Pokémon Celebrates First World Championships in Japan With Gorgeous Animation

It’s hard to believe, but Japan will play host to the Pokémon World Championships for the very first time.

To commemorate such a monumental event, Pokémon has released a short animated video announcing and promoting the World Championships that will take place in Yokohama, Japan. Animated by CoMix Wave Films (Your Name, Suzume, Weathering with You and other Makoto Shinkai films), the video is breathtakingly stunning, taking fans and Pokémon Masters into a 2D view of the skyline of Minato Mirai, where the world championships will take place at Pacifico Yokohama.

According to SoraNews24, Asuka Dokai directed and storyboarded the video with Maho Takagi in charge of the character design and animation direction. Takagi has worked on several Makoto Shinkai films including Suzume, Weathering with You as well as other popular anime series such as One Punch Man and Belle. Maika Yoshida voices the young girl while Ikue Ōtani voices Pikachu. The video has garnered praise from fans on the crispness of the animation and attention to detail.

The Pokémon World Championships will take place from Aug. 11 to 13 in Yokohama where players from all around the world will battle against other players in the Pokémon Scarlet, Pokémon Violet, Pokémon Card Game, Pokémon GO and Pokémon Unite games.

Source: SoraNews24, via YouTube