World Championships

The Pokémon World Championships (Japanese: ポケモンワールドチャンピオンシップス Pokémon World Championships) are an annual event held by the Play! Pokémon organized play division of The Pokémon Company International. They function as the finals for both the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Video Game Championships. Since 2015, the World Championships have also featured events for spin-off Pokémon games, namely Pokkén Tournament, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE. The Pokémon World Championships are held annually, occurring every August.
Competitors usually must qualify for the event based on their performance in other events in the same season, such as regional championships, national championships, dedicated qualifying tournaments, or the previous year's World Championships. The exact qualification requirements depend on the year, the region the player is from, and the game in which they are playing.
While the Pokémon World Championships are held as a single unified event featuring multiple different games, each of the games are run as an entirely separate tournament. Competitors compete in only one of the featured games, and the qualification requirements of each are entirely separate. Additionally, competitors usually are separated into one of three age groups, meaning that three world champions are crowned for each game each year.
Minor announcements are usually made during the events, such as upcoming VGC mechanics and variants of TCG cards, the ruleset of the following VGC format, and the city where the next World Championships will be hosted.
==History==
===Predecessors===
Before the introduction of the modern Pokémon World Championships, both the TCG and video games held some international competitions.
For the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the Pokémon Tropical Mega Battle was an international Pokémon Trading Card Game tournament held annually from 1999 to 2002 in Hawaii by Wizards of the Coast (the distributor of the Pokémon Trading Card Game in many regions outside of Japan at the time). Players from Canada, Latin America, Europe, the United States, and Japan were invited to the event. After Wizards of the Coast's license to distribute the Pokémon Trading Card Game reverted to The Pokémon Company in 2003, this event was replaced by the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships.
In September 2000, to coincide with the in Sydney, Australia, the first ever Pokémon World Championship was also held in Sydney. Players from Australia, Belgium, , , , , , and competed using and . This was a one-time event, with a video game World Championship not being held again until 2009.
===Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships===
In August 2002, Wizards of the Coast held the first Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championship in Seattle, Washington in the United States.First-Ever Pokemon Trading Card Game World Champion Titles Won by Dylan Austin, 14 of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Mindy Lambkee, 10 of Kent, Washington
Due to the transfer of the licensing of the Pokémon Trading Card Game from Wizards to Nintendo, no World Championship was held in 2003. Now with control of the Pokémon Trading Card Game licence, Pokémon USA formed Pokémon Organized Play to manage Pokémon Trading Card Game events.
In August 2004, Pokémon Organized Play held the . From 2004 to 2008, the event was titled the Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships, reflecting the fact that it was specifically for the Pokémon Trading Card Game only.
At the , a special video game event called the Pokémon Video Game Showdown 2008 was held. This event featured players from the United States and Japan competing with . However, since only two countries were involved, the winner was not awarded the title of world champion.
===Pokémon World Championships===
In August 2009, the first unified Pokémon World Championships were held, featuring both the Pokémon Trading Card Game and the Pokémon Video Game Championships. This format has continued until the present.
From 2015 to 2022, Pokkén Tournament was also featured at the Pokémon World Championships. In 2015, the Pokkén Tournament competition was run as an invitational due to the lack of preliminary events. After the 2022 World Championships, it was announced that Pokkén Tournament would no longer appear at the Pokémon World Championships.
Starting in 2019, Pokémon GO was added to the Pokémon World Championships. In 2019, the Pokémon GO competition was run as an invitational due to the lack of preliminary events.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the planned 2020 Pokémon World Championships to be held in London, England were cancelled, and the event also was not held in 2021. The World Championships returned with the 2022 Pokémon World Championships, held in London, England like the original 2020 plan.
Starting in 2022, Pokémon UNITE was added to the Pokémon World Championships.
