The 2024 Play Pokémon season may be in swing, but a new report seems to shed light on where the 2026 Pokémon World Championships will be held, which would see it return to the same place that hosted it nearly a decade ago.
The 2026 Pokémon World Championship looks to be heading to San Francisco, California, according to a report by SFBusinessTimes on Feb. 12, with the finals set to take place at the Moscone Center. The 2016 Pokémon World Championship was held in San Francisco but at the Marriott Marquis venue instead.
This would make it the second time the event has been held in San Francisco and, more shockingly, the seventh time Worlds has been hosted in California. The World Championship was last hosted in California during the Pokémon Sun and Moon era in 2027 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Only Hawaii, which will be hosting its fourth Pokémon World Championship in Honolulu this year, comes close to California’s world dominance.
This report should, however, be taken with a pinch of salt, especially as we are still two years away from the event. You only need to look at the impact of COVID and the pushback of the London Pokémon World Championships for over three years to fear what might happen.
There have been a lot of changes in over 10 years since San Francisco last got a World Championship. We have new games in Pokémon Go and Pokémon Unite outside the usual TGC and VGC circuits, and Pokkén Tournament is nowhere to be seen.
The news will likely catch fans off guard, considering we are currently in the 2024 circuit, with San Francisco ready to host the 2026 finals if the report is true. Where will the 2025 event be held next year?
Published: Feb 13, 2024 07:04 am