Gotta catch them all: European Pokémon championships take place in London

Category: (Self-Study) Lifestyle/Entertainment

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The Pokémon Europe International Championships drew more than 7,000 competitors from 70 countries to London, making it Europe’s largest e-sports tournament. The event showcased how the franchise has evolved from a 1990s Game Boy title into a global entertainment phenomenon.

Judges formed a guard of honor to welcome players to the tournament floor, applauding as they entered the competition area. The championship trophy was on display, waiting for the eventual winner. A giant Pikachu hung from the event center ceiling, suspended high above the competition area below. Presenters introduced the opening ceremony on large screens positioned throughout the venue. The Pikachu mascot made its entrance into the arena to cheers from the crowd.

More than 17,000 visitors filled the event floor from February 13 to 15, supported by over 1,100 staff working across the venue.

Screens showcased Pokémon Go, the mobile game phenomenon that has received more than one billion downloads globally since launching in 2016. These are one-versus-one battles to catch Pokémon in the wild using the popular mobile phone app.

In another area, players competed in Pokémon UNITE. Competitors formed teams of five players within their region and battled in five-versus-five matches on Nintendo Switch or mobile devices.

Video game competitors played Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet across three age divisions. Players brought four Pokémon into double battles against their opponents.

Chris Brown, Director of Global Esports and Events at The Pokémon Company International, said the scale of the tournament demonstrates the franchise’s enduring appeal. “Today at this show, we’ve got over 6,800 competitors,” he said. “This is the largest e-sport tournament in Europe. One of the largest e-sport tournaments in the whole world.”

Brown said the event attracted participants from every corner of the globe. “We’ve got 71 countries and regions represented. So, it truly is a global event. It’s not just Europe,” he said. “We’ve got players from North America, from Latin America, obviously, of course, all over Europe.”

This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.

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[Welcome sign to hundreds of competitors and spectators arriving for the 2026 Pokémon Europe International Championships at Excel, London]

[Competition logo]

[Competitors registering]

[Judges giving competitors a guard of honor to welcome them]

[Championship trophy]

[Giant Pikachu hanging from event center ceiling]

[Presenters introducing opening ceremony]

[Pikachu mascot entering and dancing]

[Event floor]

[Showcase game of Pokémon Go]

[Pokémon UNITE event]

[VG (Video Game) event]

[TCG (Trading Card Game) event]

Chris Brown (interview): “Today at this show, we’ve got over 6,800 competitors. This is the largest esport tournament in Europe. One of the largest esport tournaments in the whole world.”

[Judges discussing game with players in the teen division (Seniors)]

Chris Brown (interview): “We’ve got 71 countries and regions represented. So it truly is a global event. It’s not just Europe. We’ve got players from North America, from Latin America, obviously, of course, all over Europe.”

[Showcase game of TCG featuring Norwegian player Tord Reklev]

[Reklev]

Chris Brown (interview): “Players from Asia are here. So it’s truly, truly a global community that is represented and competing here this weekend.”

[Showcase stage game of UNITE]

[Production center behind the scenes]

[Production worker monitoring video for UNITE]

[Cosplayers walking through the event]

Isabelle Magrian and Great Bülow (interview): “We’re Pokémon!” “We’re Pokémon fans!” “Because Pokémon! Yeah, we’re Pokemon fans and we love VGC, we are in the VGC area, and we’re cosplaying.”

[Audience]

[Impassioned UNITE competitor]

[Seniors (age 12 and above) area]

[Signage requesting no discussions of ongoing games]

Chris Brown (interview): “The brand is as strong as ever. This is our 30th anniversary in just two weeks here. And for us, I think we’re really just getting started. When we think about Pokémon, it’s not just about the last 30 years. We’re thinking about what the next 100 years are going to look like.”

[Junior competitor Kenji Oono]

[Junior competitor Annabelle Oono, sister of Kenji Oono]

Steve and Lynn Oono (interview): “The support has been great. We’ve met a lot of people from all over the world, which has been great. We still keep in touch with a lot of the parents and the kids on Discord. And they do some testing and stuff on random weekends. And for us, I think it’s been an opportunity just to allow the kids to kind of grow. Because people do recognise them and people ask them to take photos and that sort of thing. And we want to make sure that they’re presenting themselves in a really good way to represent the family name and themselves.”

[Steve and Lynn Oono watching their children compete]

Annabelle Oono (interview): “It’s really hard! But it’s also really fun and engaging.”

[Kenji Oono playing]

Kenji Oono (interview): “I feel like it’s really fun. And just like Annabelle said, it’s really engaging. And then everybody’s just there to have a good time.”

[Audience singing Poké Rap]

[Posters of Pokémon regions in Pokémon museum]

[Latest Nintendo console]

[Original Nintendo console]

[Audience singing Poké Rap]

This script was provided by The Associated Press.