==Events==
Since 2004, the Pokémon World Championships have been held annually, except in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Year	Dates 	Venue 	City 	Region 	Country 	Games
2000	September 22, 2000 	 	Sydney 	New South Wales 	 	VGC
2002	August 3 to 4, 2002 	 	Seattle 	Washington 	 	TCG
2004	August 20 to 22, 2004	 	Orlando 	Florida 	United States	TCG
2005	August 19 to 21, 2005	Town and Country Resort and Convention Center	San Diego 	California 	United States	TCG
2006	August 18 to 20, 2006	 	Anaheim 	California 	United States	TCG
2007	August 10 to 12, 2007	 	Waikoloa Village	Hawaii 	United States	TCG
2008	August 15 to 17, 2008	 	Orlando 	Florida 	United States	TCG
2009	August 13 to 15, 2009	 	San Diego 	California 	United States	TCG, VGC
2010	August 13 to 15, 2010	Hilton Waikoloa Village 	Waikoloa Village	Hawaii 	United States	TCG, VGC
2011	August 12 to 14, 2011	Hilton San Diego Bayfront 	San Diego 	California 	United States	TCG, VGC
2012	August 13 to 15, 2012	Hilton Waikoloa Village 	Waikoloa Village	Hawaii 	United States	TCG, VGC
2013	August 9 to 11, 2013 	 	Vancouver 	British Columbia	 	TCG, VGC
2014	August 15 to 17, 2014	 	Washington, D.C.	Washington, D.C.	United States	TCG, VGC
2015	August 21 to 23, 2015	 	Boston 	Massachusetts 	United States	TCG, VGC, Pokkén
2016	August 19 to 21, 2016	 	San Francisco 	California 	United States	TCG, VGC, Pokkén
2017	August 18 to 20, 2017	 	Anaheim 	California 	United States	TCG, VGC, Pokkén
2018	August 24 to 26, 2018	 	Nashville 	Tennessee 	United States	TCG, VGC, Pokkén
2019	August 16 to 19, 2019	Walter E. Washington Convention Center 	Washington, D.C.	Washington, D.C.	United States	TCG, VGC, Pokkén, GO
2022	August 18 to 21, 2022	 	London 	England 	 	TCG, VGC, Pokkén, GO, UNITE
2023	August 11 to 13, 2023	 	Yokohama 	Kanagawa 	 	TCG, VGC, GO, UNITE
2024	August 16 to 18, 2024	 	Honolulu 	Hawaii 	United States	TCG, VGC, GO, UNITE
2025	August 15 to 17, 2025	Anaheim Convention Center 	Anaheim 	California 	United States	TBA
2026	August 28 to 30, 2026	 	San Francisco 	California 	United States	TBA
==Video Game Championship==
The core series Pokémon games were first featured at a Nintendo-organized World Championship event in 2000 with single battles, and later returning as Pokémon Video Game Showdown (VGS) in 2008 as a side-event to the 2008 Trading Card Game World Championships with double battles. Starting in 2009, the events were renamed the Video Game Championships (VGC).
Battles use the following rules in general:
* The format is Double Battles. A player must bring between 4 and 6 Pokémon and select 4 of them just before the battle. In games that use Team Preview (Generation V onward), this selection is made after viewing the opponent's 6 Pokémon.
* Two Pokémon may not have the same Pokédex number. Special Pokémon, Mythical Pokémon, and Ash-Greninja are disallowed (but not Dusk Form ) unless the format has an exception.
** The Soul Dew was disallowed until Generation VII, where its effect changed.
** -exclusive moves and items are allowed unless the format explicitly says otherwise.
* Between Generation VI and Generation VIII, Pokémon must have an origin mark matching the games used for the competition. This may be substituted with the battle-ready symbol.
* Two Pokémon may not have the same held item.
* Pokémon cannot battle above level 50.
** In 2008 and 2009, there was no auto-leveling and Pokémon above level 50 were disallowed outright.
** Between 2010 and 2016, Pokémon above level 50 were auto-leveled down to 50, but Pokémon below level 50 were not auto-leveled up.
** From 2017 onward, all Pokémon are auto-leveled to 50.
* Two Pokémon may not have the same nickname. A Pokémon may not be nicknamed the name of a different Pokémon, and nicknames and Trainer names may not be inappropriate.
===Year-specific formats===
* 2008 — 
** For this year only, players were only allowed to bring exactly 4 Pokémon, instead of bringing 6 and choosing 4 just before the battle.Rules- 2008 Pokémon Video Game Showdown Qualifier Regulations - Pokémon.com
** and were specifically disallowed, preventing players from using the (at the time) Japan-exclusive level 50 Dragonite event. (It was not possible to obtain Tyranitar at or below level 50 until a Generation VI event.)
** The Japan-only (at the time) Micle Berry, Custap Berry, and ing were disallowed.
* 2009 — 
** Event-exclusive level 50 Dragonite were allowed this year.
** All forms of , including the normal form, were disallowed.Pokémon Video Game Championships 2009 - Rules and Regulations - PokémonVGC.com
** The Japan-only (at the time) Jaboca Berry, Rowap Berry, and Sketching were disallowed. The Custap Berry was also disallowed.
*** The Custap Berry had not yet been distributed to French, German, Italian, or Spanish-language games at the time, though the level 50 Dragonite event was also never distributed in these languages.
* 2010 — 
** Up to two Special Pokémon were allowed. Uniquely for this year, a player's team of 6 could list up to 4 Special Pokémon, as long as no more than 2 were chosen before battle.
