World Cup 2020

World Cup 2020 was the 16th major international pokébattling tournament. It was be held from 1st September to 23rd September 2020. For the first time, 16 teams entered, following a large expansion from the previous competition. Kalos went into the tournament as defending champions. The tournament was hosted by Johto, for the third time.

The Orange Islands were the surprise winners of the competition, defeating Alola 6-5 in the final. The Islands had gone into the tournament in the lowest seeding bracket, second only to the Pokémon's Republic of Azalea Town as the nation the bookies had as least likely to emerge with the title.

## Competing teams

* Kanto
* Johto
* Hoenn
* Sinnoh
* Unova
* Kalos
* Alola
* Galar
* The Orange Islands
* Orre
* Fiore
* Almia
* Ransei
* Oblivia
* Ferrum
* Pokémon's Republic of Azalea Town (PRAT)

## Draw

### Seeding

Pot 1

 Sinnoh

Pot 2

 Kanto

Pot 3

 Almia

Pot 4

 Orre

[a] Hosts Johto were automatically assigned to Position A1

[b] Champions Kalos were automatically assigned to Position D1

## Venues

There were four stadiums in three host cities. The host cities were Goldenrod (Goldenrod Arena and Celebi Street), Blackthorn (the Blackthorn Bowl) and Violet City (Gateway Stadium). No new stadiums were custom built for the tournament.

## Group Stage

**Group A**

1st Sept - Johto 1-6 Alola

1st Sept - Oblivia 4-6 The Orange Islands

5th Sept - Alola 2-6 The Orange Islands

5th Sept - Johto 1-6 Oblivia

9th Sept - The Orange Islands 0-6 Johto

9th Sept - Oblivia 4-6 Alola

**Group B**

2nd Sept - Sinnoh 4-6 Hoenn

2nd Sept - Almia 1-6 PRAT

6th Sept - Hoenn 6-3 PRAT

6th Sept - Sinnoh 3-6 Almia

10th Sept - PRAT 6-4 Sinnoh

10th Sept - Almia 6-1 Hoenn

**Group C**

3rd Sept - Unova 2-6 Kanto

3rd Sept - Ransei 6-4 Ferrum

7th Sept - Kanto 2-6 Ferrum

7th Sept - Unova 0-6 Ransei

14th Sept - Ferrum 1-6 Unova

14th Sept - Ransei 6-2 Kanto

**Group D**

4th Sept - Kalos 4-6 Galar

4th Sept - Fiore 2-6 Orre

8th Sept - Galar 6-0 Orre

8th Sept - Kalos 4-6 Fiore

15th Sept - Orre 6-3 Kalos

15th Sept - Fiore 5-6 Galar

## Knockout Phase

### Quarter Finals

19th Sept - Alola 6-2 Almia

19th Sept - PRAT 1-6 The Orange Islands

20th Sept- Ransei 6-4 Orre

20th Sept- Galar 6-4 Ferrum

### Semi Finals

21st Sept - Alola 6-0 Ransei

22nd Sept- The Orange Islands 6-2 Galar

## Honours

* The Orange Islands - Champions
* Alola - Runners-up
* Zoomies - KO Leader
* Purple Haze - Underdog of the Tournament

## Inevitable Controversies

Kanto being seeded in pot two drew allegations of favouritism and cronyism, with several commentators including pundit Alex Shellos suggesting that newcomers Oblivia or Fiore were more deserving purely on roster quality, whilst Kanto, despite their status as co-founders of the international game, have slumped considerably in quality over the last decade, not reaching a final since 2006.

In the lead up to the tournament the trophy was stolen. However disaster was averted when the cup was discovered in the front garden of an Ecruteak City residence by a Poochyena called Pyukles.

During the group stages, the Pokémon's Republic of Azalea Town accused Johto of sending "armies" of duplicitous Sentret to the PRAT training camp to spy on their tactics. Captain Proletariat said, "This is unacceptable and has left the Pokémon's Republic of Azalea Town with no choice but to resume hostilities in the South Johto Civil War." Proletariat was urged to keep politics out of Pokébattling by an IPF spokesperson, but was scornful of the suggestion.

Throughout the tournament, gangs of Chikoritas repeatedly invaded the pitch during matches. Each group of invaders was carted off to prison and handed lengthy custodial sentences by Keir Starmie, but this did not dissuade subsequent invasions.

Orange Island's qualification to the tournament was disputed after Naptain, who had previously been capped for Kanto, scored the decisive KO against the Socialist Cherrygrove Republic in the qualification play off. Naptain claimed that he had been told that the Orange Islands were a team competing in the Kanto 2nd tier, and that he would simply be going to them on loan to gain match fitness. Chiaki is sceptical of these claims, saying that she had received no loan requests for him, also pointing out his tendency to sleep through important team meetings.

Immediately following their quarter-final match, the Pokemon's Republic of Azalea Town declared war on the Orange Islands, citing the fact that Harlot was doing crude impressions of senior PRAT official King John Eel for large chunks of the match. As the islands are legally administered by Kanto, this triggered a declaration of war on the Republic by Kanto, and thus by its allies: Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola and Galar.