The 2026 Pokémon World Championships wrapped up in San Francisco this weekend, marking the franchise’s 30th anniversary alongside the inaugural PokémonXP fan event.
As is tradition, the closing ceremony doubled as a showcase for what’s coming next across the wider Pokémon universe.
Pokémon: Wild Card is set for release in 2027, the franchise’s first new feature-length animated film in years. The movie – which follows an aspiring Pokémon Trading Card Game player alongside Mimikyu, the Disguise Pokémon – is produced by Story inc. and CloverWorks.
Fans also got their first proper look at Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, the stop-motion series from Aardman, which premieres on Disney+ in 2027. A teaser trailer debuted during a behind-the-scenes panel with Aardman’s Tom Parkinson, Nat McKay and James Young, alongside Pokémon’s director of original animation, Phil Rynda.
On the games side, Z Mega Evolutions are making their debut in Pokémon Champions on 9th September, with Mega Lucario Z, Mega Garchomp Z and Mega Absol Z joining the roster alongside Baxcalibur and Rillaboom, and more detail promised soon on Heatran.
The Pokémon Trading Card Game is getting its own wave of Mega attack rare cards to match, including Mega Rayquaza ex, Mega Darkrai ex, Mega Greninja ex and Mega Zygarde ex, plus a new ex★ Series featuring Raikou, Entei and Suicune. Pokémon TCG Pocket, meanwhile, is introducing dual-type Pokémon from October.
Pokémon Go celebrated its own 10th anniversary over the weekend, and is getting a battle shake-up of its own: eligible Mega-Evolved Pokémon will gain a third Charged Attack and will become usable at every level of the Go Battle League from next season. Armoured Mewtwo is also due to return to the game soon. Elsewhere, Pokémon Unite is adding Morpeko, Toxtricity, Jolteon and Flareon to its roster.
Five new Lego Pokémon creatures were also teased for 2027, although there were no further details, unfortunately.
Amid all of the announcements, this year’s champions were also crowned across the weekend’s competitions, with the UK’s Vikram Thiagarajan taking gold in the Video Game Senior Division.
The next Pokémon World Championships will be held in Singapore.
Ed Sheeran also made a surprise appearance at the Pokémon World Championships this weekend, opening the closing ceremony with Celestial and an acoustic rendition of the original Pokémon anime’s theme tune.
