The 2026 Pokémon World Championships brought the Pokémon competitive season to its finish line in San Francisco, California, across August 28–30. Over three days, players and teams from around the world competed in four very different games under the same championship banner: the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon Video Game Championships, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE.
That scope is one of the event’s most remarkable features. A World Championships weekend can mean carefully plotting a sequence of card plays, navigating a console battle with a full team of Pokémon, making decisions in a location-based mobile format, or coordinating a six-person UNITE roster. Each discipline asks for its own kind of preparation, but every winner emerged at the top of an international field.
For collectors who follow competitive Pokémon as closely as they follow print runs and condition, the TCG results are an especially useful snapshot of who rose through the three age divisions this year. And for anyone still learning how the cardboard side of the hobby is organized, our guide to Pokémon rarity symbols is a handy companion for reading the markings that distinguish cards within a set. The World Championships, though, are about competition rather than rarity alone: the decisive factor is how a player assembles and pilots a legal deck when every opponent is trying to expose its weak points.
Pokémon TCG: Andrew Hedrick leads the Masters division
Andrew Hedrick of the United States won the Pokémon TCG Masters Division title. Diego Cassiraga of Argentina finished second, while Brent Tonisson of Australia took third. The rest of the Masters top eight reflected the breadth of the field, with Henry Chao and Satoshi Matsui representing the United States, Rune Heiremans representing Belgium, Mateusz Łaszkiewicz representing Poland, and Nathan Spry representing Australia.
The complete Pokémon TCG Masters standings were:
- Andrew Hedrick — United States
- Diego Cassiraga — Argentina
- Brent Tonisson — Australia
- Henry Chao — United States
- Rune Heiremans — Belgium
- Satoshi Matsui — United States
- Mateusz Łaszkiewicz — Poland
- Nathan Spry — Australia
In the Senior Division, Jake Ng of Australia earned the championship. Cobey Huh of the United States was runner-up, with Jones Diaz of the United States in third. Prince Williams, also of the United States, placed fourth. Chau Chi Chung of Hong Kong, So Numata of Japan, Lee Hanjun of South Korea, and Conor Moore of the United States completed the top eight.
- Jake Ng — Australia
- Cobey Huh — United States
- Jones Diaz — United States
- Prince Williams — United States
- Chau Chi Chung — Hong Kong
- So Numata — Japan
- Lee Hanjun — South Korea
- Conor Moore — United States
The Junior Division championship went to Yuta Araki of Japan. Luke Giffen of the United States took second and Bo-Sen Chang of Taiwan placed third. Michael Rubin of the United States was fourth, followed by Reo Otake and Aoi Matsuno of Japan, Cedrik Balk of Finland, and Chihiro Goto of Japan.
- Yuta Araki — Japan
- Luke Giffen — United States
- Bo-Sen Chang — Taiwan
- Michael Rubin — United States
- Reo Otake — Japan
- Aoi Matsuno — Japan
- Cedrik Balk — Finland
- Chihiro Goto — Japan
The results put champions from the United States, Australia, and Japan at the head of the three TCG divisions, while the top-eight lists stretch across North America, South America, Europe, East Asia, and Australia. It is a useful reminder that competitive play and collecting often overlap without being identical pursuits. A card’s symbol, set identity, or scarcity can matter enormously to a collector; tournament players must instead evaluate how every slot supports the deck’s plan in the current environment.
VGC champions across the three divisions
The Pokémon Video Game Championships Masters Division was won by Takuma Yamazaki of Japan. Hiroshi Onishi, also of Japan, placed second, and Zachary Weed of the United States finished third. João Felipe Leite of Brazil took fourth, followed by Antonio Sánchez of Spain, Yuya Wakasugi of Japan, Stefano Greppi of Italy, and Giovanni Pecitelli of Italy.
- Takuma Yamazaki — Japan
- Hiroshi Onishi — Japan
- Zachary Weed — United States
- João Felipe Leite — Brazil
- Antonio Sánchez — Spain
- Yuya Wakasugi — Japan
- Stefano Greppi — Italy
- Giovanni Pecitelli — Italy
Vikram Thiagarajan of the United Kingdom won the Senior Division. Carlos Verástegui of Peru was second and Lucas de Carvalho Barbosa of Brazil was third. Esa Ishaque of Canada, Leo Fontvieille of France, Alberto Fabi of Italy, Noah Alampay of the Philippines, and Luke Whittier of the United States followed in the standings.
