Anaheim hosts the 2025 Pokémon World Championships, San Francisco in 2026 (original) (raw)

The 2023/24 Pokémon esports season has concluded in Honolulu, Hawaii, and The Pokémon Company has already confirmed where the 2025 World Championships will be held next year.

The Pokémon World Championships 2025 location was revealed at the closing ceremony of the 2024 season, as is tradition, in front of a packed out Hawaii crowd after the end of the Scarlet and Violet Masters tournament.

On top of the 2025 announcement, a surprise reveal locked in San Fransico as the 2026 tournament host. Both events will take place in August of their respective years.

This marks the second time the World Championships has been held in North America after a short stint on an international tour. The 2023 event was held in Japan while London hosted the 2022 edition. NA has been the home of the World Championships for quite some time but Anaheim might not have the same exciting pull that Hawaii had.

This is also the second time Worlds is heading to Anaheim after the city hosted the 2017 World Championships. Back then, the main games on offer were VGC, TGC, and Pokkén Tournament on Wii U—how far we have come. Humorously, the main series at the time was Sun and Moon, so it feels like a nice fit to follow up Hawaii.

The 2025 event will see a reduced pool of Pokémon players competing following Worlds qualification changes, announced in June 2024. Only a few hundred people can qualify for the event now every year over the thousands that usually attend, meaning a lot of players might miss out on a spot altogether.

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