Twenty-five years ago, I drove my mother up the wall every Saturday to take me to the local Toys R' Us in South Florida.
At the time, the retailer hosted some of the first Pokémon Leagues in the U.S. — it was a place for neighborhood players and traders to convene and battle or exchange cards.
The league was in its infancy, but drew dozens of kids from my block, all of us carrying tattered binders and folders full of the first generation of Pokémon cards.
It was also one of my earliest experiences with the media franchise's competitive scene.
My nerves were wracked every weekend, and even though I never really competed, there was always a player or two willing to show me the ropes.
It was a modest setting over 20 years ago, but this past weekend, over 25,000 people gathered at the Anaheim Convention Center in California for the 2025 Pokémon World Championships.
The annual event pits some of the trading card and video game's most seasoned players against each other, from teens to older adults.
Vendors, side events, spectators in costumes, and food trucks selling Pikachu-themed pizza spanned the nearly 2 million square foot venue.
The large gathering of friends and family showed how culturally relevant Pokémon and its merchandise still are in the public eye after all these years.
Like previous years, this championship featured multiple age divisions and games, like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Pokémon Unite, and the trading card game.
Annalise De Mel, a mother from Australia, didn't expect to be standing in the convention center this past weekend.
"Coming to the Pokémon World Championships was not on my 2025 bingo card," she said in the spectator section of the venue.
Her 9-year-old son could be seen waving her off as he tried concentrating at a table nearby.
"This is his first year playing Pokémon competitively," De Mel said. "So, he squeaked in with the very last spot. And we have found ourselves flying 15 hours because of tiny pieces of cardboard. Life is incredible."
We talked about winning and losing, the latter of which often brought out the harsh reality of competition.
"Pokémon is actually the best game in the world to help with losing," she said.
"My son is neurodivergent and part of his personality is that he'd be very perfectionist. Through Pokémon and playing so many games all the time — the repetition, the creativity behind it — he knows that a loss doesn't define who he is and it doesn't even define what happens next."
At the highest level of this championship, even the very best are not immune to defeat.
Ciaran Farah, who was ranked first in Canada competitively and has several world appearances under his belt, said the event is still eye-opening even for a veteran.
"One of the great things about Pokémon tournaments is it's truly a global game and Worlds kind of brings everyone together for that," he said.
Among thousands of competitors, Farah finished in the top 32 in the trading card game and took it as a personal win.
"When you think about how many millions of people play the card game around the world— to finish ranked so highly proves to myself that I am one of the best players."
That global reach helped make this year's championship one of the best attended ever, too.
Chris Brown, the director of Global Esports & events producer at The Pokémon Company International, told the press what kind of thinking went into making the event special.
"The first thing to do is you always just talk to the fans," he said.
He added that the event tried to cater to attendants even in the margins, like those who still play the Nintendo 64 classic Pokémon Puzzle League.
There was also a table for them at the convention center.
"We try to fit in what's missing," Brown said. "What can we do to continue to connect to people, and where are those missing parts? That was a huge undertaking, and our team worked really hard to bring that over. Seeing the fans' excitement when they were able to interact with everything — it was a big payoff."
From major wins and massive upsets to troves of Pokémon plushies, the 2025 World Championship seemed like just another weekend for a media franchise with its foot on the gas.
Copyright 2025 NPR
