The 2025 Pokémon World Championships just concluded, and as is tradition, the closing ceremonies featured new announcements fun for Pokémon fans of all kinds, presented by Tzunekazu Ishihara, President and CEO of The Pokémon Company. Here’s a round-up of all the important Pokémon announcements revealed at the World Championships you don’t want to miss, including the introduction of a new fan event called PokémonXP, and much more.
Pokémon Champions Coming to the 2026 Pokémon World Championships
The yet-to-be-released Pokémon Champions, coming to mobile and Nintendo Switch in 2026, will be the game used in the official Championship Series video game format in 2026 and beyond. Read more about how Pokémon Champions will be replacing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in the official format here.
Empoleon, Dhelmise, and Vaporeon Joining the Pokémon Unite Roster
Empoleon will be coming to Pokémon Unite as a playable character on September 19, while Dhelmise and Vaporeon are “coming soon.” No word on what roles the three new Pokémon will be.
Starting on September 4, Groudon will be taking over for Rayquaza at the Theia Sky Ruins in the final two-minute stretch of the game. Defeating Groudon will give you a “massive Attack boost and goal-scoring speed increase.” But if the opposing team knocks you out, they’ll steal the buff from you!
Mega Evolution Coming to Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
A new season is coming to Pokémon TCG Pocket this fall, and with it, the debut of Mega Pokémon, including Mega Altaria, Mega Gyarados, Mega Blaziken and more Mega Evolution Pokémon ex.
Legendary Pokémon Eternamax Eternatus Makes its Global Pokémon GO Debut
Eternamax Eternatus began appearing in the Anaheim, CA right after the Pokémon World Championships concluded, but that won’t be the only chance for GO players to get their hands on this rare Pokémon. The Pokémon GO: Dark Skies event will take place from August 18-23, 2025, with the Max Finale taking place between August 23-25, 2025. During the unticketed event, which can be joined from anywhere in the world with the free GO Pass: Max Finale, players will be able to catch every Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon that has appeared so far, plus Eternatus.
Mega Charizard X and More Returning to Pokémon TCG
We got a sneak peek of some new cards featuring Mega Evolution Pokémon and cool full-art cards during the closing ceremonies, including for Mega Charizard X ex, Mega Gardevoir ex, and Mega Lucario ex. Though not a “mega” itself, Oricorio ex was also revealed, which has a unique Ability called Excited Turb: As often as you like during your turn, if you have any Fire-type Mega Evolution Pokémon ex in play, you may use this Ability. Attach a Basic Fire-type Energy card from your hand to one of your benched Fire-type Pokémon.”
We also got a look at a new, adorable Mega Dragonite ex card, but not the full-art version just yet! Its Ability Sky Transport will allow you to switch your Active Pokémon with one of your Benched Pokémon.
4-Player Ranked Battles Coming to Pokémon Legends: Z-A
The latest trailer shown durin the Pokémon World Championship closing ceremonies featured a breakdown of Z-A Battle Club’s four-player Ranked Battles. We saw in the trailer four trainers battling at once, being able to take down multiple Pokémon at once with powerful, well-timed AOE attacks–like Draco Meteor. The goal is to get the most knockouts you can before the three-minute timer is up, and don’t worry, you can rejoin after one of your Pokémon faints! These real-time Link Battles! can be played locally or online against other players. Read our hands-on impressions of the Pokémon Legends: Z-A battle system.
PokémonXP, a New Pokémon Fan Experience, Coming to San Francisco
We already knew the 2026 Pokémon World Championships were coming to San Francisco, but so is PokémonXP, a new “event that celebrates all things Pokémon” with “a range of Pokémon-centric festivities.” It will take place August 28-30, 2026, overlapping with the 2026 Pokémon World Championships, at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. Passes will go on sale September 17, 2025 and start at $120 USD for a multi-day pass for adults and $70 USD for youth under 18.
There are two different multi-day passes. The regular one, and multi-day + arena pass, which includes normal access to the PokémonXP event, plus access to the arena on Championship Sunday. Read all about the PokémonXP event here.
2026 Championship Sunday Taking Place at Chase Center in San Francisco
This year, The Pokémon World Championships hosted Championship Sunday in an arena for the first time, and in 2026, they’re upscaling it even more, bringing Championship Sunday to the massive Chase Center, which has a seating capacity of 18,064 (at least, for basketball games.) Compare that to the Anaheim Convention Center Arena, with a capacity of 7,500. Which, I heard, was filled to capacity this year!
IGN was at the Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim this year, where we watched 2025 Pokemon World VGC Champion Kevin Han make history, and played a first-ever demo of Pokemon Legends: Z-A.
Casey DeFreitas is a deputy editor on the guides team at IGN and this year is the second time she’s covered the Pokémon World Championships in Anaheim, CA. Catch her on socials @ShinyCaseyD.
