Today, Pokémon TCG has avid fans the world over – and China is no exception. In just the past few years, Chinese players have flocked to a new format of friendly TCG competitions: the Pokémon National Championships. The National Championships have already been held in all four of China’s “Tier-1” cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Planning and operation of Pokémon National Championships are performed by Pokémon Shanghai, established in 2020. The company works closely with local users and partner companies to create new ways to spread and enhance the fun and excitement of Pokémon in China.
In 2022, Pokémon Shanghai oversaw the release of the first version of TCG to feature China’s distinctive simplified characters. Even before that, Chinese Pokémon fans had access to Pokémon anime, and a range of Pokémon merchandise was sold in China under license. So although initially China didn’t have a thriving trading card culture, these earlier encounters with Pokémon were instrumental in making local fans eager to join in the fun of PokémonTCG immediately after release of the simplified Chinese version.
Official Pokémon TCG competitions were first launched on a small scale, mainly at card shops and similar venues around China. But as the passion and enthusiasm for Pokémon TCG competitions became increasingly clear, local staff sensed that China’s players were ready to take part in competitions on a grander scale. Thus was born a project focused on establishing nationwide Pokémon TCG tournaments – a new format named Pokémon National Championships.
The path to making National Championships a reality wasn’t smooth, however. Because China was still relatively new to trading card games, knowhow for planning and operating large-scale competitions was somewhat lacking. To overcome this challenge, the project team began coordinating closely with authorities in cities where the tournaments might be held to best advantage. The team members explained in detail how significant Pokémon National Championships could be in terms of promoting local culture and tourism. The team also encouraged local counterparts to muster their full forces to make the tournaments a success, as a way of vitalizing their cities and surrounding areas.
Thanks to this close coordination and ongoing discussions, before long it was decided the time was ripe for holding the first Pokémon National Championship. Given China’s huge land area and enormous population, the decision was taken to have National Championships make the rounds of China’s four 1-Tier cities each year, rather than just holding one annual tournament in one location. This would enable large numbers of participants in each of the four locations. To begin, in March 2023 the very first Pokémon National Championship was organized in Guangzhou, followed by successive competitions in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai.
Each Pokémon National Championshipis devised and developed to highlight the special features of the location where it is held. Beijing, for example, is home to a large number of cultural heritage sites – the Great Wall perhaps the most famous of all. So for the National Championship in Beijing, the venue was designed in a motif of traditional Chinese architecture, and the opening ceremony featured a performance in the style of Beijing opera, one of China’s most recognizable cultural arts. For the National Championship in Shenzhen, a city known for its high-tech industries, the entire venue was bathed in an aura of futuristic wonder. At each venue, winners are presented trophies specially designed to complement the city where the event takes place.
Special rules were also created just for Pokémon National Championships. For example, teamplay was introduced with up to six players per team. What’s more, within each team some players could be highly experienced, while others could be novices. Seeing team players interacting, teaching each other the skills of the game, is one of the most rewarding aspects of the tournaments.
In organizing the National Championships, Pokémon wanted to make the experience exciting not only for participants but for everyone who visits the city while the event is on. Our aim is to give everyone – players and casual visitors alike – fun encounters with the world of Pokémon, not just at the competition site itself, but throughout the city. Starting several weeks before each tournament, pre-events are organized at various locations where everyone can enjoy the world of Pokémon. In Shenzhen, for example, a huge inflatable Snorlax, nearly 10 meters high, was set up in one of the city’s parks. In Shanghai, a “Pikachu Outbreak” was held in which a lot of Pikachu paraded through the heart of the city.
On the day of each National Championship, a “Carnival” is also held for the enjoyment of both players and non-playing visitors, offering them lots of opportunities to enjoy the realm of Pokémon. Typical events include a stamp rally, exhibitions, and basketball shooting games. Some fans enjoy these and similar events so much, they make the rounds of the several cities where National Championships take place.
The growing popularity of the Pokémon National Championships is clear in the attendance numbers: from approximately 6,000 visitors when the first competition took place in Guangzhou in March 2023, the tournament in Shenzhen in December 2024 attracted nearly 25,000 people.
It’s especially fun to see children and their parents take part in the tournaments in their respective categories: children in the Junior League and adults in the Open League. Today, at a time when online interactions between game players are the norm, Pokémon National Championships provide exciting, joy-filled occasions where players – children and adults alike – meet and do battle in person, each honing their skills in a quest for victory.
At Pokémon, our aspiration today is for the Pokémon National Championships to be venues of fun and fulfillment for card game players throughout China. We also hope that, after having firsthand contact with Pokémon TCG, more and more people will acquire even greater interest in the world of Pokémon. In the coming years, we will continue expanding the scale of the National Championships held in China’s Tier-1 cities, making them ideal occasions for building the communities of both TCG players and Pokémon fans.
