The first Pokemon games were released in Japan in 1996, and in the intervening 27 years the franchise became a bona-fide global sensation. Now, the 2023 Pokemon World Championships are bringing all that success home.
From Aug. 11 to 13, the fierce esports competition and a full slate of fan events are set to transform a corner of Yokohama into a Pokemon-themed summer extravaganza.
The championships have been held annually since 2004, but never in Japan — or anywhere else in Asia. Last year, host city London drew over 1,000 Pokemon trainers (the community’s parlance for players who raise and command the franchise cartoon creatures) from more than 50 nations and more than 8 million people watched the competition online.