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It has been three years since the final Pokémon World Championships, so the joy for the 2022 occasion had been constructing for a protracted whereas.
For the primary time ever, the Pokémon World Championships had been held exterior of North America, happening within the UK on the ExCeL London and it introduced huge crowds of Pokémon followers collectively for the primary time in a really very long time.
Due to the UK location, this yr The Pokémon Company International stored up with the motif and had Pikachu wearing a Beefeater outfit, and even took over the cable automobiles in London with a Pokémon theme.
In this function, we’ll recap all the principle occasions and highlights of the Pokémon World Championships 2022.
What are the Pokémon World Championships?
The Pokémon World Championships are the ultimate occasion within the season the place gamers can compete towards one another to realize the title of Pokémon World Champion.
This began in 2004 with the TCG however over time expanded increasingly with much more video games. 2022’s World Championships are the primary and — for some time at the least — solely World Championships to function 5 completely different video games for gamers to compete in: VGC (Pokémon Sword & Shield), TCG (Trading Card Game), Pokkén Tournament, and for the primary time ever, Pokémon GO and Pokémon UNITE had been added in. Sadly it was the final yr for Pokkén Tournament DX.
In a change to prior years, the World Championships this yr came about over 4 days, beginning off on Thursday with VGC and TCG gamers attempting to earn a spot within the Day 2 competitors, whereas Pokkén Tournament and Pokémon GO held Last Chance Qualifiers to realize a spot in the principle competitors, which began Friday.
Thousands of gamers certified for the World Championships over the previous few years, so it actually was a exhibiting of the perfect.
Pokémon Center
Like all previous World Championships, there was a Pokémon Center on the World Championships and this yr it took classes from the Pokémon Center London pop-up retailer in 2019.
This yr, you needed to e-book an appointment to enter the Pokémon Center upfront. These didn’t replenish other than the primary day and also you additionally had the chance to enroll in a digital queue on the day. At first, issues did look a bit iffy when the queue system broke on the Wednesday, however this was resolved pretty shortly and the remainder of the weekend went smoother, although some merchandise did promote out.
This Pokémon Center was arguably the biggest ever completed and featured a number of room to maneuver, in addition to a number of picture alternatives. There was additionally loads of unique merchandise, with the usual World Championships line that includes this yr’s motif of a Pikachu & Roserade plush, deckboxes, playmats, Nintendo Switch instances, collectible figurines, T-Shirts, hoodies, magnets, pins, and extra, in addition to two extra distinctive strains that includes clothes; the Pink Line and the Gingham Line, which means there was one thing for everybody.
It additionally featured a number of collections that had been lately added to the Pokémon Center UK web site, and extra plushies than you may think about, together with some that had but to be launched within the UK.
What Was There To Do?
So, you got here to the Pokémon World Championships however you’re not competing, so what precisely is there to do?
First, you may watch the matches. The staging space was arrange in such a novel method this yr that included full seating stands and the flexibility to look at all of the streams from the stage on enormous screens. It really was a spectacular web site and a giant step up from prior years the place you had folding chairs in entrance of a big display.
There had been facet occasions all through the weekend for VGC, TCG and Pokémon GO. This allowed you to participate in small tournaments to win prize tickets which might be exchanged on the prize wall for a wide range of gadgets together with plushies, playmats, and even some unique items, starting from “Ditto Draft” and Gym Leader Challenge (the place you used decks of only one kind) within the TCG to Catch Challenges in Sword & Shield (the place you had half-hour to catch Pokémon in a route and prepare them up earlier than battling with solely them). The Malamar Cup was a bit hit, too, the place it’s important to play together with your Switch upside-down.
There had been demo pods for Pokémon Legends: Arceus all through the occasion, in addition to a variety of picture alternatives in every single place.
In one other of the halls, there was additionally a Pokémon TCG Play Lab the place individuals may discover ways to play the TCG with specialised decks, in addition to see a demo for the upcoming Pokémon Trading Card Game Live Mobile/PC recreation.
There was additionally one thing for individuals who hadn’t bought a Spectator Pass. Outside the ExCeL was Pokémon Worlds Square, a small space the place you could possibly go in and take part in a wide range of actions together with face portray, getting some particular meals, customising bandanas, and creating customized TCG playing cards. Nearby on Friday, there was additionally a particular exhibiting of Pokémon The Arceus Chronicles, a particular episode of the anime that’s due for launch on Netflix in September 2022.
In some ways, this yr had probably the most issues to do on the Pokémon World Championships than in any prior occasion.
Pokémon GO
As with prior years, Pokémon GO had a tie-in occasion with the World Championships.
As it was the primary yr with Pokémon GO as a significant arm of the competitors, there was a world occasion that introduced the particular Pikachu to the sport in addition to Zacian & Zamazenta raids.
However, there was additionally a secret occasion on the World Championships themselves, identical to yearly since 2017. Here, there have been over 20 stops or Gyms across the occasion corridor to spin and so they all got here with distinctive Field Research to get both Pikachu, or the Regional Exclusive Throh & Bouffalant and raids had been operating each hour in any respect occasion gyms.
The Tournament – Winners
Pokkén Tournament DX
This yr was the ultimate yr for Pokkén Tournament on the World Championships, and it was bittersweet.
This yr continued the Team Battle format the place you introduced three Pokémon and battled with all three of them to find out the match winner, in a best-of-five double-elimination format. It began on Thursday with the LCQ, then had the complete event on Friday. As at all times, the environment amongst these enjoying and people watching was electrical.
