The culmination of the last 12 months of competitive Pokémon is finally here, with the 2023 Pokémon World Championships putting the best players in the world in the spotlight from Aug. 10 to 12 across four different events.
For the first time ever, the PWC is live from Japan to name new champions in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s VGC, the Pokémon TCG, Pokémon Go, and Pokémon UNITE. Each competition has its own separate prize pool, with UNITE leading the pack by a wide margin at $500,000.
Whether you are experiencing the Pokémon magic live from the venue in Yokohama or are tuning in at home on YouTube or Twitch, The Pokémon Company has a stacked weekend of content lined up for all four games. And, if you can’t watch all the action live, I have compiled a full list of the top performing teams, where you can tune in, and other details such as the biggest announcements throughout the 2023 Pokémon World Championships for every event—updated live as it unfolds.
Pokémon World Championships 2023: Where and when to watch every game
The 2023 Pokémon World Championships runs from Aug. 10 to 12, depending on what timezone you are in, but the schedule is actually fairly simple to follow.
Here is a full list of the places to watch Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s VGC, the Pokémon TCG, Pokémon Go, and Pokémon UNITE during the event. All of the listed times will be in US CT.
- Pokémon TCG
- Aug. 10: 7pm to 6:30am CT — Day one Swiss
- Pokémon TCG Twitch
- Aug. 11: 7pm to 8am CT— Day 2 Swiss into top four
- Pokémon TCG Twitch
- Aug. 12: 8pm to 12am CT — Finals
- Official Pokémon Twitch
- Aug. 10: 7pm to 6:30am CT — Day one Swiss
- Pokémon VGC: Entirely streamed on the official Pokémon Twitch channel
- Aug. 10: 7pm to 6:30am CT — Day one Swiss
- Official Pokémon Twitch
- Aug. 11: 7pm to 8am CT— Day two Swiss into top four
- Official Pokémon Twitch
- Aug. 12: 12am to 3am CT — Finals
- Official Pokémon Twitch
- Aug. 10: 7pm to 6:30am CT — Day one Swiss
- Pokémon Go
- Aug. 10: 7pm to 4am CT — Bracket
- Pokémon Go Twitch
- Aug. 11: 7pm to 3am CT— Bracket to top two
- Pokémon Go Twitch
- Aug. 12: 7pm to 8pm CT — Finals
- Pokémon Go Twitch
- Aug. 10: 7pm to 4am CT — Bracket
- Pokémon UNITE
- Aug. 10: 7pm to 6am CT — Group play
- Pokémon UNITE Twitch
- Aug. 11: 7pm to 7am CT— Bracket play through finals
- Pokémon UNITE Twitch
- Aug. 10: 7pm to 6am CT — Group play
Closing ceremonies for the event will run at 3am CT on Aug. 13 once the VGC finals conclude.
Pokémon World Championships 2023: Live top standings and final results
Pokémon TCG: Pokémon World Championships 2023 final standings
| Place (Masters) | Player | Prize |
| First | Vance Kelley | $25,000 |
| Second | Tord Reklev | $15,000 |
| Third-Fourth | Azul Garcia Griego, Michael Pramawat | $7,500 |
| Fifth-Eighth | Pang Kai Hing, Dionsius Lee, Shoichi Saito, Victor Manuel Garcia Montes | $5,000 |
Pokémon TCG 2023 Senior Division World Champion: Gabriel Fernandez
Pokémon TCG 2023 Junior Division World Champion: Shao Tong Yen
Pokémon VGC: Pokémon World Championships 2023 final standings
| Place (Masters) | Player | Prize |
| First | Shohei Kimura | $10,000 |
| Second | Michael Kelsch | $7,500 |
| Third-Fourth | Federico Camporesi, Mao Harada | $5,000 |
| Fifth-Eighth | Abdullah Mohayyuddin, Nikolaj Høj Nielsen, Víctor Medina, Mattie Morgan | $3,000 |
With his win, Shohei Kimura locked in a clean sweep of all three Pokémon VGC brackets for Japan at the 2023 Pokémon World Championships alongside Tomoya Ogawa in the Senior Division and Sora Ebisawa in the Junior Division.
