The Pokémon World Championship Series will be doing something new in 2026 and beyond. The Video Game Championships (VGC) competitors will not use a regular Pokémon game like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet or Sword and Shield to fight. Instead, they will use a new game called Pokémon Champions.
Mega Evolution will be back in the official format for this new game, which will give the competition a new twist. Usually, the world championships are based on the newest main Pokémon games. However, Pokémon Champions will be different.
It will be available on both mobile devices and the Nintendo Switch, and the main focus will be on battles with other people. It has a simplified training system to make it easier for players to fight in competitions.
It works with Pokémon Home, which is another cool feature because it lets players move their legacy Pokémon from other games. It’s still not clear, though, which Pokémon will be allowed in the 2026 championship format.
Pokémon Champions are said to have battle styles and features from all of the Pokémon games’ history. Mega Evolution from Pokémon X and Y and Terastalization from newer games like Scarlet and Violet will be in it.
As we already know, Mega Evolution will be a part of this year’s official ranked battles. A Mega Dragonite was shown in a trailer for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and it was said that it would be joining Pokémon Champions.
The game is being made by Game Freak and The Pokémon Company, and it should come out in 2026. It’s not clear yet how the release date of Pokémon Champions will affect the 2025 tournament cycle, since players usually start competing for Championship Points soon after the world championships of the previous year.
The Pokémon World Championships this year were full of firsts. Kevin Han, the VGC Champion, made history when he won titles in both the junior and senior divisions in a row.
A championship event on Sunday was held in an arena for the first time. This coming Sunday, July 22, 2026, the 2026 Pokémon World Championships will be held at the Chase Arena in San Francisco.
