2023 Pokémon World Championships

The 2023 Pokémon World Championships was held at in , , from August 11 to 13, 2023. It was the eighteenth invitation-only championships for players of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the thirteenth for players of the Pokémon video games and the second for players of Pokémon GO and Pokémon UNITE. This was the third time the World Championships was held outside of the U.S. and the first time the event was held in Japan.
The theme song for these World Championships is "Legendary" by .
==Trading Card Game Championships==
The was used for the Pokémon TCG Championships, allowing all cards with regulation mark E or later. Players received invitations from gaining enough Championship Points throughout the year or from the previous World Championships. The top cut for some rating zones were able to go straight to Day Two: the Top 2 of the Middle East and South Africa, Top 4 of Oceania, Top 12 of Latin America, Top 16 of US and Canada, and Top 22 of Europe.
Day One was composed of Swiss rounds, with players earning enough match points moving on to Day Two. Players competed in a new set of Swiss rounds on Day Two until a Top 8 was determined. The Top 8 then had a single elimination bracket, with the finals taking place on Day Three. All games were best of three.
===Junior Division===
Rikuto Ohashi was the defending champion.
Shao Tong Yen became the new champion with a record of 6/1/1.
===Senior Division===
Liam Halliburton was the defending champion.
Gabriel Fernandez finished with a record of 6/1/1 to become the new World Champion.
===Master Division===
Ondřej Škubal was the defending champion but didn't make it to Day Two.
Vance Kelley defeated Tord Reklev in sudden death to become World Champion with a 9/0/2 record.
==Video Game Championships==
Players received invitations from gaining enough Championship Points throughout the year or from the previous World Championships. The top cut for some rating zones were able to go straight to Day Two: the Top 4 of Oceania, Top 8 of US/Canada and Latin America, and Top 16 of Europe.
Day One players competed in Swiss rounds, with those ending the day with fewer than three losses and no ties moving on to Day Two. A new set of Swiss rounds was played Day Two until a top cut could be determined to play a single elimination bracket. The finals of this bracket were played on Day Three.
Matches took place in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and were all Double Battles. All Pokémon in the games (including by transfer from Pokémon HOME) were eligible except any special Pokémon, , or . Levels for all Pokémon were adjusted to level 50 and no duplicate Pokémon or items were allowed.
===Junior Division===
Kosaku Miyamoto was the defending champion but was eligible for the Senior Division.
Sora Ebisawa succeeded them as World Champion.
===Senior Division===
Yasuharu Shimizu was the defending champion but was eligible for the Masters Division this year. He didn't make it to Day Two.
Tomoya Ogawa of Japan defeated Robbie Schaaij of the Netherlands to become World Champion.
===Master Division===
Eduardo Cunha was the defending champion but didn't make it to Day Two.
Shohei Kimura became the World Champion.
==Pokémon GO Championships==
Competitors for the Pokémon GO Championships were grouped into four double elimination pods to determine a Top 32. Top 32 competed in another double elimination bracket on Day Two, with grand finals taking place Day Three. The Great League format was utilized. All non-finals matches were best of three, while finals were best of five. 
Maxwell "MEWeedle" Ember and Robert "DancingRob" Waßmer were defending champions but were both knocked out in the group stage.
ItsAXN became the new Pokémon GO World Champion.
==Pokémon UNITE Championships==
Teams qualified for the Pokémon UNITE Championships by having the most Championship Points within their regional zone or winning their Regional Finals. Regional zones had the following number of invitations: four from North America, Europe, and Japan; three from Latin America - North, Asia Pacific - East, and Asia Pacific - West; and two from Brazil, Korea, India, Latin America - South, and Oceania.
All matches were 5-on-5 and took place on Theia Sky Ruins. Players were allowed to play on any of the three available platforms. Day One had the teams compete in a best of three Single Round Robin bracket to determine Top 8. On Day Two, the Top 8 competed in a best of three double elimination bracket, with grand finals being best of five.
BLVKHVND, the defending champions, competed under the name. They swept Day Two, not losing a game, becoming two-time World Champions.
==Pokémon Fantasy Team==
Pokémon Fantasy Team was a draft contest for U.S. residents built around the 2023 Pokémon World Championships. Users with a Pokémon Trainer Club account could create teams from August 1 to 10 that were scored based on the TCG and VGC Masters Division results. The top 100 finishers for each division received a booster box of and an Sitting Cuties plush, with first place also receiving a jumbo Poké Plush. The first 10,000 registrations also got a code for a Stretchy Form Tatsugiri.
Entrants could build a team of six from specific groups of then-legal cards/Pokémon. Registering a team also required making a guess to a tiebreaker question.
;TCG teams required
* a 
* a Pokémon VMAX
* a Pokémon VSTAR
* a 
* a 
* a Pokémon not in any previous group
* a guess on the total number of cards in both discard piles at the end of the final match
;VGC teams required
* a Treasure of Ruin
* a Paradox Pokémon
* a Generation IX Pokémon not in the previous groups
* two Pokémon that became legal in Regulation Set D
* a Pokémon not in any previous group
* a guess on the HP of the Pokémon delivering the final Knock Out
Scoring was determined by each team member's highest-placing appearance in Masters Division Top 8 teams. In case of ties, the entrant whose guess to the tiebreaker was closest to correct was placed higher. Prizes could only be won from one division; an entrant's higher placement nullified their other placement.Pokémon Support | Pokémon Fantasy Team FAQ
Top 8 placement	TCG pts.	VGC pts.
1st 	48 	16
2nd 	24 	8
3rd-4th 	12 	4
5th-8th 	6 	2
==Event Pokémon==
==In animation==
===Challenge the World!===
Challenge the World! is a trailer for the 2023 Pokémon World Championships. It was released in July, ahead of the event. In it, a fictional version of the 2023 Pokémon World Championships is shown where Pokémon seem to appear throughout the venue. One battle from each of the events, the Pokémon GO Championships, the Pokémon UNITE Championships, the Pokémon TCG Championships, and the Pokémon Video Gane Championships is depicted. For each battle, the action of the game is shown as though the players are partaking in real Pokémon battles. The framing device of the trailer is that each member of a friend group is partaking in one of the events. Each of the battles involved Pokémon that are metagame relevant or at least thematically linked to the game in question. 
The main character is shown winning their battle in the VGC event, however a placement cannot be determined.
==References==
==External links==
* Event site (archived)
** Pokémon Fantasy Team (archived)
* RK9 standings:
** VGC
** TCG
* Challonge | Pokémon GO Championships
Category:Video Game World Championships
de:Pokémon-Weltmeisterschaften 2023
zh:宝可梦世界锦标赛2023