Pokémon VGC 2023 Senior Division World Champion: Tomoya Ogawa
Pokémon VGC 2023 Junior Division World Champion: Sora Ebisawa
Pokémon Go: Pokémon World Championships 2023 final standings
Related: How to get and complete Pokémon World Championships 2023 exclusive Timed Research in Pokémon Go
| Place | Player | Prize |
| First | ItsAXN | $10,000 |
| Second | xXRubixMasterXx | $7,500 |
| Third | wdage | $5,000 |
| Fourth | ElCheasdasd | $4,000 |
| Fifth-Sixth | chiodoSH01, Scafo99 | $3,000 |
| Seventh-Eighth | Luminous0430, ROROI1230 | $2,250 |
ItsAXN completes a 2023 run that included a win at the Portland Regional Championship with a World Championship title, essentially becoming the “most decorated” Pokémon Go player in the competitive scene, according to the Worlds broadcast team.
Pokémon UNITE: Pokémon World Championships 2023 final standings
| Place | Player | Prize |
| First | Luminosity Gaming | $100,000 |
| Second | OMO Abyssinian | $75,000 |
| Third | Oyasumi Makuro | $65,000 |
| Fourth | Mjk | $60,000 |
| Fifth-Sixth | Akjil, 00 Nation | $45,000 |
| Seventh-Eighth | PERÚ, orangutan | $25,000 |
Luminosity Gaming repeats as Pokémon UNITE world champions after leaving BLVKHVND last August and joining LG in March.
Pokémon World Championships 2023: Full list of announcements
We received confirmation from The Pokémon Company during the 2023 Pokémon World Championships opening ceremony that news will be shared during the closing ceremonies and not during the event for Scarlet and Violet.
News for games like Pokémon UNITE could drop at any point near the end of those specific games, but you can likely expect a big reveal once all of the events come to a close on Aug. 13.
Blaziken, Mimikyu, and Meowscarada all join Pokémon UNITE
Three new Pokémon were revealed as upcoming playable characters coming to Pokémon UNITE.
Blaziken, Mimikyu, and Meowscarada will all join the battle at some point in the coming months, likely tied to the second round of the 2nd Anniversary Event that is still ongoing and will run again in September, to celebrate when the game launched on mobile.
Brand new Paradox Pokémon mechanics shown for Pokémon TCG
A new set of mechanics were shown off for the Pokémon TCG, showing new Paradox Pokémon cards that will be labeled Ancient or Future based on the time period and the game they are from.
This will play into new Abilities, Items, and more that specifically list those types of Pokémon cards. It also isn’t limited to just Basic Pokémon, as Pokémon ex like Roaring Moon ex had the Ancient tab on its art too.
Related: Pokémon TCG finally gets new Paradox Pokémon cards, teases the return of powerful mechanic
Ace Spec Items were also teased for 2024, meaning we will see the risky mechanic return for the first time since 2013 with some likely overhauls.
Every Starter Pokémon is coming back, and a new Terastallization mechanic was teased for Scarlet and Violet
The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet portion of the closing ceremonies was by far the most packed with information.
TPC confirmed that every Starter Pokémon will make a return in Part II of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC if it wasn’t already featured in SV. Additionally, we got typing information for Paradox Raikou and Paradox Cobalion to pair with several new moves that will almost certainly impact competitive play.
Related: New Tera Type mechanic teased for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC
To close it out, an oddly cut part of the trailer teased a new element to Terastallization where all 18 Tera Types combine into a new Tera Symbol. It is unclear what this means, but it will be usable in-game and will be heavily featured in one of the upcoming DLC parts.
Hawaii-bound for Pokémon World Championships 2024
The Pokémon Company is bringing the 2024 Pokémon World Championships to Hawaii next Summer, specifically the island of Honolulu. No specific dates were shared at this time, but it is likely to be held in a similar August timeframe to previous PWC events.
TPC also announced that it is donating $200,000 to support relief efforts in Hawaii as the state continues to battle damage caused by rampant wildfires.
