The 2026 Pokémon World Championships took place from 28–30 August 2026 in San Francisco, California, with its Video Game Championships (VGC) division featuring 395 trainers battling in Pokémon Champions for the chance to become the 2026 Pokémon World Champion. The event concluded with Takuma Yamazaki winning against Hiroshi Onishi in the finals, taking home a legendary title alongside their team: Mega Floette, Mega Dragonite, Kingambit, Sneasler, Basculegion, and Garchomp.
Vikram Thiagarajan triumphed in the Senior Division, becoming the 2026 Senior World Champion alongside Mega Swampert and Mega Charizard Y. Kazuki Kage similarly won in the Junior Division, becoming the 2026 Junior World Champion alongside Mega Froslass and Mega Scovillain.
The World Championships marks the end of the 2026 Championship Series. The 2027 Baltimore Regional Championships run from 19–20 September 2026, and is the first major event of the upcoming 2027 Championship Series, using a currently unannounced ruleset.
Results
This event used the Regulation Set M-B ruleset, restricting teams to the 76 Mega Evolutions and 208 Pokémon species currently available in Pokémon Champions. The following list shows the Top 128 trainers and their teams; tapping on a specific team will reveal each Pokémon's ability, held item, moves, and stat alignment where possible. Any team or replica code shown below can be used in Pokémon Champions' online and offline events while Regulation Set M-B runs from 17 June to 9 September 2026.Top Cut
# | Trainer | Pokémon | |
Team | Replica Code | ||
1st | Takuma Yamazaki | | |
2nd | Hiroshi Onishi | | |
Top 4 | Zachary Weed | | ✕ |
João Felipe Leite | | ✕ | |
Top 8 | Antonio Sánchez | | ✕ |
Yuya Wakasugi | | ||
Stefano Greppi | | ||
Giovanni Piscitelli | | ||
Top 16 | Shohei Kimura | | |
Carson St Denis | | ||
Cary D'Ortona | | ||
Emilio Forbes | | ||
Navjit Joshi | | ||
Day 2
A total of 57 trainers made it to Day 2 of the 2026 Pokémon World Championships, including 2x International Champion Paul Chua and 5x Online Competition Champion Joji Kaieda. A wide variety of Mega Evolutions reached this achievement too, including unexpected niche picks like Mega Blaziken, Mega Camerupt, and even Mega Abomasnow.Top 16 | Justin Tang | | ✕ |
Filip Woźniak | | ✕ | |
Chloe Bourke | |
| |
Top 32 | Narawitch Naenna | | ✕ |
Nikolaj Høj Nielsen | | ✕ | |
Taran Birdee | | ✕ | |
Raghav Malaviya | | ✕ | |
Alexander Canseco Salas | | ✕ | |
Simone Sanvito | | ✕ | |
William Brown | | ✕ | |
Dawei Si | | ✕ | |
Oliver Eskolin | | ✕ | |
Justin Cerioni | | ✕ | |
Paul Chua | | ✕ | |
Rahim Farzan | | ✕ | |
Mattie Morgan | | ✕ | |
Kiran Singh | | ✕ | |
Jonathan Marston | | ✕ | |
Yan Sym | | ✕ | |
Top 64 | Alex Underhill | | ✕ |
Ryoma Okamoto | | ✕ | |
Nader El Bacha | | ✕ | |
Victor Jimenez Coll | | ✕ | |
Sota Shimatani | | ✕ | |
Ryan Kenrick Chua | | ✕ | |
Kota Kawabe | | ✕ | |
Caelan Brown | | ✕ | |
Naoto Mizobuchi | | ✕ | |
Adrian Hurley | | ✕ | |
Caleb Wijesinha | | ✕ | |
Louis Markl | | ✕ | |
Yuya Tada | | ✕ | |
Markus Hamann | | ✕ | |
Hirofumi Kimura | | ✕ | |
Behzad Muntazir | | ✕ | |
Dorian Quiñonez | | ✕ | |
Tom Winter | | ✕ | |
Brandon Davis | | ✕ | |
Nils Dunlop | | ✕ | |
Pok Yin Evan Choi | | ✕ | |
Joji Kaieda | | ✕ | |
Enrique Grimaldo | | ✕ | |
Stefano De Maria | | ✕ | |
Jannik Koch | | ✕ |
Top 128
As can be seen below, a number of top trainers were eliminated before they were able to reach Day 2 of the tournament—emphasising the monumental task that is winning the World Championships. Some of these trainers knocked out in Day 1 include former World Champions, such as 2022 World Champion Eduardo Cunha, 2016 World Champion Wolfe Glick, and 2015 World Champion Shoma Honami among others.The reigning World Champion Giovanni Cischke also fell short of the Top 128, ending up at 170th place alongside Mega Charizard Y.
Top 64 | Liam Shorter | | ✕ |
Wofle Glick | | ✕ | |
Jiseok Lee | | ✕ | |
Chanmin Lee | | ✕ | |
Patrick Cheng | | ✕ | |
Daniel Quek | | ✕ | |
Marco Silva | | ✕ | |
Top 128 | Samuel Thompson | | ✕ |
Eita Katagiri | | ✕ | |
Hoang Ho | | ✕ | |
Raj Desai | | ✕ | |
Santiago Molina | | ✕ | |
Edward Z Fan | | ✕ | |
Audric David | | ✕ | |
Rinya Kobayashi | | ✕ | |
Davide Carrer | | ✕ | |
Eduardo Cunha | | ✕ | |
Hidetsuna Shimizu | | ✕ | |
Oliver Achermann | | ✕ | |
Shoma Honami | | ✕ | |
Eric Rios | | ✕ | |
Florian Hoffmann | | ✕ | |
Adria Rodriguez Pol | | ✕ | |
Sangwoo Kim | | ✕ | |
Jittarin Rojmahamongkol | | ✕ | |
Nicholas Kan | | ✕ | |
Sho Akiyama | | ✕ | |
Shouta Hongu | | ✕ | |
Joshua Denk | | ✕ | |
Kazuki Ogushi | | ✕ | |
Alberto Renero Pedrajas | | ✕ | |
Tomohiro Seki | | ✕ | |
Aurélien Soula | | ✕ | |
Drew Bliss | | ✕ | |
Kengo Hirata | | ✕ | |
Kevin Lan | | ✕ | |
Alexavier Alvarez | | ✕ | |
Paul Ruiz | | ✕ | |
Jérémy Côté | | ✕ | |
Taisei Tsukamoto | | ✕ | |
Jongseo Lee | | ✕ | |
Valentijn Visser | | ✕ | |
Javier Corrales Martinez | | ✕ | |
Victor Manoath | | ✕ | |
Yuto Kimura | | ✕ | |
Renzo Navarro | | ✕ | |
Carson Confer | | ✕ | |
Satoru Mutsuno | | ✕ | |
Kenneth Gamboa | | ✕ | |
Kian Campbell | | ✕ | |
Akito Muratsubaki | | ✕ | |
Ben Madigan | | ✕ | |
Jordan Guy | | ✕ | |
Hironori Seino | | ✕ | |
Juan Núñez Moreno | | ✕ | |
Chris Large | | ✕ | |
Takumi Sakurai | | ✕ | |
Shane Gaffney | | ✕ | |
Hyuma Hara | | ✕ | |
Gilberto Goracci | | ✕ | |
Michael Kelsch | | ✕ | |
Victor Vieira | | ✕ | |
Louis Fontvieille | | ✕ | |
Chun-Yu Hsu | | ✕ | |
Jorge Tabuyo | | ✕ | |
Ángel Cervetto Bernal | | ✕ | |
Joseph Ugarte | | ✕ | |
Arath Alejandro Vera Almaraz | | ✕ | |
Rohan Muthukumar | | ✕ | |
Max Morales | | ✕ | |
Jin Yang Lee | | ✕ |
Usage Stats
Unsurprisingly, not a single Pokémon introduced in the Regulation Set M-B ruleset was present in the Top 12 Pokémon. While Mega Staraptor and Mega Raichu Y made it to Top Cut, the highest-placing non-Mega-Evolved Pokémon at this event were Grimmsnarl and Gholdengo in the Top 32.# | Pokémon | Day 1 | Day 2 | |
#1 | | Kingambit | 52.7% | 64.9% ▲ |
#2 | | Charizard | 45.3% | 42.1% ▼ |
#3 | | Incineroar | 41.5% | 31.6% ▼ |
#4 | | Garchomp | 39.7% | 33.3% ▼ |
#5 | | Basculegion (Male) | 34.2% | 40.4% ▲ |
#6 | | Floette (Eternal) | 27.6% | 28.1% ▲ |
#7 | | Sneasler | 26.3% | 26.3% |
#8 | | Venusaur | 25.6% | 26.3% ▲ |
#9 | | Sylveon | 24.8% | 35.1% ▲ |
#10 | | Whimsicott | 24.3% | 26.3% ▲ |
#11 | | Farigiraf | 20.3% | 21.1% ▲ |
#12 | | Sinistcha | 19.2% | <21.1% |
#13 | | Staraptor | <19.2% | 26.3% ▲ |
Mega Evolutions
Regulation Set M-B introduced a number of powerful Mega Evolutions into the format, and its impact can be clearly seen below. Mega Staraptor, Mega Swampert, and Mega Raichu Y make up over 30% of all Mega Evolutions in the 2026 World Championships.# | Pokémon | Day 1 | Day 2 | |
#1 | | Mega Charizard Y | 42.5% | 42.1% ▼ |
#2 | | Mega Floette | 23.8% | 28.1% ▲ |
#3 | | Mega Staraptor | 13.9% | 26.3% ▲ |
#4 | | Mega Delphox | 9.6% | 8.8% ▼ |
#5 | | Mega Swampert | 9.6% | 8.8% ▼ |
#6 | | Mega Raichu Y | 7.8% | 17.5% ▲ |
#7 | | Mega Aerodactyl | 6.8% | 8.8% ▲ |
#8 | | Mega Blastoise | 6.8% | <3.5% ▼ |
#9 | | Mega Gengar | 5.8% | 3.5% ▼ |
#10 | | Mega Tyranitar | 5.6% | 5.3% ▼ |
#11 | | Mega Scovillain | 4.8% | <3.5% ▼ |
#12 | | Mega Froslass | 4.6% | 3.5% ▼ |
#13 | | Mega Camerupt | <4.6% | 3.5% |
#14 | | Mega Dragonite | <4.6% | 3.5% |
Round 1 | ||
Wolfe Glick | 2 – 0 | Hirofumi Kimura |
| | | |
Round 1 | ||
Sejun Park | 2 – 0 | Juan Salerno |
| | | |
Round 2 | ||
Alex Underhill | 1 – 2 | Eduardo Cunha |
| | | |
Round 3 | ||
Zachary Weed | 2 – 0 | Paul Chua |
| | | |
Round 4 | ||
Chanmin Lee | 1 – 2 | Chloe Bourke |
| | | |
Round 5 | ||
Naoto Mizobuchi | 2 – 1 | Adam Cherfaoui |
| | | |
Round 6 | ||
Cary D'Ortona | 2 – 1 | Narawitch Naenna |
| | | |
Round 7 | ||
Filip Woźniak | 2 – 0 | Pok Yin Evan Choi |
| | | |
Round 8 | ||
Hiroshi Onishi | 0 – 2 | Shohei Kimura |
| | | |
Round 9 | ||
Yuya Wakasugi | 0 – 2 | Cary D'Ortona |
| | | |
Round 10 | ||
Antonio Sánchez | 2 – 1 | Giovanni Piscitelli |
| | | |
Round 11 | ||
Emilio Forbes | 2 – 1 | Raghav Malaviya |
| | | |
Top Cut | ||
Carson St Denis | 1 – 2 | João Felipe Leite |
| | | |
Top 8A | ||
Antonio Sánchez | 0 – 2 | Hiroshi Onishi |
| | | |
Top 8B | ||
João Felipe Leite | 2 – 0 | Giovanni Piscitelli |
| | | |
Top 8C | ||
Takuma Yamazaki | 2 – 0 | Stefano Greppi |
| | | |
Top 8D | ||
Yuya Wakasugi | 1 – 2 | Zachary Weed |
| | | |
Top 4A | ||
Hiroshi Onishi | 2 – 0 | João Felipe Leite |
| | | |
Top 4B | ||
Takuma Yamazaki | 2 – 1 | Zachary Weed |
| | | |
Hiroshi Onishi earned an invite to the 2026 World Championships through their victory at the 2026 Japan Championships with a similar team headed by Mega Charizard Y and Mega Floette. Their opponent in the finals, Takuma Yamazaki, similarly earned their invite through the Japan Championships, placing in the Top 64.
With Takuma Yamazaki's victory in the finals, Garchomp becomes the second-ever pseudo-legendary Pokémon to win the World Championships three times—preceded by Salamence's three victories in 2009, 2018, and 2019.
Masters Finals | ||
Hiroshi Onishi | 1 – 2 | Takuma Yamazaki |
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Senior Finals | ||
Carlos Verástegui | 1 – 2 | Vikram Thiagarajan |
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Junior Finals | ||
Kazuki Kage | 2 – 1 | Kazutaka Hatahori |
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