Pokemon Go Announces World Championships In-Game Event

The 2023 Pokemon World Championships will take place this weekend, and for players that can't make the trek to Yokohama, Pokemon Go will be celebrating with a new in-game event. The event will begin Friday, August 11th at 11 a.m. local time and will last through Tuesday, August 15th at 8 p.m. local time. The Alolan Pokemon Passimian will make its debut during the event, and players will find a new costumed Pikachu. The 2023 World Championships Pikachu can be found by completing Timed Research or through One-Star Raids.

The World Championships Pikachu will be wearing a special jersey, which players can obtain for their avatar in the game's shop. A special jacket will also be available for purchase. Players that don't want to drop any PokeCoins to change their look will be happy to know that a free t-shirt item will be available in gray. The shirt features Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxley, and a yellow variant of that will also be released. The yellow version will be available via a code that will be given out during the World Championships stream, and on social media.

During the event, a handful of Pokemon will have special Featured Attacks. This will be similar to how it works during Pokemon Go Community Day events, where players receive a Pokemon knowing these moves if they're evolved during the event. These will include:

• Alolan Sandslash- Will know the Fast Attack Shadow Claw.
  
• Machamp- Will know the Charged Attack Payback.
  
• Dewgong- Will know the Fast Attack Ice Shard and Charged Attack Icy Wind.
  
• Walrein- Will know the Fast Attack Powder Snow and Charged Attack Icicle Spear.
  
• Obstagoon- Will know the Charged Attack Obstruct.
  

Players hoping to get Pokemon knowing these Featured Attacks will be able to find Machop and Spheal more commonly in the wild. Spheal will also be a Field Research task encounter, alongside Seel, Galarian Zigzagoon, and Alolan Sandshrew. Scraggy will also be seen more commonly in the wild and in One-Star Raids, which is notable, as the Shiny variation will be appearing in Pokemon Go for the very first time!

Are you excited for the 2023 Pokemon World Championships? How do you feel about the in-game event? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!