Pokémon GO celebrates World Championships 2025 with in-game event

Pokémon GO has announced a new in-game event to promote the Pokémon World Championships 2025, running from August 15th to 17th, 2025.

The event offers cosmetics, raids, field research tasks and more in celebration of the GO Battle League and the upcoming event, where the top players from around the world compete to be crowned the Pokémon GO World Champion.

Various new features are coming to the mobile game, including a new clothed Pokémon debut. A Pikachu with a varsity jacket will be available to capture in field research tasks and in one-star raids, with the chance to encounter a shiny variant.

Raids see some new Pokémon available to capture during the event. Honedge will be available in one-star raids, while three-stars will see Dusclops and Diggersby. Field Research Tasks will also see Marill, Paldean Wooper, and Honedge make an appearance.

Players can also spend $5 (~£3.76) for event-exclusive paid timed research. These rewards include one premium battle pass, 25,000 Stardust, and increased chances of encountering a range of Pokémon.

Some of the Pokémon included will come with a Featured attack. For example, Lapras will have Ice Beam when caught, and Primeape, Anihilape, and Clodsire can learn new featured attacks.

There are also several cosmetic rewards up for grabs in celebration of the Pokémon World Championships. The 2025 Worlds Jersey and Visors can be purchased from the shop to customise avatars, and new Pokémon World-themed stickers can be earned through Pokéstops, opening gifts, or direct purchases.

The GO Battle League will also feature a new arena and battle music from August 11th at 1:00 pm PDT and August 17, 2025, at 11:59 pm PDT.

Bonuses will also run during the event, including quadruple Stardust gains from wins, an increased number of sets from five to 20, free battle-themed timed research, and wider stat variance for GO Battle League rewarded Pokémon.

Additional highlights include new active leagues, Great, Ultra and Master, alongside new boxes available in the Pokémon GO Web Store.

The Pokémon GO tournament for the Pokémon World Championships 2025 will begin at 9:00 AM PDT for each day, streamed live on the official Twitch channel. However, Pokémon GO will not be the only esports title featured at the global event in Anaheim, California.

According to the main event schedule, other competitive titles include Pokémon Unite, the Trading Card Game (TCG), and the Video Game Championship (VGC) on Scarlet and Violet.

Unite will have a single round-robin Group Stage on August 15th, before entering a single-elimination Bracket Stage on August 16th. After the Bo5 Semi-Finals, the Unite Finals and Awards will take place on August 17th, 2025.

GO will have a double elimination bracket using the Great League format, where the top competitors from each bracket will advance to the Final Stage. Matches will be Bo3, with both the Winners and Losers Finals, and the Grand Finals, being Bo5.

TCG is split into three divisions: junior, senior, and masters, with all three running simultaneously. Swiss Rounds will begin on the first two days. The number of rounds played will depend on the number of attendees. The second day will conclude with the Top Cut competing against one another, and the third day will crown its winners for each division in the TCG finals.

VGC will also have three divisions based on skill level, and it will follow an identical structure to TCG. Junior and senior players will be afforded a meal break per day, but the masters division will not. Pokémon has stated that the tournament schedule may be subject to change.