** The Jaboca Berry was allowed this year despite still being Japan-only at the time.
* 2011 — 
** Only Unova Pokédex Pokémon were allowed. was disallowed due to the Sky Drop glitch.
** ( and were allowed both this year and in 2012 despite being event-exclusive at the time, due to not being Mythical).
* 2012 — 
** Sky Drop and were both disallowed.
* 2013 — 
** Sky Drop and were both disallowed.
** was disallowed (for only this year).Pokémon Organized Play Tournament Rules - Revised: November 01, 2011 - Pokémon.comPlay! Pokémon VG Tournament Rules & Formats - Revised: February 4, 2013 - Pokémon.com
* 2014 — 
** Only Kalos Pokédex Pokémon were allowed. Dark Void once again became allowed.
* 2015 — 
* 2016 — 
** Up to two Special Pokémon were allowed in a team of six.
* 2017 — 
** Only Alola Pokédex Pokémon were allowed. Kantonian form counterparts to Alolan forms were not considered to be part of the Alola Pokédex. Mega Stones were disallowed.
* 2018 — 
* 2019 — 
** Up to two Special Pokémon were allowed. In addition, the season was split into three series:
*** Sun Series (Sep 4, 2018 - Jan 7, 2019): Mega Stones, Primal Reversion, with , and Z-Crystals were disallowed.
*** Moon Series (Jan 8 - Apr 1, 2019): Z-Crystals other than Ultranecrozium Z became allowed.
*** Ultra Series (Apr 2, 2019 - Jan 3, 2020): All Mega Evolution, Primal Reversion, and Z-Moves became allowed.
* 2022 — 
** Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 World Championships were canceled and the season was eventually extended to last three years with several different series.
** All Pokémon that were obtainable at the beginning of a series were allowed for that series, including those not in any of the Galar Pokédexes, as long as they met all other requirements (such as having the Galar symbol/battle-ready symbol and not being Special/Mythical). As a result:
*** Version 1.1.0 and Pokémon HOME released before Series 3, The Isle of Armor released before Series 5, and The Crown Tundra released before Series 7.
*** Between Series 1 and 2, only Galar Pokédex Pokémon were allowed due to the only obtainable Pokémon outside the Galar Pokédex being . The only non-Galarian forms allowed were Kantonian , , , and Unovan due to those being the only obtainable ones at the time.
*** Between Series 3 and 4, all non-Galarian forms of compatible Pokémon were allowed except three: Alolan and Kantonian were not obtainable with the Galar symbol at the time, and Kantonian was not compatible with Sword and Shield at the time (only Galarian Slowpoke was). , , and were compatible but disallowed due to the battle-ready symbol not existing at the time.
** List of series:
*** Series 1 (Nov 19 - Dec 31, 2019): All Gigantamax Pokémon were disallowed.
*** Series 2 (Jan 4 - Feb 29, 2020): Gigantamax Pikachu, Eevee, Butterfree, Drednaw, Corviknight, Sandaconda, Centiskorch, Charizard, Meowth (event-only), and Snorlax (event-only) became allowed.
*** Series 3 (Mar 1 - Apr 30, 2020): Gigantamax Coalossal, Lapras, Flapple, Appletun, Alcremie, Kingler, Orbeetle, Grimmsnarl, Hatterene, Charizard, and Toxtricity (event-only) became allowed.
*** Series 4 (May 1 - Jun 30, 2020): All Gigantamax Pokémon became allowed (the remaining five at the time being Machamp, Gengar, Garbodor, Copperajah, and Duraludon).
*** Series 5 (Jul 1 - Aug 31, 2020)
*** Series 6 (Sep 1 - Oct 31, 2020): The most used Pokémon from the previous series were disallowed: Venusaur, Gyarados, Porygon2, Tyranitar, Torkoal, Hippowdon, Magnezone, Togekiss, Excadrill, Whimsicott, Incineroar, Mimikyu, Rillaboom, Cinderace, Indeedee, and Dragapult.
*** Series 7 (Nov 1, 2020 - Jan 31, 2021): The above 16 Pokémon became re-allowed.
*** Series 8 (Feb 1 - Apr 30, 2021): Up to one Special Pokémon was allowed.
*** Series 9 (May 1 - Jul 31, 2021): No Special Pokémon were allowed. (identical to Series 7)
*** Series 10 (Aug 1 - Oct 31, 2021): Up to one Special Pokémon was allowed. Dynamax and Gigantamax were disallowed.
*** Series 11 (Nov 1, 2021 - Jan 31, 2022): Up to one Special Pokémon was allowed. Dynamax and Gigantamax became re-allowed. (identical to Series 8)
*** Series 12 (Feb 1 - Aug 31, 2022): Up to two Special Pokémon were allowed.
*** Series 13 (Sep 1 - Oct 31, 2022): Any number of Special Pokémon and any number of Mythical Pokémon were allowed. VGC events taking place during this time period count toward the next year's Championships.2023 Play! Pokémon Season Structure - By Alberto Núñez, VictoryRoadVGC.com, September 1, 2022.
