Pokemon Worlds 2026 Schedule Is Live: Moscone, Chase Center, and the First Pokemon XP

The full schedule for the 2026 Pokemon World Championships is out, and the event is shaping up to be the largest in the series' history. Worlds runs Friday, August 28 through Sunday, August 30 in San Francisco, and it lands in the middle of Pokemon's 30th anniversary year, which the company has clearly built the entire weekend around.

Two Venues, One Weekend

The structure is different this year. Preliminary and Swiss rounds run at the Moscone Center, and the event then moves across town to the Chase Center for Championship Sunday and the Grand Finals. Putting the finals in an NBA arena is a statement about where competitive Pokemon thinks it is headed, and it changes the spectator experience substantially from the convention-hall finals of previous years.

The day-by-day breakdown:

• Friday, August 28: Tournament day one, preliminary rounds. Pokemon XP opens.
• Saturday, August 29: Day two, Advanced Swiss rounds and Top Cut.
• Sunday, August 30: Championship Sunday, with Grand Finals at Chase Center.

Pokemon XP Debuts Alongside Worlds

The genuinely new element this year is Pokemon XP, the franchise's convention-style event, running concurrently with the Championships for the first time. Historically Worlds has been an invitation-only tournament with limited access for anyone who did not qualify. Pairing it with a public-facing convention transforms the weekend into something a non-competitive collector can actually attend and enjoy.

That distinction matters for planning. If you are not a qualified competitor, Pokemon XP is your event, and the tournament is the backdrop.

Tickets and What They Cost

Multi-day passes run \$120 to \$150 for adults and \$70 to \$100 for children ages 6 to 17. That pricing is in line with a major convention rather than a tournament, which reinforces that the public-attendance side is now a real part of the product.

San Francisco hotel rates over a Worlds weekend are the budget item people underestimate. If you are planning to go, lodging will likely cost more than your badge, and the Moscone-to-Chase-Center split means you will want to think about where you stay relative to both.

Why This Worlds Is Bigger Than Usual

Several things converge at once. This is the final tournament of the 2025-26 competitive season. It is the twenty-first invitation-only World Championships for the Trading Card Game, the sixteenth for the video games, and the fifth for Pokemon GO and Pokemon UNITE. And it caps the 30th anniversary year, which has already produced the 30th Celebration set, the First Partner Illustration Collection trilogy, and a run of anniversary products that have been among the most heavily chased releases of 2026.

The product side is worth flagging for collectors: Worlds weekend has historically coincided with promo distributions and event-exclusive items, and Pokemon has already scheduled the Ascended Heroes tins and Mega Forces products for August 28, the same day Worlds opens. Anniversary-year Worlds promos with a public convention attached is an unusual combination, and the secondary market for anything distributed on site is likely to be active.

If You Are Going

• Book travel now if you have not. Late August in San Francisco with a 30th anniversary Worlds is not a weekend where prices improve as you wait.
• Bring cards to trade, not just to show. Worlds weekends generate some of the best in-person trading of the year, and Pokemon XP will concentrate that further.
• Plan around the venue change. Sunday is at Chase Center, not Moscone. Build transit time into your day-three plan.
• Watch the promo announcements. Event-exclusive distributions tend to be confirmed close to the date, and knowing what is available before you arrive is the difference between getting one and reading about it later.