Pokemon World Championships 2023 Will Take Place In Japan For The First Time Ever

thegamer.com:

The 2022 Pokemon World Championships just ended, but when you gotta catch ‘em all, there's no time to celebrate. During the closing ceremony, the Pokemon Company revealed the location of next year’s event. For the first time in its history, the Pokemon World Championships will take place in Japan.

Earlier today, the Pokemon World Championship 2022 came to a close and Eduardo Cunha was crowned the winner. As the celebrating began, The Pokemon Company unveiled a short video announcing next year’s location. The video begins with a quick romp through the 8-bit Vermillion City from the franchise before revealing that Yokohama, Japan will be hosting the 2023 World Championships.

Related: Revisiting Kanto – Silph Co.’s Magic Is Made Mundane By Capitalism

For those unfamiliar with the history of Pokemon, the famous Vermillion City is actually based on Yokohama. Much of the fictional city's layout is modeled after the Japanese location. Within the game, Vermillion City is a popular seaport for ships while Yokohama is actually the largest seaport in Japan.

Choosing Japan marks some big changes to the way Pokemon has handled the event. Up until this year’s London-based Championship, the event has not left North America. Now, it is heading to Japan for the very first time, a surprising choice considering the strict travel restrictions still in place due to Covid. Although, with Yokohama being an actual inspiration to an in-game location, it makes sense.

While no other information has been given regarding next year’s affair, it may be safe to assume that it will consist of four days of activity like this year. We also do not know the exact dates that the 2023 World Championships will take place. However, we do know that Pokemon VCG