*** Series 14 (Nov 1 - Dec 31, 2022): Up to two Special Pokémon were allowed. Mythical Pokémon were disallowed. (identical to Series 12)
* 2023 — 
** Both players must disclose their team to their opponent (including Tera Type, species, forms, moves, Abilities, and held items, but excluding stats).
** On March 1, 2023, series were renamed Regulation Sets (レギュレーション Regulations), with Series 1 and Series 2 retroactively renamed. The season was split into the following series:
*** Regulation Set A (Dec 2, 2022 - Jan 31, 2023):2023 Tainan Regionals - By Alberto Núñez, VictoryRoadVGC.com, December 1, 2022. Only Pokémon in the Paldea Pokédex were allowed. Pokémon and regional forms not in the Paldea Pokédex, such as and Johtonian , were disallowed. Paradox Pokémon and the treasures of ruin were also disallowed.
*** Regulation Set B (Feb 1 - Mar 31, 2023): Paradox Pokémon became allowed.
*** Regulation Set C (Apr 1 - Jun 30, 2023): The treasures of ruin became allowed.
**** Prior to the release of Pokémon HOME compatibility, the Japanese and Chinese rulesets consistently stated (for all three regulation sets) that a Scarlet and Violet origin mark was required,https://sv-news.pokemon.co.jp/ja/page/36.htmlhttps://sv-news.pokemon.co.jp/tc/page/36.html while the English/French/Italian/German/Spanish rulesets consistently stated (for all three regulation sets) that Pokémon transferred from HOME would become allowed when the feature was released.https://web.archive.org/web/20230528124948/https://assets.pokemon.com//assets/cms2/pdf/play-pokemon/rules/play-pokemon-vg-rules-formats-and-penalty-guidelines-03252023-en.pdf (No ruleset was published in Korean due to all Korean Scarlet/Violet tournaments up to that point being conducted online.)
**** When HOME compatibility was released, the English/French/Italian/German/Spanish ruleset was changed to state that a Scarlet and Violet origin mark was required for the rest of the series (with the only competitive effect being to disallow Roaming Form Gimmighoul).
**** Regardless of these regional inconsistencies and changes, the HOME update also caused Plates and six certain Egg Moves (, , , , , and https://sv-news.pokemon.co.jp/ja/page/114.html) to become newly available and allowed immediately in all regions, at approximately 4pm JST May 30.
**** Players competing in events in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Hong Kong between June 3–4, who were required to lock in their teams by 9am May 31, were sent an email at 11:10pm May 30 stating that the newly available Plates and Egg Moves would be disallowed for those events.2023 Singapore National Championships - By Alberto Núñez, VictoryRoadVGC.com, April 28, 2023. Players competing in Japan between June 10–11 were sent a similar email on June 1. Events in other locations on the same days were unaffected and Plates/the Egg Moves were allowed.
*** Regulation Set D (Jul 1 - Sep 30, 2023): Pokémon and forms outside the Paldea Pokédex became allowed, except Walking Wake and Iron Leaves.
**** Before the release of The Teal Mask on September 13, a "Temporary Post-Release Restriction Clause" was added to the ruleset disallowing any traits exclusive to The Teal Mask for the rest of the series (Pokémon, forms, moves, and items), such as the Kee Berry. (For example, this applied to the Curitiba Regionals in Brazil on September 23–24.https://victoryroadvgc.com/2024-curitiba/)
*** Regulation Set E (Oct 1, 2023 - Jan 3, 2024): Pokémon in the Kitakami Pokédex and Pokémon made available in the 2.0.1 update became allowed.
**** Before the release of The Indigo Disk on December 14, a "Temporary Post-Release Restriction Clause" was added to the ruleset disallowing any traits exclusive to The Indigo Disk for the rest of the series (Pokémon, moves, items, and the Stellar Tera Type). (For example, this applied to the San Antonio Regionals on December 16–17.https://victoryroadvgc.com/2024-san-antonio/)
*** Regulation Set F (Jan 4 - Apr 30, 2024): Pokémon in the Blueberry Pokédex and Pokémon made available in the 3.0.0 update became allowed, including and .
*** Regulation Set G (May 1 - Aug 31, 2024 and Jan 6 to Apr 30, 2025): Up to one Special Pokémon was allowed.
*** Regulation Set H (Sep 1, 2024 - Jan 5, 2025): Legendary and Paradox Pokémon became disallowed.
When series may overlap at the start or end of a year, events may use either of the two formats. For example, the Korean League Season 1 on December 15–16, 2019 used 2020 Series 1 rules, while the Kuala Lumpur Regionals on December 21–22, 2019 used 2019 Ultra Series rules.Pokémon VGC events for the 2020 Season - By Victory Road, VictoryRoadVGC.com, September 6, 2019.
