This past weekend was a big event for those who love pocket monsters. Specifically, the Pokemon World Championships occurred, bringing card and game battlers together to see who was the top player among them. The event was so big that even the head of The Pokemon Company showed up to give players his attention and highlight the importance of all that’s going on. By the end, though, the first teaser for 2026 was dropped, and it already indicates that Pokemon Champions will be at the forefront for the gaming side of next year’s show, while also teasing a key update tied to an upcoming title.
As you’ll see below, we get shots of people celebrating and participating in the actual Pokemon World Championships, and then, we get shots from Pokemon Champions, with highlights focusing on Mega Evolutions. Why? Because next year, these forms will be allowed in the World Championships. That’s important because the upcoming title, Pokemon Legends Z-A, will feature more Mega Evolved forms of Pokemon, and that means that players will have even more options to play with before doing battle in next year’s competition. You can check out the full trailer below:
Another announcement that was made about the 2026 title is that the game has finally gotten a Switch 2 version confirmed. The reason that’s significant is that when it was first announced earlier in the year, it was only announced for the OG Switch and phones. The Switch 2 is a far more powerful console than its predecessor, so it makes sense to bring it to the system, especially with how well it’s selling, to ensure that gamers of all types jump on it and get to play it on the best system possible.
One other thing to note here is that the game is set to be free to download; however, The Pokemon Company said it would also have a “paid form.” What does that mean? It’s hard to say, because the nature of the game is simply battling other Pokemon trainers from all over the world. It’s possible that the paid version will offer more perks or allow you to do more training and such with the Pokemon in the game itself, but the company isn’t saying just yet.
However, it was reaffirmed by the company that the 2026 game will be the definitive software of the “gaming division” for the World Championships, so players will want to see how it all works before going to the event next year:
