For many Pokemon fans, the franchise's annual Pokemon World Championships are the height of the year as the best players across multiple games duke it out to reign as champion. While the event mainly features the franchise's main series games and the Pokemon Trading Card Game tournament, The Pokemon Company frequently includes the franchise's many spinoffs as parts of the competitive event. Now, a recent Pokemon Presents broadcast has revealed two new games will be joining the roster for the 2022 tournament.
Competitive Pokemon players have been waiting a long time for the return of the annual tournament. Both 2020 and 2021's Pokemon World Championships were canceled due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pokemon Company has already revealed plenty of details about this year's event including the rotation of games, confirming 2022 would be the last event for Pokken Tournament DX. Now, two new games are set to join the fray as Pokemon GO and Pokemon Unite will be featured during 2022's World Championships.
Wednesday's Pokemon Presents showcase officially revealed that Pokemon GO and Pokemon Unite would be added to the lineup for the 2022 World Championships. The Pokemon GO tournament will feature "nearly one hundred" competitors with the tournament divided into two different age groups. Pokemon Unite's tournament will feature sixteen teams representing eleven unique regions as a part of the World Championship festivities. According to the Pokemon Company, the tournament as a whole is expecting "thousands of players" in attendance across its multiple events.
Pokemon's World Championships will feature not only the best of the best Pokemon players duking it out for the title of world champion, but other added features for fans as well. The Wednesday presentation revealed the tournament will feature its "largest-ever Pokemon Center pop-up shop" during the event for fans looking to acquire Pokemon merchandise. The shops will also feature an exclusive piece of merch with a special Pikachu plush paying homage to the tournament's London setting. The Pokemon World Championships are set to take place later this month during the weekend of August 18th to the 21st.
Pokemon's newest competitive event comes as the franchise is on the cusp of entering its next generation. The Pokemon Presents broadcast showed off a plethora of information about Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, including its new type-changing Terastal gimmick and new Pokemon. The presentation also featured updates coming to several of Pokemon's spinoff games like Pokemon GO, Pokemon Unite, and Pokemon Cafe Mix. The new events at the Pokemon World Championships will give even more players the chance to battle at the pinnacle of competitive Pokemon.
