2016 Pokémon World Championships Come to a Close

[Linkachu]

After three long and gruelling days of Pokémon battling, the 2016 Pokémon World Championships wrapped up yesterday afternoon in San Francisco - or earlier this morning depending on your timezone.

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While the Pokkén Tournament finals were settled on Saturday, and its victors sadly missing during the Worlds closing ceremonies, our TCG and VGC finals were held on Sunday. Trophies were presented to our TCG and VGC winners during the closing ceremonies by Game Freak's Junichi Masuda and the Pokemon Company's president/CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara. Congratulations to all of our new champions and to the rest of the players who took part in this year's Pokémon World Championships, and an especially big congrats to our first ever Pokkén Tournament World Champions!

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Upon the closing of the event it was announced that Anaheim, California would host the 2017 Pokémon World Championships. Not only has Worlds been held in Anaheim once before, this also marks the second time that the event will take place in the same American state for two years running. My heartfelt apologies to those of you who reside in the UK (or further east) and enjoy streaming Worlds live. Looks like you'll be in for more late nights next year, too! That Pokkén live finals...

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Just to get it out there officially - sadly no, there were no further Pokémon TCG or Pokémon Sun & Moon reveals during the closing ceremonies, and Pokkén Tournament's arcade and/or console versions received no news drops during Worlds in general. Looks like we'll be waiting longer to hear if/when Darkrai will be joining the lineup of Pokkén's Wii U version.

Last but certainly not least, you can view the full rundown of our Pokkén, TCG, and VGC 2016 World Champions and runner-ups below. If you're interested in seeing a breakdown of the Top-8 players' TCG decks and VGC teams from the various age divisions, check out the corresponding links for each.

Pokkén Tournament Finalists

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Senior Division
Champion: Josh "Woomy!gun" Simmonite (Charizard - UK)
Runner-up: Dale "Bolimar" C. (Lucario - USA)

Masters Division
Champion: Masami "Potetin" Sato (Chandelure, Weavile, Mewtwo - Japan)
Runner-up: Takuma "Azazel" Araki (Machamp - Japan)

Pokémon Trading Card Game Finalists

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Junior Division
Champion: Shunto Sadahiro (Japan)
Runner-up: Riku Ushirosako (Japan)

Senior Division
Champion: Jesper Eriksen (Denmark)
Runner-up: Connor Pedersen (USA)

Masters Division
Champion: Shintaro Ito (Japan)
Runner-up: Cody Walinski (United States)

Pokémon Video Game Finalists

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Junior Division
Champion: Cory Conner (USA)
Runner-up: Shu Harasaki (Japan)

Senior Division
Champion: Carson Confer (USA)
Runner-up: Yuki Wata (Japan)

Masters Division
Champion: Wolfe Glick (USA)
Runner-up: Johnathan Evans (USA)

This brings us to the close of the 2016 Pokémon World Championships. Congrats once again to all of you who gave it your all during this past year, may it be during the various online tournaments, local events, Regionals, Nationals, Worlds, and beyond. Whether you enjoyed this year's rulesets or not, here's hoping that the 2017 Pokémon World Championships are even better.

 

[~Pokelover~]

first comment!
also I watched the stream for a while. This year looked fun, I wish I could have been there.

 

[Scrafty]

It's adorable how the Pikachus on a trophy hold a trophy when the trophy was held by children that win a trophy.

 

[ExtinctGuisher]

So, you get a trophy witha shape of a Pikachu holding another trophy. Doesnt that mean you get 2 trophies?