The Junior Division title went to Kazuki Kage of Japan. Japan’s Kazutaka Hatahori was second, while Francisco Leite of Brazil took third. Izhaq Hoggui of France, Sanghyeon Lee of South Korea, Anthony Beloni of Brazil, Rinako Tatsumi of Japan, and Oskar Biezaitis-Day of Australia rounded out the top eight.
Across VGC, Japan supplied both the Junior and Masters champions, while the Senior title headed to the United Kingdom. Brazil appeared prominently in all three divisions’ top-eight results, and representation extended from Peru and Canada to the Philippines, South Korea, Australia, and several European countries.
Hiroki Yamauchi wins Pokémon GO
Hiroki Yamauchi of Japan, competing under the trainer name GGs489hiromaru, captured the Pokémon GO World Championship. Maxwell Ember of Switzerland, using MEweedle, finished second. Yoshihiro Umeda of Japan took third as NnnnnKonToNoooo, while Martin Galderisi of Argentina, known as MartoGalde, placed fourth.
Jack Fearn of the United Kingdom and David Bustos Nordgren of Sweden shared fifth place. Jasper McAvity and Aiden Hedderly, both representing the United States, shared seventh.
- 1st: Hiroki Yamauchi / GGs489hiromaru — Japan
- 2nd: Maxwell Ember / MEweedle — Switzerland
- 3rd: Yoshihiro Umeda / NnnnnKonToNoooo — Japan
- 4th: Martin Galderisi / MartoGalde — Argentina
- Tied 5th: Jack Fearn / KingOWT — United Kingdom
- Tied 5th: David Bustos Nordgren / PvpDavid07 — Sweden
- Tied 7th: Jasper McAvity / CaspianPike — United States
- Tied 7th: Aiden Hedderly / OutOfPoket — United States
Zeta Division takes Pokémon UNITE’s top prize
Zeta Division of Japan finished first in Pokémon UNITE. Its listed roster included ZETANomu (Shoya Wada), ZETA1LevUP (Kaito Nagao), ZETARom (Naoki Yamakawa), ZETAVitoppo (Yushi Kaneko), ZETAMizu (Yuto Tsuda), and ZETAResTA (Taichi Iida).
KOMAÏ placed second for the EU region. The team’s listed players were Toast (Jost Ruholl), Ghatlue (Hassan Al Abadi), Gekk (Raul Candeias), Nirami (Leonardo Pagni), Adesu (Alberto González Torralbo), and Nils (Nils von Lengerke). Japan’s Igzist claimed third, while Brazil’s Gremio Esports came fourth.
The remaining top-eight teams were T1 from South Korea, REJECT from Japan, C,C,hayatobiha from Japan, and Evil Geniuses from North America. In a tournament where team identity matters as much as an individual standings sheet, that final eight underlined the regional reach of UNITE competition.
Singapore is next for Worlds in 2027
With San Francisco’s event completed, the next Pokémon World Championships are set for Singapore in 2027. The location was revealed during the closing ceremonies, alongside announcements involving the Pokémon TCG, Pokémon TCG Pocket, and more. Players considering the next qualification cycle will need to track the season’s rule and structure changes as they prepare.
For now, the 2026 record is clear: Hedrick, Ng, and Araki lead the TCG champions; Yamazaki, Thiagarajan, and Kage topped VGC; Yamauchi won Pokémon GO; and Zeta Division lifted the UNITE title. For competitors, that closes one campaign and starts the next. For the wider Pokémon community, it supplies a new set of names and teams to watch long before Singapore hosts the next global finale.
Competitive events also have a way of turning a shared hobby into a roomful of tiny, very serious rituals—deck checks, matchup notes, team calls, lucky accessories, and the collective effort to avoid being the person who realizes a crucial detail one round too late. Anyone familiar with multiplayer’s social choreography may recognize the energy in the unwritten rules of couch multiplayer, even when the stakes here are far beyond the living-room bracket.
