Pokemon World Championships have become so much more than a tournament. In recent years, Pokemon Company has added a variety of fans-focused activities to the event and slowly grown worlds into a hybrid fan event/ esports tournament.
This year's event felt like the culmination on everything TPC has been working against. Pokemon Worlds 2025 turned the Anaheim Convention Center into a full -blown pokecon with suppliers, panels, exhibitions, activities and performances as well as the most production -heavy competition we have ever seen for Pokemon.
It felt like we saw Pokemon Worlds in its final form, so it came as a shock when TPC announced during the closing ceremony that next year's worlds will be even bigger and better with their own dedicated fans experiences called Pokemon XP that goes side by side with the tournament. Pokemon Worlds 2025 was effective a test run for the future of Pokemon Fan event, but it is difficult to even understand how much bigger it could be after this.
Pokemon Worlds 2025 was so much more than a tournament
There are things we have expected from the Pokemon World Championship series over the years. The three -day event has the highest competition on four Pokemon games – Unite, GO, TCG and VGC – and lots of opportunities for players to get into action in side events for each game.
This year, TPC increased the efforts by hosting the championship on Sunday for all four matches in the 7,500-person arena, which marks the first time Worlds has ever had competition at a stadium. Production quality was incredible. Light, fog and pyrotechnics punctured every big moment, while projected images on the Giant Center scene brought every game to life. This year, TPC gave a competitive Pokémon Gravitas which has rightly served during the last 20 years of Esports event.
But the competition was only half – or maybe even less than half – of the entire event. While the main stage and competition areas occupied the entire Hall B, the rest of the congressional center was used to celebrate the other aspects of the Pokemon Fandom.
Perhaps most remarkable was the Pokemon Center, which picked up the entire Hall D, the largest hall in the Convention Center. Pokemon Center-Pop-Up has become a huge move for worlds, so this year TPC opened access to local non-adeures. This was by far the largest and most impressive Pokémon shopping experience ever, with wall-to-wall-merch and exclusivity that filled the entire hall. If you couldn't do it, take a look at our photo gallery in this year's Pokemon Center-pop-up.
Part esports, part fans convention
The next door in Hall C is where the traditional convention activities were set up. On the back was a big stage for different panels throughout the weekend, and next to it was a series of autograph booths for content creators, artists and Pokemon staff. This hall also contained two exhibitions, a showcasing art from the Black Bolt & White Flare Pokemon TCG set, and another that served as a Museum for Pokemon World's history. Consoles, games and goods from all Pokemon worlds that went back to 2004 were on the screen.
My favorite features in this year's worlds were both in this hall. Collect & Trade Corner was a cash-free bass where someone was free to set up a table and trading card, games and other Pokemon goods. With so many fans traveling in from all over the world, it was fantastic to see so many different kinds of collections. I met more people and made more memories here than anywhere else in Congress.
My favorite part of the weekend was Pin Rally, which contained a scavenger hunt for exclusive pins and a space for PIN. This feels perfectly suitable for Anaheim, where the Disney Pin trading is already such a big deal, but it is also a long time to come for Pokemon.
I have collected Pokemon Pins from TCG product and other world events for many years, so getting a chance to showcase my collection and trade with other collectors was unexpected and exciting. In all accounts, PIN -Rally was a huge success, so I look forward to seeing how this activity develops in the future.
On the other side of the competition hall, over in Hall A, is where the suppliers were set up. Again, this is a common feature in fank conventions, but not something we have seen at Pokemon Worlds before. Here you will find companies like Build-A-bear, Bandai, PSA and Cool Stuff Inc. which sells all types of Pokémon-Merch. This is also where the participants could go practically with the first Pokemon legends: ZA Demo, or take a load and sit in the display areas to watch a section or two of Pokemon Horizons.
Pokemon Worlds 2025 was a test run for next year's Pokemon XP
This is not an exhaustive list of things to do at this year's Pokemon World, which also included Pokemon Play Lab, Bear Walker Skateboard demonstrations, Pokemon Go, art classes, Pokemon Go Scavenger Hunts, character meetings and greetings and much more. There is no way that you could have done everything during the three -day event, which is what makes it so impressive that TPC is even bigger for next year's worlds.
Two major announcements were made about next year's worlds during closing ceremonies. First, the championship Sunday will take place in the San Francis Chase Center, home for the Golden State Warriors and an arena with the double capacity of the Anaheim Convention Center's arena, which was in capacity during most of the championship on Sunday this year. I can't wait to see if Pokemon fans can fill the Chase Center next year.
Secondly, it was announced that the Convention Half of Worlds will be its own event next year that will take place at the same time with worlds. Called Pokemon XP, it will be a first-in-it-type Pokemon fans based on the success of this year's worlds. Tickets for the first Pokemon XP will be sold next month, September 17 and are expected to sell out quickly.
I have participated in worlds since 2022, and it has been fantastic to see how fast it has gone to this point. In London, there was only a small carnival area outside the conference center where the kids could play games and take pictures with Pikachu. The following year in Yokohama Wowed TPC fans with Pikachu parades, Drone Shows, urban Pokemon Walking Tours and a real SS Anne. 2024's worlds in Hawaii took back the Poke Park experience again and introduced more non-competitive activities, while delivering the most expansive Pokemon Center-pop-up to date.
It was all built against what we saw in Anaheim this year. The 20th Pokemon World Championship made room for Pokemon players, card collectors, plush keys, art estimates, pins, anime viewers and all other types of Pokemon -fan out there. No matter how you like Pokémon, this year's worlds had a place for you. If this is what we can expect from Pokemon XP events in the future, we have a lot to look forward to.
- Created by
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Satoshi Tajiri
- First movie
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Pokemon: The first movie
- Last movie
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Pokémon The Movie: Secrets of the Jungle
- First section's air date
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April 1, 1997
- Video game
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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Pokemon Sword and Shield, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, Pokemon Sun and Moon, Pokemon Black and White, Pokemon Diamond and Pokel, Pokemon Diamond And Peach, Pokemon Diamond And Poke Pokes and Pokemon Diamond And Pokemon Diamond And Pookmon Diamond And Pokemon Diamond And Pokes Pokemon Diamond And Pokes Pokemon Diamond And Pokémon Diamond And Pokémon Diamond And Pokémon Diamond and White Pokemon Diamond And Pokemon Pokemon Diamond And Poke Pokemon Diamond And White. Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Masters Ex, Pokemon TCG Live
