{"id":446599,"date":"2026-08-28T23:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T23:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/446599\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T23:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T23:18:10","slug":"sea-of-trainers-swarm-san-francisco-for-2026-pokemon-world-championships-largest-in-events-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/446599\/","title":{"rendered":"Sea of trainers swarm San Francisco for 2026 Pok\u00e9mon World Championships; largest in event’s history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pok\u00e9mon fans from across the country and around the world are pouring into San Francisco this weekend for the largest Pok\u00e9mon World Championships<\/a> in the event’s history, along with the first-ever Pok\u00e9mon XP fan convention.<\/p>\n

An estimated 50,000 fans were expected to attend, bringing millions of dollars in spending to the city.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of attendees streamed into Moscone Center the moment doors opened at 7 a.m. Friday for the opening ceremonies, which kicked off both the World Championships and Pok\u00e9mon XP. The convention center has been transformed into what looks like its own Pok\u00e9mon universe.<\/p>\n

For many fans, the event is a chance to celebrate a franchise that has spanned generations. This year marks Pok\u00e9mon’s 30th anniversary.<\/p>\n

“I love Pok\u00e9mon. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid, and since it’s the 30th anniversary, I just needed to come out,” one attendee from Cincinnati said. “It’s crazy here. The energy is just electric.”<\/p>\n

Other fans described the weekend as a wave of childhood nostalgia.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been a Pok\u00e9mon fan since ’96, when I was real little. I remember playing Game Boy Color in the car with a little light, waiting for streetlights,” one fan from Eastern Washington said. “It’s definitely been like my childhood, and I still enjoy it now as an adult.”<\/p>\n

For thousands of young competitors, Pok\u00e9mon has become sport. Alice Rigsby, who traveled from Macon, Georgia, is one of roughly 2,500 people competing in the World Championships.<\/p>\n

“I got cards from school. That’s how I got involved,” Rigsby said. Her goal for the weekend: “I want to make Day 2. I want to make top 32.”<\/p>\n

Competitors are representing at least 45 countries at this year’s championships. Among the visitors is Bolek, a father from Poland who traveled to watch his son compete.<\/p>\n

“I want to see how this event is unveiled, because I was a professional bodybuilder, so I was competing in sport with muscles \u2014 and here it’s with the brain,” Bolek said, chuckling.<\/p>\n

Fans also traveled from across the U.S. to attend, including visitors KPIX spoke to from Missouri and Houston. Jared, a Pok\u00e9mon fan from eastern Washington, said the trip marked a personal milestone.<\/p>\n

“This is my first time flying, so my first time for a big trip,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Pok\u00e9mon World Championships wrap up Sunday with the finals, held at Chase Center.<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pok\u00e9mon fans from across the country and around the world are pouring into San Francisco this weekend for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446600,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[145354,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-446599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-pokmon","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}