Pokémon Worlds Celebration Events 2023 turns all of Yokohama Pokémon-themed, fans enjoy festivities
Japan will be hosting this year’s 2023 Pokémon World Championships. This championship is an annual esports tournament where Pokémon Trading Card Game players are invited to compete for monetary and other rewards. Championships up to date have been held solely in the United States and Canada, only veering away from this tradition once last year when the event took place in the United Kingdom. In order to celebrate the big occasion, a week-long activity-packed event, Pokémon Worlds Celebration Events 2023 is currently being held in Yokohama’s Minato Mirai 21.
According to the event’s official website, unlike the Championship tournament, which is an invite-only event for trainers, the week-long Worlds Celebration Events are available to the public with ticket purchase. The event seems to have a lot of Pokémon-themed activities for fans to participate in, as many fans have flocked to the internet to post their time engaging in the festivities.
One of the first things participants traveling to the event via the Minato Mirai train line may notice are the automatic ticket gates with limited-time Pokémon WCS original designs. Apparently, these gates say a variety of Pikachu’s ‘pika’ phrases once a passenger passes through them. Additionally, as part of a limited time release, the train line also released special limited edition Pikachu-themed one day pass tickets to commemorate the championship.
Pokémon fans at the event can participate in activities such as smaller competitive competitions, Tera Raid Battles, the Pokémon GO Quiz Rally, and much more. There are even activities targeted at those who may just be getting into the trading card game, such as the Play Lab, which the Pokémon Blog describes as a part of the Play!Pokémon program that was created to teach trainers how to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) regardless of their level of familiarity with the game in a fun and engaging guided play experience.
Participants in the Celebration Events seem to be enjoying non-battle related activities as well. Many fans got the chance to enjoy the Pikachu Gathering!!, an event the official site describes as “A charged-up parade of Pikachu
Participants could also see the drone and fireworks live show We Move!!.
Additionally, it seems as though even many overseas fans are flying to Japan in order to participate in the week-long festivities. Many international fans posted pictures of Pokémon photo spots and landmarks as well as the event’s tickets, excited to travel and participate in the events surrounding Japan’s first Pokémon world championship.
Many fans participating in the event are also jumping on the chance to buy event-only items. One overseas participant posted his new collection of world championship-themed goods.
Unfortunately, although the event is open to the public with ticket purchase, not everyone wanting to participate was quick enough to secure tickets. Many fans voiced their dismay at not being able to attend the event, lamenting the fact that they won’t be able to visit the merchandise booths. One Yokohama resident commented, “Damn! lucky! As a Yokohama resident, my kid was a bit bummed we couldn’t get a ticket to go. Someone offered for us to tag along to just the store for 10,000 yen per person… yikes… Oh well…”. Another disappointed user posted “Sigh~ I just got off work. I’m so jealous of the WCS products. There’s so many international packs I want for my collection. So much merch I want. The commemorative deck too. Sigh. I’m heading home. I’ve had enough of Mercari. Goodnight”.
Last month was the release of the Pokémon World Championships 2023 Yokohama Commemorative Deck “Pikachu”, a special deck to celebrate Japan’s first hosting of the championship. The deck was set to release on the 28th of July, however many of the cards mysteriously ended up on Japanese marketplace apps more than a week before their official release with significantly higher prices (Related Article). It seems that some fans are unhappy with the presence of resellers price-gouging the event’s items.
It seems as though Japanese and overseas Pokémon fans are enjoying all of the celebration’s events so far, excitedly engaging in everything from battles to dancing. Although some fans are wary of scalpers price gouging the event’s merchandise, the reception to the event’s first days seem to be overwhelmingly positive. The 2023 Pokémon World Championships tournament will take place on the 11th and activities surrounding the championship will continue until the 14th. It looks as though there’s still much more to look forward to for this activity-packed Pokémon celebration.
Remi Morisawa
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