After a two-year hiatus due to the global pandemic, the Pokémon World Championships returned to full swing with the 2022 event that was held over this past weekend, from August 18th to August 21st. This year's event took place at ExCeL London in London, England, with the Opening Ceremony, most matches, and the Closing Ceremony being streamed live on the various official Pokémon Twitch channels. A variety of announcements were made over the course of the event, with reveals for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon Masters EX, and Pokémon UNITE.

As usual, battles for the Pokémon Video Games and the Pokémon Trading Card Game were the highlights of this event, with players who had qualified from the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Series all competing together. Pokémon GO and Pokémon UNITE also made their debut at the Pokémon World Championships this year. Pokkén Tournament meanwhile was given a final send-off, with 2022 marking its last appearance at the event.

News from the Opening Ceremony
In the opening ceremony, the 2022 Pokémon World Championships host Anna Prosser welcomed attendees to the event and congratulated the participants in making to the final stage. She later welcomed President and CEO of The Pokémon Company Tsunekazu Ishihara on stage. Mr Ishihara also welcomed all attendees, and expressed his excitement for the event, sharing some news for Pokémon Masters EX and Pokémon UNITE. Mr. Ishihara also promised that at the Closing Ceremony, new details will be announced about the Pokémon Trading Card Game, as well as the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet games, before wishing the participants good luck in their upcoming battles. Host Anna Prosser also mentioned the ongoing Pokémon GO event in celebration of the World Championships. Finally, a montage of previous Pokémon World Championships events and past winners was shown, after which Anna announced the start of the 2022 Pokémon World Championships.

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Pokémon Masters EX
Ash & Pikachu, who first arrived in Pasio as part of a special event in July, will be debuting as a Master Sync Pair in Pokémon Masters EX later this month. Their Master Poké Fair Scout will run from August 27th, at 11pm (PDT), through to October 16th, at 10:59pm (PDT). They will be the first sync pair with a brand-new move type - buddy moves. Buddy moves unlock after meeting a special condition, and deal significantly more damage than regular moves.

A list of additional Trainers that players can invite to the Trainer Lodge was also announced. The Trainer Lodge, which was first announced in the regular letter from the game's producers at the end of July, will allow players to invite some Trainers as Guests. By interacting with them, players can receive special exclusive rewards and see special stories. In addition to N, Rosa, and Professor Sycamore, who were announced for inclusion at the beginning of this month, the initial roster of Trainers that can be invited to the Trainer Lodge will include Blue, Silver, May, Cynthia, Lillie, and Marnie as well. The Trainer Lodge will open on August 24th, at 11pm (PDT).

Until September 13th, at 10:59pm (PDT), players will receive a 10-Pair Scout Ticket daily from the log-in bonus, for a maximum of 10 days. Each of these tickets can be used in a 10-Pair Ticket Scout, giving players a maximum of 100 Sync Pairs if all tickets are collected and used. Players can also earn up to 10,000 gems for completing the various events during the Run-Up to Three Years Rally, including a 5,300 gems in gifts and log-in bonuses.

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Pokémon UNITE
A new arena will be coming to Pokémon UNITE - the Theia Sky Ruins! The Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza lurks at the center of this map, awaiting would-be challengers. It was later announced on the official Pokémon World website that this arena will be available starting on September 2nd.

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Commentators
The commentators for the 2022 Pokémon World Championships were:

• Pokémon VGC
  • Lee Provost
  • Lou Cromie
  • Adam Dorricott
  • Rosemary Kelley
  • Joe Brown
  • Sierra Hunter
• Pokémon TCG
  • Joe Bernard
  • Ross Gilbert
  • Kyle Sucevich
  • Ethan Hegyi
  • Adam Watson
  • Shelbie "FrostedCaribou" Bou
• Pokémon GO
  • Gabby Snyder
  • William "SpeediestChief2" Dunphey
  • Caleb Peng
  • Steven "2OButters" Sanders
• Pokémon UNITE
  • Jake Sprague
  • Kirk Dube
  • Jeff Hoogland
  • Joshua Hiebert
  • John Joshua Mendoza Perez
• Pokkén Tournament
  • Evan "Wonderchef" Hashimoto
  • Russell "Kino" Klein
  • Alex "Jin" Williams

Winners
The winners for the 2022 Pokémon World Championships are:

