{"id":7801,"date":"2026-08-26T20:13:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T20:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7801"},"modified":"2026-08-26T20:13:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T20:13:31","slug":"pokemonxp-and-pokemon-world-championships-everything-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7801","title":{"rendered":"PokemonXP and Pokemon World Championships: Everything you need to know"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Pokemon franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and Pikachu and company have been all over the place with pinball machines, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Legos. The culmination of the 2026 celebration happens this weekend in San Francisco with the Pokemon World Championships, and, for the first time, organizers are hodling an event called PokemonXP.<\/p>\n

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The idea for a larger-scale event came out of The Pokemon Company\u2019s experience hosting Worlds. Families and friends would come out to support the players at the tournament, but organizers noticed that they often didn\u2019t have much to do, said Elvin Gee, public relations manager for Pokemon. That\u2019s why they tended to pick certain cities for the championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeginning with London World Championships, we have started to do activities,\u201d he said. \u201cWe found some ways for them to get involved. That evolved through activations. We got to the point where we realized we should have a dedicated space for our latest and greatest. We can concentrate on the fandom and the brand and hands-on experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how the Moscone Center, Yerba Buena Gardens and parts of San Francisco have turned into a Pokemon wonderland. It\u2019s a massive expansion from the 2016 championship when the entire tournament fit in the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.
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