The 2022 Pokemon World Championships kicked off today in London. The four-day, invitation-only event will host tournaments for top competitors in Pokemon Sword & Shield, Pokken Tournament, Pokemon TCG, and for the first time, Pokemon Go and Pokemon Unite. The event kicked off with an opening ceremony where Pokemon Company president and CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara welcomed attendees back with big news for Unite and Masters EX, as well as a tease of Scarlet & Violet and TCG news to come.

Pokemon Masters EX players can look forward to Ash & Pikachu joining the game as a Sync Pair starting Wednesday, August 27. Surprisingly, this is the first official appearance of Ash in any video game. The two first appeared in a Masters EX story update last month, but you'll finally be able to scout the pair starting next week. Ash & Pikachu will introduce a brand new move type called buddy moves that deal bonus damage. The new trailer also revealed that the Trainer Lodge, a new area where players can get to know famous trainers like Cynthia, Blue, and Lillie, will be available in-game starting August 24.

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Pokemon Unite is getting its first new map next month. The Theia Sky Ruins offers some subtle changes to the layout of the classic Aeos arena and will feature brand new Wild Pokemon, different objectives, and a new boss: Rayquaza. Theia Sky Ruins will be available for both ranked and standard battles starting September 2.

To conclude the opening ceremony, Ishihara teased some news for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet and the Pokemon TCG. Those reveals are coming this Sunday during the closing ceremonies, but it's expected that we'll get another look at Scarlet & Violet's Paldea region, as well as some details about the next Pokemon TCG base set.

This year's World Championships is the first to be held in three years, and the only Worlds event that's ever been hosted outside of North America. It's taking place at ExCel London from Thursday to Sunday. Non-competing attendees have the opportunity to watch the tournaments, join a learn-to-play TCG session, and shop at the World Championships-exclusive Pokemon Center.

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