Pokémon VGC
Masters
1st place: Eduardo "EmbC" Cunha (PT)
2nd place: Guillermo "KastyTP" Castilla Diaz (ES)
3rd/4th place: Paul "pwny person" Chua (NA)
3rd/4th place: James "Jamesspeed1" Baek (NA)

Seniors
1st place: Yasuharu Shimizu (JP)
2nd place: Nicholas Kan (AU)

Juniors
1st place: Kosaku Miyamoto (JP)
2nd place: Kiara Nguyen (AU)

Pokémon TCG
Masters
1st place: Ondřej Škubal (CZ)
2nd place: Daichi Shimada (JP)
3rd/4th Place: James Cox (AU)
3rd/4th place: Ryota Ishiyama (JP)

Seniors
1st place: Liam Haliburton (US)
2nd place: Sebastian Lashmet (US)

Juniors
1st place: Rikuto Ohashi (JP)
2nd place: Tristan Tse (CA)

Pokkén Tournament
Masters
1st place: Shadowcat (NA)
2nd place: Mewtater (NA)
3rd place:M2Cloud (GE)
4th place: Potetin Subutan (JP)

Seniors
1st place: Fruitprime
2nd place: Wefroe

Pokémon GO
Masters
1st place: DancingRob (GE)
2nd place: godanhada (KR)
3rd place: CrescentAngels (JP)
4th place: LurganRocket (IE)

Seniors
1st place: MEWeedle (CH)

Pokémon UNITE
1st place team: BLVKHVND (NA)
2nd place team: Nouns Esports (EU)
3rd place team: Renaissance (IN)
4th place team: T2 (JP)

News from the Closing Ceremony
A montage and recap of this year's event was shown. Then, host Anna Prosser welcomed Tsunekazu Ishihara on the stage. Tsunekazu Ishihara thanked all participants for the many amazing battles, before sharing the news on the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet that he promised in the opening ceremony. Trophies were presented to the 1st and 2nd place winners for the Juniors, Seniors, and Masters divisions for Pokémon VGC and Pokémon TCG, and Mr. Ishihara announced that the 2023 Pokémon World Championships will be held in Yokohama, Japan. This will mark the first time that the Pokémon World Championships have been held in Asia.

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Pokémon Trading Card Game
Pokémon-ex will be returning to the Pokémon TCG in the Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet Series. Pokémon-ex will appear in each stage of Evolution - as Basic, Stage 1, and Stage 2 Pokémon. They have high HP, along with powerful attacks and Abilities, and when one of them is Knocked Out, two Prize cards are taken. These Pokémon have the power to turn the tide of battle in an instant. Pokémon-ex will provide all sorts of new strategies as players adjust their decks to utilize and counter these new cards. Koraidon, Miraidon, Magnezone, Lucario, and Mimikyu will each be appearing as Pokémon-ex.
The video presented Pokémon-ex as "The New Standard - Coming 2023". Though it is unlikely that the new 2023 Standard format will be restricted to only featuring cards from the various upcoming Scarlet and Violet Series expansions, this would seem to at least imply that the returning Pokémon-ex mechanic will replace the Pokémon V mechanic that has been used throughout the Sword & Shield Series of the Pokémon TCG.

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Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet
A new Pokémon, and two new moves were unveiled in a competitive play trailer. Cyclizar is Dragon/Normal-type Pokémon. Though not explicitly stated in the trailer, its name and appearance seems to evoke that of the box legendaries, and it would seem plausible that this Pokémon will evolve into those during the course of the game. One of the moves Cyclizar can learn is Shed Tail. This new move creates a substitute, and then switches the Pokémon out with another Pokémon in the party. Another new move shown off was Tera Blast, a move that changes type when the user has Terastallized. It can deal either Physical or Special damage, depending on whether the Attack or Special Attack stat of the Pokémon is higher. A Tyranitar, having a Ghost Tera Type, was shown using this move in the trailer to deal super effective damage against a Gallade. Two new Items were also introduced in the trailer. Mirror Herb copies an opponent's stat increases when consumed. Loaded Dice makes multi-strike moves more likely to hit more times. Coalossal and Breloom will have a Water Tera Type and Grass Tera Type respectively. An additional item was also revealed during the World Championships, but was not present in the trailer. The Covert Cloak protects the user from the secondary effects of an opponent's damage-dealing attacks.

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After not appearing in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond, Pokémon Shining Pearl, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, it was also revealed that the Battle Stadium will be returning in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet.