How to watch the 2026 Pokemon World Championships
More than three thousand players meet in San Francisco. The finals move to a full arena, and a first ever fan convention runs beside it.
The 2026 Pokemon World Championships take place in San Francisco, with over three thousand qualified players competing for world titles. Two things make this year structurally different from previous Worlds: the finals move to the Chase Center, and the franchise is running PokemonXP, its first official fan convention, alongside the tournament at the Moscone Center.
Why the venue change matters
Worlds finals have historically been held in convention-hall theatres. Chase Center is an NBA arena — reported as roughly three times the size of the 2025 finals venue.
That is not a logistics footnote. Moving finals into an arena changes what the event is: it makes the audience a paying spectator crowd rather than an overflow of competitors, and it puts Pokemon's competitive scene in the same physical format as major esports finals. Every league that has made this jump has done it at the point where broadcast revenue and ticketing started to matter more than player logistics.
PokemonXP, explained
PokemonXP is the first official Pokemon fan convention. Fan-run Pokemon conventions have existed for years; this is The Pokemon Company running one itself.
Per the official trailer, the programme includes panels with the latest Pokemon news and sessions on the backstories behind how the Pokemon world is built. In practice that means two audiences are served in one week: competitors, who are there for the tournament, and the much larger group of fans who have never played a sanctioned match.
How the tournament is structured
Worlds runs several championships in parallel, each split by age division:
- The video game championship, played two Pokemon against two
- The card game championship, played with real cards
- Pokemon GO, Pokemon UNITE and, in recent years, other titles
Each runs Swiss rounds over the first days, cutting to single-elimination top cut. Age divisions — Junior, Senior and Masters — compete separately, and each crowns its own world champion.
Qualification is by Championship Points earned across the season at Regionals, Special Events and International Championships. You cannot buy in; every player in the room earned a seat.
How to follow it
- Official streams carry the main stages across the weekend, with the finals as the headline block
- The Champions soundtrack for the 2026 Championships is already out
- Card and team lists from top-cut decks typically circulate within hours and set the metagame for the season that follows
If you only watch one thing, make it the Masters division finals — in the video game and in the card game, this is the best play you will see all year.
What comes next
The 2027 season begins with its first Regionals in September, with a new exclusive merchandise collection for North America and Europe, and the annual Celebratory Fanfare promo returning for players who earn 30 Championship Points.