Pokémon GO World Championships: Codes, Details, Prizes, Research Quests

The Pokémon World Championships 2022 are currently underway.
The Pokémon World Championships 2022 are currently underway. / Courtesy of The Pokémon Company

The Pokémon GO World Championships are underway in London, but the action isn't locked into that one city. Players the world over stand to benefit from the event, even if they can't attend in-person. Here's everything you need to know about the Pokémon GO World Championships, from viewing details to in-game bonuses.

Pokémon GO World Championships Schedule

Courtesy of The Pokémon Company

The Pokémon GO World Championships began Thursday, Aug. 18 at 4 a.m. EDT. It runs through the weekend, ending Saturday, Aug. 20. It's being broadcast on the official Pokémon GO Twitch channel.

For more specific timing, check out Nintendo's official schedule.

Pokémon GO World Championships Prizes

Although there's more than $1 million in cash prizes available at the Pokémon World Championships, Pokémon GO players will only see a portion of that. Here's how payouts break down:

  • 1st place: $10,000
  • 2nd place: $7,500
  • 3rd place: $5,000
  • 4th place: $4,000
  • 5th place: $3,000
  • 7th place: $2,250
  • 9th place: $1,500
  • 13th place: $1,000

The top 16 players will also receive 72 Pokémon TCG booster packs.

Pokémon GO World Championships Codes

Pokémon GO players looking for free items via codes will need to tune into the game's stream — see the schedule above — to receive the codes via Twitch chat. These codes will be released at regular intervals, and each code expires an hour after posting.

Pokémon GO World Championships Research

The World Championships also bring a bevy of research for Pokémon GO players to complete. Here are all the new tasks and rewards:

Pokémon GO World Championships 2022 Research Quest

Players can encounter World Championship challengers at PokéStops during the event. They have until Aug. 23 at 8 p.m. local time to complete this Research Quest.

  • Battle a Challenger — 10 Poké Balls
  • Battle 2 Challengers — 1 Fast TM
  • Battle 3 Challengers — 10 Great Balls
  • Battle 4 Challengers — 1 Charged TM
  • Battle 5 Challengers — 10 Ultra Balls

Rewards: 1 Elite Fast TM, 1 Elite Charged TM and an encounter with World Championships 2022 Pikachu.

Players have realized that surrendering and rejoining battles with challengers will count as a unique encounter, which can make it easy and quick to complete this quest.

Pokémon World Championships Field Research Tasks

These tasks can be saved to players' research collections for later completion.

  • Battle a Challenger — World Championship 2022 Pikachu encounter
  • Battle in Go Battle League — Galarian Zigzagoon or Galarian Stunfisk encounter
  • Power up Pokémon 3 times — Bulbasaur, Chikorita or Mudkip encounter
  • Power up Pokémon 7 times — Gastly, Magikarp, Rhyhorn, Beldum and Fletchling encounter

Pokémon GO World Championships Featured Attacks

Finally, the World Championships offer the opportunity for five Pokémon to learn special attacks if they're earned through evolution during the event.

  • Gengar: Shadow Punch (Ghost-type charged attack)
  • Gyarados: Aqua Tail (Water-type charged attack)
  • Metagross: Meteor Mash (Steel-type charged attack)
  • Rhyperior: Rock Wrecker (Rock-type charged attack)
  • Talonflame: Incinerate (Fire-type fast attack)