| XTG.Subeen | Subeen Jin | |||
| XTG.Ward | Junghee Cha | |||
| XTG.Enq | Kyungmin Jeon | |||
| T-3 | ONIC RISE | ONICeeyorr王 | Judha Panggabean | AP-W |
| ONIC・dev | Devsen Putra Lie | |||
| ONIC・Zoe | Muhammad Haikal Irawan | |||
| ONIC・AXQ | Deni Ardiyanto | |||
| ONIC・illuna | Novrizal Diananta Said | |||
| ONIC・Mars | Ahmad Marsam Fahruraji | |||
| T-3 | FUSION | FS・Zynuz | Erick Jean Bartolo Cotrina | LA-S |
| FS・Khea | Axel Xavier Rivas Pérez | |||
| FS・Anemo | Jose Arias | |||
| FS・Tempo | Jeremy Rivas Nunura | |||
| FS・DrakenN | Jesús Salvador Vasquez Antaccasa | |||
| FS・EME | Juan Manuel Villon Navarro | |||
| T-5 | ZETA DIVISION | ZETA_Tomato | Genki Tejima | JP |
| ZETA_CoCata | Arata Fujishiro | |||
| ZETA_Rom | Naoki Yamakawa | |||
| ZETA_Vitoppo | Yushi Kaneko | |||
| ZETA_Wajiro | Daiki Miyata | |||
| ZETA_1LevUP | Kaito Nagao | |||
| T-5 | TALON | TLN・RBX | Lawrence Anthony Gatmaitan | AP-E |
| TLN・Lance | Lance David | |||
| TLN・Kyy | Kim Rey Salazar | |||
| TLN・Dylan | Ducke Harnold Leoncio | |||
| TLN・SynC1 | Robert Jon Mempin | |||
| TLN・Hitori | Cedryck Joseph Ellar | |||
| T-7 | CakeKaLok | CKL – poohphaza | Kittipit Phanthumas | AP-W |
| CKL – Sunzage | Natchapon Jarasboonpaisan | |||
| CKL – SCGSGC | Supukson Petcharat | |||
| CKL – Nottyza | Sittiphon Sanguannagern | |||
| CKL – Spu | Pitchayut Deachnu | |||
| T-7 | Nouns Esports | Noun・Sareyu | Souheil Azeroual | EU |
| Noun・BruvHD | Anton Levi | |||
| Noun・Toon | Conor McDermott | |||
| Noun・ADESu | Alberto González Torralbo | |||
| Noun・Gatlue | Hassan Al Abadi | |||
| Noun・Blaine | Alexander Kruse | |||
The 2024 Pokémon World Championships have come and gone, but you can already look forward to two upcoming World Championships—the 2025 World Championships in Anaheim, California, and the 2026 World Championships in San Francisco, California! These events were revealed during the closing ceremonies, as well as exciting announcements about the Pokémon TCG, Pokémon TCG Pocket, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.
If you want to try your hand at qualifying for the 2025 Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, be sure to also check out the changes being made this season.
Congratulations to all our new World Champions and to all the great competitors at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships!
Sakuya Ota is the Pokémon TCG Junior Division World Champion at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships
Yekai0904 is the Pokémon GO World Champions at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships
FENNEL are the Pokémon UNITE World Champions at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships
Source: Pokemon.com and The Pokémon Company International
Source: Pokemon
