2026 Pokémon World Championships: Everything Announced
The 2026 Pokémon World Championships ran simultaneously with the first official Pokémon fan convention, PokémonXP, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a slew of exciting announcements shared by president and CEO of The Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, during the Pokémon World Championships closing ceremonies. Here's everything announced at the 2026 Pokémon World Championships you need to know.
New Movie, Pokémon Wild Card, Coming 2027
For the first time in seven years, a new animated Pokémon movie is coming. It's called Pokémon Wild Card and will release in 2027. A short trailer was shown during the closing ceremonies, featuring a Pokémon TCG player and Mimikyu. Read more about everything we know about the Pokémon Wild Card movie here.
2027 Pokémon World Championships Going to Singapore
The 2027 Pokémon World Championships is coming to Singapore, returning to Asia for the first time since 2023, when it was held in Yokohama, Japan.
Z-Mega Evolutions Coming to Pokémon Champions, Mega Heatran Revealed
Regulation Set M-C was announced for Pokémon Champions, which will now include Rillaboom, Baxcalibur, and new Z-Megas Mega Absol Z, Mega Lucario Z, and Mega Garchomp Z. Additionally, Mega Heatran was teased in the trailer but has not been confirmed otherwise. The additions arrive in Pokémon Champions on September 9 JST.
Armored Mewtwo Returning to Pokémon GO, Mega-Pokémon Gaining Extra Charged Attack
Beginning now, eligible Mega-Evolved Pokémon will gain an additional Charged Attack. Plus, beginning with Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Mega Finale, you'll be able to take Mega-Evolved Pokémon into all levels of the GO Battle League and Armored Mewtwo will return for the first time in six years.
New ex-Star TCG logo and Mega Lucario Z Revealed
A Pokémon Trading Card Game teaser showed sneak peaks of a new "series logo:" ex★ (ex-Star), the debut of Mega Lucario Z, and more new "Mega attack rare cards" featuring Mega Darkrai, Mega Greninja, Mega Rayquaza, and Mega Zygarde. The Legendary Beasts from Johto, Suicine, Raikou, and Entei, were also teased.
Pokémon UNITE: Final Eeveelutions, More Pokémon Coming This Fall
Flareon, Jolteon, Morpeko, and Toxtricity are all coming to Pokémon UNITE this September and October. This rounds out the Eevee line, with all eight evolutions playable along with Eevee.
- Morpeko - Speedster - Coming September 4
- Toxtricity (Amped Form) - Attacker - Coming September 24
- Jolteon - Speedster - Coming October
- Flareon - All-Rounder - Coming October
The news comes after Zeta Division won the Pokémon UNITE world championships during the final time it'll be featured on the Pokémon World Championships stage, marking the end of an era. Next year, there will be a separate tournament for UNITE, the Pokémon UNITE Aeos Crown 2027 Tokyo, tentatively scheduled for late March 2027.
PokémonXP Announcements and More From This Weekend
Though technically announced during a panel at PokémonXP on Friday, we got our first trailer for Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d and Pichu, which was also revealed to be exclusive to on Disney+ and DisneyXD.
The Fitbit Air Special Edition Pokémon Sleep was also revealed on Thursday. In an unrelated panel at PokémonXP, President and CEO of The Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, spoke on how going forward, a challenge for the company may be figuring out how to integrate Pokémon more with wearable technology.
During the Pokémon TCG Pocket panel at PokémonXP, dual-type cards were revealed, and will be rolling out starting October 2026.
For more on PokémonXP, the Pokémon World Championships, and future Pokémon events, read the enlightening interview with Director, Global Esports and Events Producer Chris Brown. In it, Brown acknowledged the challenges that come with producing an event with more demand than there is supply.
Casey DeFreitas is the deputy editor of guides at IGN, and has attended the Pokémon World Championships since 2017. Catch her on socials @ShinyCaseyD.