===Broadcasting===
* In 2008, for at least the semifinals onward, players connected their Nintendo DSes to a modified, unreleased version of Pokémon Battle Revolution. The modified game featured a unique remix of Battle! (Team Galactic Boss) seemingly arranged for the event, as well as no region- or language-locking.Pokemon TCG Worlds 2008: VG Showdown Juniors Final - YouTube.com No Battle Revolution-specific clauses were set.
* In 2009, for at least the semifinals onward, players connected their Nintendo DSes to a modified, unreleased version of Pokémon Battle Revolution. The modified game featured Platinum outfits for and as well as no region- or language-locking.571 - The VGC 2009 Battle Revolution Platinum mystery + LIVE! Shiny Rotom after 20,948 SRs! - YouTube.com
* Between 2010 and 2019, only the top screen of the Nintendo DS or Nintendo 3DS was broadcast in order to prevent revealing a player's move selections.
* From 2022 onward, a third console is connected to the two competitors' consoles in LAN spectator mode in order to prevent revealing a player's move selections (for western tournaments in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the game is displayed from the perspective of one player's console, but Asian tournaments and the top 16 in the 2023 Pokémon World Championships used the spectator mode).
===World Champions===
As of the 2023 season, 45 champions have been crowned during the core series games' tenure as one of the games in the World Championships roster, with Ray Rizzo being the most successful, winning the title three times.
Year	City 	1st 	2nd 	3rd
2000	Sydney, Australia 	Darryn Van Vuuren	Edwin Krause 	Sergio García Maroto
2008	Orlando, Florida 	Izuru Yoshimura 	Yasuhito Kajiwara 	Chris Halordain Tsai
2009	San Diego, California 	Kazuyuki Tsuji 	Tasuku Mano 	Grace Beck
2010	Waikoloa Village, Hawaii 	Ray Rizzo 	Yasuki Tochigi 	Isao Yoshioka
2011	San Diego, California 	Ray Rizzo 	Matteo Gini 	Matt Coyle
2012	Waikoloa Village, Hawaii 	Ray Rizzo 	Wolfe Glick 	Abel Martin Sanz
2013	Vancouver, Canada 	Arash Ommati 	Ryosuke Kosuge 	Aaron Zheng
2014	Washington, D.C. 	Se Jun Park 	Jeudy Azzarelli 	Collin Heier
2015	Boston, Massachusetts 	Shoma Honami 	Hideyuki Taida 	Yosuke Isagi
2016	San Francisco, California	Wolfe Glick 	Jonathan Evans 	Markus Stadter
2017	Anaheim, California 	Ryota Otsubo 	Sam Pandelis 	Paul Ruiz
2018	Nashville, Tennessee 	Paul Ruiz 	Emilio Forbes 	Nils Dunlop
2019	Washington, D.C. 	Naoto Mizobuchi 	Hirofumi Kimura 	James Baek
2022	London, UK 	Eduardo Cunha 	Guillermo Castilla Díaz	James Baek
2023	Yokohama, Japan 	Shohei Kimura 	Michael Kelsch 	Mao Harada
2024	Honolulu, Hawaii 	Luca Ceribelli 	Yuta Ishigaki 	Michael Kelsch
===In the games===
====In-game effects====
Starting from Pokémon Video Game Showdown 2008 (and excluding VGC 2010), aesthetic changes are made to the link battle arena during the World Championships. These tend to come in the form of a unique battle background made specifically for the event, but can also change the music, either by using a track unique to the World Championships (such as Pokémon World Championships Final, used from Generation V to Generation VII) or by locking music selection to a pre-existing track.
Year 	Game	Arena 	Picture	Music 	Differences
VGS '08	 	Sunset Colosseum 	 	Orchestral arrangement of Battle! (Team Galactic Boss) from 	Unique build of Pokémon Battle Revolution that featured a new arrangement of Battle! (Team Galactic Boss) that appears to have been made specifically for Pokémon Video Game Showdown 2008.Used for at least the semi-finals and finals matches in both Junior and Senior divisions.
VGC '09	 	Waterfall Colosseum	 	Mysterial's battle theme 	Unique build of Pokémon Battle Revolution that used the Platinum designs for Lucas and Dawn during DS Multiplayer which are not present in the retail release of Battle Revolution. Additionally, matches played on this build used the battle track that plays when facing Mysterial in Stargazer Colosseum, which is not usually an available music choice for Waterfall Colosseum. Used for at least the semi-finals and finals matches in both Junior and Senior divisions.
VGC '11	 	Link battle room 	 	Battle! (Trainer)Pokémon World Championships Final (during finals matches)	During Generation V Regional, National and World Championships events, a unique white link battle background was used. The music track used during these battles was typically Battle! (Trainer); however, the music changes to Pokémon World Championships Final during each division's final set at the World Championships. This battle background and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game with the exception of several special Download Tournament events in based on the World Championships.
