Pokemon Global Exhibition Announced

Eight of the world's top Pokemon players will face off in an exhibition this fall. The Pokemon Company has announced the Pokemon Global Exhibition, an "exclusive competition" featuring eight top-ranked trainers from around the world. Four of the players will be chosen via the Pokemon Players Cup IV, an online competition that is underway now. The top-ranked player from each of Pokemon's four real-world regions (North America, Europe, Oceania, and Latin America) will receive an invite to the Global Exhibition. They will be joined by four other players from around the world, including top-ranked players from the Pokemon Japan Championships 2021 and the winner of South Korea's Pokemon Trainer Club 2021 competition.

No prizes or other perks were announced for the Global Competition. Official Pokemon tournaments often involve a prize pool. For instance, the winner of the Pokemon Players Cup IV tournament will receive $5,000.

The Pokemon Global Exhibition likely replaces the Pokemon World Championships, which was originally planned for August of this year in London. The Pokemon World Championship is the culmination of a full year's worth of competitive Pokemon events, with players qualifying by competing in various tournaments and earning qualifying points. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire cycle of Pokemon Sword and Shield competitive play has been held online. The Pokemon Company hopes that it will be able to host a live event for the Pokemon World Championships in 2022.

It will be interesting to see how the competitive Pokemon scene shapes up over the next year, as The Pokemon Company has two new Pokemon games coming out over the next few months. Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl is a remake of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, but contains a modern version of the franchise's battle system. Meanwhile, Pokemon Legends: Arceus introduces a new real-time battle system that features Pokemon slowly replenishing their moves. Because neither game are traditional Pokemon games, it's likely that The Pokemon Company will keep Pokemon Sword and Shield until the next generation of games are announced.

Expect to hear more news about the Pokemon Global Exhibition over the next few months.