Pokemon NAIC 2026 Hits New Orleans June 12-14: The Last Stop Before Worlds, With Pokemon Champions Making Its Debut
The 2026 North America International Championships land in New Orleans June 12-14 with a 500,000-dollar-plus prize pool, four games under one roof, and the competitive debut of Pokemon Champions. Here is what is on the line and how to watch.
The biggest competitive Pokemon weekend on the North American calendar is almost here. The 2026 Pokemon North America International Championships, better known as NAIC, takes over the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans from June 12 to June 14, and it is shaping up to be one of the most significant Internationals in years.
What Is On The Line
NAIC is the final International Championship before the season culminates at the 2026 Pokemon World Championships in San Francisco this August. That timing makes it enormous: thousands of competitors are chasing Championship Points that directly affect who earns an invite to Worlds, and a deep run in New Orleans can be the difference between booking a flight to San Francisco and watching from home.
With a prize pool of more than 500,000 dollars and a Championship title in every division, NAIC is the kind of event that reshapes the entire road to Worlds.
Four Games Under One Roof
This is not just a Trading Card Game event. The 2026 NAIC runs simultaneous tournaments across multiple titles, giving the weekend the feel of a full Pokemon festival rather than a single bracket.
- Pokemon TCG - the headline competition for paper players, and the one most collectors will be watching.
- Pokemon Champions - making its competitive debut as the VGC software at an International Championships for the first time.
- Pokemon GO - the mobile battling scene continues to earn a marquee stage.
- Pokemon UNITE - the MOBA-style title rounds out the four-game slate.
The Champions Debut Matters
Pokemon Champions stepping in as the official VGC platform is a genuine milestone. It is the first time the new software has anchored the video game division at an International, and how it performs on the big stage will tell players a lot about the competitive direction of the series heading into Worlds.
The Collector Angle
Even if you never sleeve a competitive deck, NAIC is worth your attention. Every competitor receives a welcome kit loaded with goodies, including a cap, playmat, sleeves, a deck box, a pin, and an International Championships-stamped promo card. Those event-stamped promos have a long history of becoming sought-after collectibles, and stamped cards from major Internationals frequently command premiums on the secondary market well after the event ends.
How To Watch
If you cannot make it to Louisiana, the entire event streams on Twitch and YouTube across all four titles, with viewer rewards available in your favorite games for tuning in. Coverage runs all three days, June 12 through 14.
Whether you are a player grinding for Worlds points, a collector hunting the stamped promo, or simply a fan who wants to see the best in the world go head to head, New Orleans is the place to be this weekend. The road to San Francisco runs straight through it.