VGC '12	 	Link battle room 	 	Battle! (Trainer)Pokémon World Championships Final (during finals matches)	During Generation V Regional, National and World Championships events, a unique white link battle background was used. The music track used during these battles was typically Battle! (Trainer); however, the music changes to Pokémon World Championships Final during each division's final set at the World Championships. This battle background and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game with the exception of several special Download Tournament events in based on the World Championships.
VGC '13	 	Link battle room 	 	Battle! (Trainer)Pokémon World Championships Final (during finals matches)	During Generation V Regional, National and World Championships events, a unique white link battle background was used. The music track used during these battles was typically Battle! (Trainer); however, the music changes to Pokémon World Championships Final during each division's final set at the World Championships. This battle background and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game with the exception of several special Download Tournament events in based on the World Championships.
VGC '14	 	Link battle room 	 	Battle! (Trainer)Pokémon World Championships Final (during finals matches)	During the 2014 World Championships, a unique rainbow-themed battle background was used. The music track used during the 2014 World Championships battles was typically Battle! (Trainer); however, the music would change to Pokémon World Championships Final during each division's final set.A new background was made for that would be used during the 2015 and 2016 World Championships, this time only being used during each division's final set. It adds dark blue flooring, a spinning globe in the background and multicolored spotlights. Both battle backgrounds and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game.
VGC '15	 	Link battle room 	 	Battle! (Trainer)Pokémon World Championships Final (during finals matches)	During the 2014 World Championships, a unique rainbow-themed battle background was used. The music track used during the 2014 World Championships battles was typically Battle! (Trainer); however, the music would change to Pokémon World Championships Final during each division's final set.A new background was made for that would be used during the 2015 and 2016 World Championships, this time only being used during each division's final set. It adds dark blue flooring, a spinning globe in the background and multicolored spotlights. Both battle backgrounds and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game.
VGC '16	 	Link battle room 	 	Battle! (Trainer)Pokémon World Championships Final (during finals matches)	During the 2014 World Championships, a unique rainbow-themed battle background was used. The music track used during the 2014 World Championships battles was typically Battle! (Trainer); however, the music would change to Pokémon World Championships Final during each division's final set.A new background was made for that would be used during the 2015 and 2016 World Championships, this time only being used during each division's final set. It adds dark blue flooring, a spinning globe in the background and multicolored spotlights. Both battle backgrounds and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game.
VGC '17	 	Link battle room 	 	Pokémon World Championships Final 	During each division's final set at Generation VII World Championships events, a unique battle background with multicolored spotlights and a jumbotron displaying a crown was used. This battle background and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game.
VGC '18	 	Link battle room 	 	Pokémon World Championships Final 	During each division's final set at Generation VII World Championships events, a unique battle background with multicolored spotlights and a jumbotron displaying a crown was used. This battle background and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game.
VGC '19	 	Link battle room 	 	Pokémon World Championships Final 	During each division's final set at Generation VII World Championships events, a unique battle background with multicolored spotlights and a jumbotron displaying a crown was used. This battle background and the track Pokémon World Championships Final are not used anywhere else in-game.
VGC '22	 	Wyndon Stadium 	 	Battle! (Champion Leon) 	A unique variation of Wyndon Stadium with the World Championships logo present on the advertising boards and a Poké Ball displayed on the jumbotron was used during all 2022 World Championships matches. This battle background is not used anywhere else in-game.
In addition, at the start of every game, there is a unique starting animation: when the League Cards of both players are shown, a unique outer space background with the Earth is used instead of the standard battle start background.
VGC '23	 	Mesagoza 	 	Battle! (Champion Nemona) 	A festival-themed variation of Mesagoza at night was used during the 2023 Pokémon World Championships for top 32 onwards and during the 2024 Pokémon World Championships for each division's final set, adding fireworks, decorations and a large crowd of spectators, along with unique camera angles that would later be used in all online games from version 2.0.1 of onwards. This battle background is not used anywhere else in-game.
VGC '24	 	Mesagoza 	 	Battle! (Champion Nemona) 	A festival-themed variation of Mesagoza at night was used during the 2023 Pokémon World Championships for top 32 onwards and during the 2024 Pokémon World Championships for each division's final set, adding fireworks, decorations and a large crowd of spectators, along with unique camera angles that would later be used in all online games from version 2.0.1 of onwards. This battle background is not used anywhere else in-game.
====In-game appearances====
In , the top four competitors from each division of the Video Game Championships from the 2012 World Championships were featured in the World Championships Tournaments in the Pokémon World Tournament. In the Generation VI games, exists for the top three competitors as opponents in the Battle Maison.
In , several NPCs at the Battle Resort mention the Pokémon World Championships.
===Trivia===
* It is possible for moves to become -exclusive at a World Championship format despite not being event-exclusive normally. For example, was an event-exclusive move on in VGC 2017 only, as it otherwise needs a Move Tutor to learn Bounce and so could not have the black clover at the time.
