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This weekend, the highly anticipated 2026 Pokémon World Championships will take over San Francisco. The event will take place at the Moscone Center from August 28 to 30, and thousands of fans are expected to flock to SF.
2026 Pokémon World Championships
The championships are invite-only for competitive players from around the world. Categories of competition include Pokémon video games, the Trading Card Game, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon UNITE. The final day of the championships will take place at Chase Center, utilizing the stadium for a full “arena experience”. Fans can also look forward to plenty of exciting things to do this weekend, including PokémonXP.
PokémonXP
Along with the world championships, San Francisco is hosting PokémonXP, a major fan convention hosted by The Pokémon Company International. The convention is making its debut this weekend in San Francisco. The fan convention will feature panels, workshops, and numerous fun activities.
Pokémon in San Francisco
If you weren’t able to get tickets to the World Championship, there are still plenty of ways to embrace the event in San Francisco. This weekend, Union Square is hosting a free screening of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, with pre-show activities starting at 5 pm and the movie at 8 pm.
San Francisco is also home to one of two Nintendo stores in the United States, which is a great place to find a variety of Pokémon merchandise, games, and more. The store is located on Union Square and is open 10 am – 8 pm on Friday and Saturday and 11 am – 6 pm on Sunday.
On August 27, Oracle Park is hosting Pokémon Worlds Night, which will feature a Pokémon-themed drone show over the stadium. Plus, the first pitch will be thrown by Luke Whittier, the 2025 World Champion.
If you can’t make it to Oracle Park for the Pokémon drone show, you can still catch a Harry Potter drone show above the stadium next weekend.