Niantic has announced a Pokémon GO event that we haven’t seen in the last two years. That’s right, for the first time since 2019, the Pokémon GO World Championships 2022 have been announced, and we’re excited to learn more about the event.
We missed out on the 2020 and 2021 championships, which were canceled due to the pandemic. However, we’ve just received confirmation that the event will take place from August 19th until August 20th in London, England. If you can’t make it, don’t fret. A live stream will be available starting at 9 am (UCT) broadcasted on the Pokémon GO Twitch channel.
Players attending or participating in the event will receive unique in-game bonuses and a rare World Championship Pikachu. Other event bonuses include the battle sets limit that has been increased to 100 battles per day. Battle league win rewards will also be triple stardust. There will also be new timed tasks such as Elite Fast TM, Elite Charged TM, and encounters with the unique event Pikachu.
Players can also expect increased encounters with Nidoran, Mankey, Machop, Mudkip, Sableye, Meditite, Swablu, Spheal, Croagunk, and Dewpider. There will also be a slight chance to encounter Scraggy and Galarian Stunkfisk.
Players will battle against World Championships 2022 Pikachu, Galarian Farfetch’d, Marill, Barboach, Timburr, and Scraggy in one-star raids. In three-star raids, players will face Primeape, Lickitung, and Skarmory. Five-star raids will be against Zacian, Zamazenta, and mega raids will be faced against Mega Slowbro.
By completing field research, players will also encounter Bulbasaur, Rhyhorn, Gastly, Magikarp, Chikorita, Galarian Zigzagoon, Beldum, Galarian Zigzagoon, and Fletchling. Players also have the chance to gain the following special attacks when evolving the following Pokemon:
- Evolve Rhydon and get Rhyperior with the Charged Attack Rock Wrecker
- Evolve Haunter and get Gengar with the Charged Attack Shadow Punch
- Evolve Magikarp and get Gyarados with the Charged Attack Aqua Tail
- Evolve Metang and get Metagross with the Charged Attack Meteor Mash
- Evolve Fletchinder and get Talonflame with the Fast Attack Incinerate
It’s exciting to have another World Championship, and after the opening of the Pokémon Fossil Museum in Japan, it’s just another item on our bucket list.