* The Kalos first partner Pokémon were effectively event-exclusive between 2023 Regulation Sets D and E, due to being unobtainable in any previous Switch game and requiring an old install of Pokémon Bank.
* While event-exclusive Pokémon, moves, and items have been disallowed, event-exclusive Hidden Abilities have always been allowed. 
* The first half of 2020 is the only time that non-event Pokémon have been disallowed because of rarity. Specifically, Gigantamax Pokémon that were rarely available normally in-game did not become allowed until the start of the first Wild Area News event that temporarily made them more common. This would become moot with the release of The Isle of Armor, which would make all relevant Gigantamax Pokémon available without relying on rarity.
* Between approximately October 2020 and March 2021, at least the English language rulebook mistakenly implied was disallowed (by omitting its National Pokédex number from the list of allowed Pokémon that do not have a Galar/Isle of Armor/Crown Tundra Pokédex number).Video Game Rules, Formats & Penalty Guidelines - Date of last revision: October 23, 2020 - Pokémon.comVideo Game Rules, Formats & Penalty Guidelines - Date of last revision: January 25, 2021 - Pokémon.comVideo Game Rules, Formats & Penalty Guidelines - Date of last revision: March 29, 2021 - Pokémon.com This was fixed sometime in or before February 2022.Video Game Rules, Formats & Penalty Guidelines - Date of last revision: February 15, 2022 - Pokémon.com
* Coincidentally, in the 2022 edition's Masters Division finals for the core series video games, players Eduardo Cunha and Guillermo Castilla Diaz represented the basis of the Paldea region (the ), the setting of the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games.
* To promote the then-upcoming 2023 World Championships, the Battle Stadium within Pokémon Scarlet and Violet had animated fireworks in its home screen and battle preview. It was later done again for the 2024 tournament.
==Trading Card Game==
All Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championship events are staged utilizing that year's .
The first World Championships for the TCG was held in 2002 by Wizards of the Coast, while subsequent World Championships, starting 2004, are organized by The Pokémon Company International through their Play! Pokémon division.
===Year-specific formats===
* 2002 — to 
* 2004 — to 
* 2005 — to 
* 2006 — to 
* 2007 — to 
* 2008 — to 
* 2009 — to 
* 2010 — to 
* 2011 — to 
* 2012 — to 
* 2013 — to 
* 2014 — to 
* 2015 — to 
* 2016 — to 
* 2017 — to 
* 2018 — to 
* 2019 — to 
* 2022 — Regulation marks D, E and F; up to 
* 2023 — Regulation marks E, F and G; up to 
* 2024 — Regulation marks F, G and H; up to 
===World Champions===
As of 2024, 57 World Champions have been crowned across all three age divisions, with Jason Klaczynski from the United States being the only player to win the title more than once.
Year	City 	Masters 	Seniors 	Juniors
2002	Seattle, WA 	— 	Dylan Austin 	Mindy Lambkee
2004	Orlando, FL 	Tsuguyoshi Yamato 	Takuya Yoneda 	Hayato Sato
2005	San Diego, CA 	Jeremy Maron 	Stuart Benson 	Curran Hill
2006	Anaheim, CA 	Jason Klaczynski 	Miska Saari 	Hiroki Yano
2007	Waikoloa Village, HI	Tom Roos 	Jeremy Scharff-Kim	Jun Hasebe
2008	Orlando, FL 	Jason Klaczynski 	Dylan Lefavour 	Tristan Robinson
2009	San Diego, CA 	Stephen Silvestro 	Takuto Itagaki 	Tsubasa Nakamura
2010	Waikoloa Village, HI	Yuta Komatsuda 	Jacob Lesage 	Yuka Furusawa
2011	San Diego, CA 	David Cohen 	Christopher Kan 	Gustavo Wada
2012	Waikoloa Village, HI	Igor Costa 	Chase Moloney 	Shuto Itagaki
2013	Vancouver, BC 	Jason Klaczynski 	Kaiwen Cabbabe 	Ondrej Kujal
2014	Washington, D.C. 	Andrew Estrada 	Trent Orndorff 	Haruto Kobayashi
2015	Boston, MA 	Jacob Van Wagner 	Patrick Martinez 	Rowan Stavenow
2016	San Francisco, CA 	Shintaro Ito 	Jesper Eriksen 	Shunto Sadahiro
2017	Anaheim, CA 	Diego Cassiraga 	Zachary Bokhari 	Tobias Strømdahl
2018	Nashville, TN 	Robin Schulz 	Magnus Pedersen 	Naohito Inoue
2019	Washington, D.C. 	Henry Brand 	Kaya Lichtleitner 	Haruki Miyamoto
2022	London, UK 	Ondřej Škubal 	Liam Halliburton 	Rikuto Ohashi
2023	Yokohama, Japan 	Vance Kelley 	Gabriel Fernandez 	Shao Tong Yen
2024	Honolulu, HI 	Fernando Cifuentes	Evan Pavelski 	Sakuya Ota
===World Championship decks===
World Championship decks are purchasable non-tournament-legal prints of 60-card decks used by World Championship players.
