Pokemon GO is preparing to host two new celebration events in late August to honor the annual World Championships. The upcoming events will introduce two unique Pikachu forms into the game for players to collect. Players can look forward to increased wild encounter rates, exclusive event research tasks, special raid battles, and exclusive featured moves when evolving their monster companions.

The mobile game has enjoyed a busy summer period filled with major updates and player activities. Earlier in the season, the annual GO Fest event featured the long awaited debut of Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y. Additional new creatures have also arrived throughout recent months, including Arrokuda, Cramorant, and Mega Starmie. Now, the upcoming schedule shifts focus toward competitive play with two back to back celebrations known as PokemonXP and the Pokemon GO World Championships.

The first portion of the celebration, PokemonXP, runs from Tuesday August 25 at 10 AM to Friday August 28 at 10 AM local time. During this window, players will encounter a new Pikachu wearing a Cosmog themed spacesuit. One star raids will feature this spacesuit Pikachu alongside Impidimp. Increased wild spawns will include Ralts, Numel, Spheal, Drifloon, Elgyem, Sobble, Pawmi, and rare appearances by Deino.

The second portion, the World Championships event, begins Friday August 28 at 10 AM and concludes Sunday August 30 at 8 PM local time. One star raids during this main competition window will feature the spacesuit Pikachu, Honedge, and a second form named World Championships 2026 Pikachu wearing a cape and crown. Wild encounters will shift toward Alolan Sandshrew, Mankey, Lickitung, Totodile, Wooper, Foongus, Froakie, Litten, Togetic, and Beldum.

Players who participate can complete event research tasks and progress through an in game pass to unlock special rewards. These rewards include themed avatar items like a custom backpack and special encounters with legendary creatures like Zapdos. Evolving certain Pokemon during the event windows will grant powerful featured attacks. Popular starter creatures can learn strong attacks such as Frenzy Plant, Blast Burn, and Hydro Cannon, while other species can acquire moves like Meteor Mash, Rage Fist, and Shadow Claw.

Beyond the World Championships, August and early September will remain active for players worldwide. A monthly Community Day featuring Nickit is scheduled for August 16. Following the end of the August activities, the summer season will officially wrap up with the GO Fest 2026 Mega Finale event on September 5 and September 6.