2026’s Pokemon World Championships are somewhat over two months away. Competitors across VGC, TCG, and Pokemon Go will flock to San Francisco between August 28 and 30 to search out out who really is the most effective.
As has all the time been the case with the World Championships, there will likely be a spread of limited-edition Pokemon TCG promo cards that attendees will find a way to get their hands on. The Pokemon Company has now revealed these promos, and, as has so often been the case, they’re more likely to be very, very expensive.
4 promos will likely be available as a part of this 12 months’s Pokemon Worlds. Two will come just before the event, and two will likely be available exclusively for attendees.
Between August 21 and August 30, Pokemon Play-registered stores will likely be hosting a spread of tournaments. At these tournaments, two promos featuring Pikachu will likely be available — one for participants and one for winners.
Each cards are almost an identical, with Pikachu and Gardevoir set against a San Fran-inspired backdrop that features the Golden Gate Bridge. The one major difference, nevertheless, is that the winners of every tournament across the three age brackets (Junior, Senior, and Masters) will walk away with a card emblazoned with the word “WINNER”. It’s already going to be a nightmare to get ahold of.
The following two promos will likely be available only to attendees of Worlds 2026. One, Paradise Resort, for those competing in any of the events, and one other, a stamped Rayquaza, will likely be available for all visitors.
While the Rayquaza, a stamped version of its Ascended Heroes card, ought to be relatively easy to get, given the variety of attendees, the Paradise Resort will likely be a nightmare.
Paradise Resort replaced the previous ever-present Champions Festival at Worlds 2023 and has been an expensive card to nab ever since. The most affordable version of the 2023 card on eBay sits at almost $600. 2024’s card isaround $400 at its lowest, and last 12 months’s is around $250. They are not low-cost cards.
Given the present state of the Pokemon Trading Card Game, which saw London police arrest a person for using a baseball bat in a brawl over Pokemon cards, I haven’t got high hopes that I’ll get my hands on one.