==Pokkén Tournament==
===Games used===
*2015 - Pokkén Tournament (arcade version, invitational only)
*2016 - Pokkén Tournament
*2017 - Pokkén Tournament
*2018 - Pokkén Tournament DX
*2019 - Pokkén Tournament DX
*2022 - Pokkén Tournament DX
===World Champions===
10 World Champions have been crowned across both age divisions.
Year	City 	Masters 	Seniors
2015	Boston, MA 	Rip 	—
2016	San Francisco, CA	Potetin 	woomy!gun
2017	Anaheim, CA 	Tonosama 	—
2018	Nashville, TN 	ThankSwalot	kato
2019	Washington, D.C. 	Subutan 	Ashgreninja1
2022	London, UK 	Shadowcat 	Fruitprime
==Pokémon GO==
*2019 (invitational only)
** Junichi Masuda and Shigeki Morimoto were among the exhibition opponents.
*2022
*2023
*2024
===World Champions===
As of 2023, 5 World Champions have been crowned across both age divisions.
Year	City 	Masters 	Seniors
2019	Washington, D.C.	PogoKieng 	—
2022	London, UK 	DancingRob	MEweedle
2023	Yokohama, Japan 	ItsAXN 	—
2024	Honolulu, Hawaii	Yekai0904 	—
==Pokémon UNITE==
*2022
*2023
*2024
===World Champions===
As of the 2024 season, 6 champions teams have been crowned.
Year	City 	1st 	2nd
2022	London, UK 	BLVKHVND 	Nouns Esports
2023	Yokohama, Japan 	Luminosity Gaming	OMO Abyssinian
2024	Honolulu, Hawaii	FENNEL 	XoraTigersGaming
==Scheduling and matchups==
The Championships are set over three days (four starting with the 2022 event) with a last chance qualifier (known to players as "The Grinder") on the Friday to fill seats left vacant for various reasons (no travel, local qualifiers) until all seats are filled. The second day is limited to Swiss Pairings over a set number of rounds, and the top players (16 each in the Junior and Senior Divisions, as well as the top 32 in the Masters division) move onto the Sunday rounds. The format for this final is single elimination, until the finals, which are a best two matches out of three to decide the World Champion. There are three divisions: Junior (known as the 10 Years Old and Under Division until 2006), Senior (known as the 11 to 14 Year Old Division until 2006) and Masters (called the 15 Years and Older Division until 2006). In 2010, a Last Chance Qualifier was held on Friday to fill all vacant spots. In 2011, a Masters age Division was added to the VGC scene to parallel the TCG. The event format consists of Swiss rounds, followed by a single elimination tournament. In 2009, the top two advanced to play the finals on Sunday, whereas since 2010, the top eight advance to play in a head-to-head single elimination event to decide the World Champions.
==In animation==
===Pokémon the Series===
========
In , participated in the Pokémon World Coronation Series (Japanese: ポケモンワールドチャンピオンシップス Pokémon World Championships). In Partners in Time!, he became the current World Champion by defeating and becoming the latest Monarch.
===Pokémon: Path to the Peak===
The real World Championships was first mentioned in The Club.
In Regionals, Ava, her father, and Celestine participated in the regional Pokémon TCG championship. In the first round of competition, players initially face their opponents based on predetermined matches and the tournament follows with the other participants in the elimination round scheme. The final is held with a best of three between the two finalists.
====Notable competitors (Regional)====
Participant 	Place
Ava 	Champion
Celestine 	Runner-up
Ava's father	N/A
Tonio 	N/A
====Notable competitors (Worlds)====
Participant	Place
Ava 	Champion
Edgar Troy 	Runner-up
====Gallery====
Ava regional champion.png|Ava winning the regional championship
Ava World Champion.png|Ava as a World Champion
===Challenge the World!===
Challenge the World!, a trailer for the 2023 Pokémon World Championships, shows a fictional version of that event. Each of the events, GO, UNITE, TCG, and VGC, has a sequence in which the battles are presented in animated form. The framing device for this is that each member of a friend group is partaking in one of the events. The main character wins a match as part of the VGC event.
==In other languages==
==See also==
* Play! Pokémon
* Pokémon League (TCG)
* Championship Point
==References==
==External links==
* Official website
Category:Play! Pokémon
*
*
Category:Video game tournaments
Category:TCG tournaments
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fr:Championnats du monde
it:Campionati Mondiali
ja:ポケモンワールドチャンピオンシップス
zh:宝可梦世界锦标赛（现实比赛）