The Pokémon celebration is in full swing for the 2024 World Championships, but it’s not just the here-and-now making waves in Hawaii. As is customary for Pokémon‘s big events, we’ve been treated to some big announcements.
From Pokémon video games to trading cards, all the big branches of the ever-growing Pokémon franchise are covered in depth at Worlds. There are also plenty of reasons to be excited for the future, as big announcements have been made.
Whether you’re in Hawaii and want to see all the news in one place or watching from home and want to make sure you haven’t missed anything, we’ve collected all the news here.
Pokémon Go teases a return to Galar
Galar is set to take center stage in Pokémon Go, with Morpeko joining the fray. Players will be able to shift between forms by using a charged attack, which could shake up the competitive scene.
We were also shown a tease for Gigantamax coming to Pokémon Go, with the red cloud and lightning appearing in the sky. No further details were provided, but fans were told further updates would be provided in due course.
New additions to Pokémon Unite
The roster of Pokémon in Pokémon Unite continues to grow, with the announcement that Armarouge, Darkrai, and Psyduck will join the game as playable characters in the future. Armarouge will arrive on Sept. 12, with Darkrai following in October and Psyduck in November.
It’s been a big year for Pokémon Unite with the previous additions of Ho-Oh, Ceruledge, Falinks, Miraidon, and Gyarados already, and there’s no end in sight. We could even see some more additions before 2024 comes to a close.
Pokémon World Championship 2025 and 2026 venue
It’s customary for the next venue of the Pokémon World Championship to be announced at the previous event each year, and there was no change in Hawaii with confirmation the Pokemon World Championships are now heading to Anaheim in 2025. At the same time, San Fransico was confirmed as the 2026 location.
From 2004 to 2019, the Pokémon World Championships were held only in the U.S. and Canada, but that has expanded in recent years, with London playing host in 2022. Last year, 2023’s event was hosted in Yokohama.
Pokémon TCG sees the return of Trainer Cards
New Trainer cards are back and expected to be released in 2025, with several teased during a short trailer. The Trainer’s Pokémon cards, also known as Owner’s Pokémon, look set to span across several generations.
The trailer shown at the Worlds closing ceremony included Lillie from Gen Seven, Marine from Gen Eight, and N from Gen 5. The end of the trailer also showed a Team Rocket teaser, with it expected that the Pokémon antagonists will have a set of their own in 2025.
Pokémon TCG Pocket Hands on and release date
Pokémon trainers got a chance to open packs at the World Championships for the upcoming mobile TCG release, but the core gameplay and lots of other details remain a mystery. We had a chance to open some packs at the event ourselves and it was great fun, but it made us thirst for more.
Lastly, Pokémon TCG Pocket was confirmed to have a release date of Oct. 30.