The finals ended up being Shadowcat versus Mewtater. Shadowcat, a well known face within the Pokkén Community had are available in by way of the LCQ the day earlier than and simply stored pushing by way of the Winners Bracket earlier than hitting the Grand Finals.
Facing Mewtater, Mewtater managed to reset the bracket and made it an unbelievably shut battle till Shadowcat managed to clinch victory and be the fifth and closing Pokkén Tournament World Champion.
Winners:
- Masters: Shadowcat
- Seniors: Fruitprime
Pokémon GO
It was the primary yr for Pokémon GO to really be at Worlds, following the 2019 Pokémon World Championships.
Although it had some points on Day 1 with the community connection, this was principally passed by Day 2 and the battles carried on. With many various groups on present, the battle ended up between Gudenhada and DancingRob the place the match went to the bracket reset after which went right down to the wire with all matches being performed. With there being a Ninetales VS Alolan Ninetales matchup, DancingRob ended up claiming the victory.
Winners:
- Masters: Dancing Rob
- Seniors: MEweedle
Pokémon UNITE
This was the primary yr Pokémon UNITE was within the World Championships and was the primary official competitors the place groups from completely different areas collided, with all of the qualifiers being area particular. As such, the conflict of methods grew to become clear. The UNITE setup was a basic esports affair, with all of the groups up on stage at separate desks to battle, and spectators had been enthralled.
In the tip, the finals ended up being between Noun Esports from Europe and BLVKHVND from the Americas. BLVKHVND had bought by way of the event undefeated, not even dropping a recreation, and the Grand Finals adopted that with the staff taking full management and dominating the opponents and ended up swiping a fast victory and changing into the primary Pokémon UNITE World Champions with their staff of Aegislash, Hoopa, Trevenant, Blissey and Cinderace.
Winners:
Pokémon TCG
The Pokémon TCG continued going from power to power this yr and there have been many cores used all through aggressive, most lately and most notably was the Origin Palkia V setup.
However, within the Grand Finals of the Pokémon TCG, this was nowhere to be seen. Instead, we ended up with a mirror match of a special deck, one constructed round Arceus VSTAR and Flying Pikachu VMAX, a card that beforehand was dismissed as a foul card however has risen to prominence in current months.
In the ultimate, Ondrej Skubal confronted off towards Daichi Shimada, and all through the match, Ondrej managed to keep up the higher hand, utilizing many disruptive playing cards, like Boss’s Orders, in order that he may management which Pokémon he did harm to, and ultimately received the battle.
Winners:
- Masters: Ondrej Škubal
- Seniors: Liam H.
- Juniors: Rikuto O.
Pokémon VGC
This yr was the primary and closing yr of the World Championships on Pokémon Sword & Shield — a recreation that’s based mostly throughout Pokémon battles — for tournaments. It’s an unlucky state of affairs however after an enforced hiatus, it’s good to see it again as soon as extra.
The battles in-game all came about in a modified model of Wyndon Stadium. The ruleset allowed for 2 Legendary Pokémon to be on every staff, a ruleset sometimes reserved for 3 years into the era and never the primary World Championships, nevertheless it did carry some huge battles. The customary groups had been proven all through, with many Groudon or Kyogre lynchpins in groups creating climate and gamers preventing it.
In the Grand Finals, the battle ended fittingly as we go into the Scarlet & Violet period, with Portugal’s Eduardo Cunha and Spain’s Guillermo Castilla Diaz going through off. Eduardo having chosen to disregard the climate elements along with his staff, bringing Zacian and Shadow Rider Calyrex as his Restricted Pokémon, confronted Guillermo’s sun-focused staff constructed round Groudon, Lunala, and Gigantamax Charizard.
Eventually, Eduardo managed to return by way of, with an undefeated report, and have become the World Champion
Winners:
- Masters: Eduardo Cunha
- Seniors: Yasuharu S
- Juniors: Kosaku Miyamoto
Next Year – To Japan For The Pokémon World Championships 2023!
At the tip of the Closing Ceremony, as they usually do, they gave us a sneak peek at aggressive play within the upcoming Gen 9 pair, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and introduced the place the 2023 Pokémon World Championships might be. While many anticipated a return to the Americas after the London one, an enormous shock was dropped; the Pokémon World Championships subsequent yr are to be held in Yokohama, Japan.
This is the primary time that they’ve been held in Japan and you could possibly inform how properly this went down by the large applause and celebration all through the occasion corridor.
So, Did It Live Up To The Hype?
This was arguably the perfect and busiest Pokémon World Championships but.
The staging was massively improved, there was rather a lot to do and if this exhibits the trail the organisers are on, subsequent yr might be even greater. Meeting so many individuals who share the identical ardour is at all times good and was a lot wanted after the previous few years.
The environment was one in all pure pleasure and pleasure. After years aside, with Pokémon as soon as once more taking pictures as much as prominence with Sword & Shield’s success and the surge in recognition of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, this was the primary time since that Pokémon followers from internationally would come collectively to rejoice their ardour, and it was superb. The ExCeL was kitted out fantastically, with individuals enjoying, cosplaying, and a lot extra. There was an actual sense of happiness in regards to the place.
It was a very long time coming however we lastly bought there, and that is undoubtedly just the start. If you are an enormous fan and also you’re questioning whether or not to move to Japan subsequent yr (international journey restrictions however!), don’t hesitate. This is really the Pokémon haven.
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