The Pokémon Company is continuing to reveal new details regarding the 2025 Pokémon Championship Series. Read on below to learn more:
Learn more about which Pokémon and Trainers to look out for in this thrilling competition.
By Martijn “Inadequance” Versteeg, contributing writer
The final countdown to the 2025 Pokémon World Championships begins! The 2025 North America International Championships (NAIC) marks the last stop on the road to victory as Trainers from all over the world will be battling it out in New Orleans for Championship Points and the title of International Champion. This will be the only major tournament in the new Pokémon GO Season, Delightful Days, effectively setting the stage for the metagame you’ll see in the 2025 World Championships.
And the best part? From June 13 to 15, 2025, you can catch all the thrilling action live on Twitch.tv/PokemonGO!
In the 2024 season, Trainers could qualify for the World Championships by reaching a set number of Championship Points. This season, only a fixed number of top players per region will make it. For instance, the top 75 Trainers in North America with the most Championship Points will secure their spot.
That means that the race to qualify is on all season long. NAIC is the last tournament before Worlds to gather Championship Points, and is arguably the best time to make it count. It’s not just about who takes home the crown—it’s also about who earns their ticket to the World Championships in Anaheim! To top it all off, players have a brand-new meta to deal with! Let’s analyze some of the changes and how it will impact the NAIC.
How are Trainers adapting to the new Fast and Charged Attack changes?
There’s been a lot of experimenting in the GO Battle League, but the Show 6, Pick 3 format is entirely different. During the Might and Mastery Season, the Championships were ruled by Tinkaton, Jumpluff, Malamar, and Lapras. But with the recent updates, I expect some serious shake-ups.
Here are some predictions. First off, Crunch’s decreased chance to lower the opposing Pokémon’s Defense will significantly hurt Shadow Drapion. It’s been one of the most common Pokémon for most of this Championship Series season, but is slowly losing its grip on the meta. The increased use of Tinkaton and Claydol already made it difficult to put the Poison- and Dark-type Pokémon on your roster, and now there may be even less reason to.
Speaking of Tinkaton, it’ll also have a hard time holding its own. The increased damage from Metal Sound and Bullet Punch make other Steel-type Pokémon much better, which Tinkaton won’t do well against. A Tentacruel with Poison Sting will also give Tinkaton a hard time. While Ground-type Charged Attack Bulldoze provides supereffective coverage against Tentacruel, it doesn’t pack a lot of power, and I don’t think it will be enough to counter Tentacruel’s advantage. The other Fairy-type Pokémon that has been so good for the past few months will also struggle. Azumarill could now run Hydro Pump to counteract Steel-type Pokémon, but it paces very slowly. It’s also vulnerable to Poison-type Pokémon. That doesn’t look good for the Aqua Rabbit Pokémon.
And will Jumpluff remain on top of the new meta? An increase in Steel- and Poison-type Pokémon could lure out Ground-type Pokémon that Jumpluff can handle quite well, but I think that other Flying-type Pokémon such as Talonflame may do the job a bit better. With Acrobatics being as powerful as it is, though, Jumpluff is still a very viable pick.
Of course, we must also look at the big winners of the update! Here are a few Pokémon I think are about to hit their spotlight debut at NAIC, and perhaps even at Worlds, too.
The most obvious newcomer is Tentacruel! Poison Sting generates energy very quickly and now allows Tentacruel to defeat Diggersby. It devours Azumarill, Tinkaton, Talonflame, and Primeape, and has the bulk to endure some attacks from opposing Pokémon. Another big winner of the update is Scizor. With access to both Bullet Punch and Fury Cutter, it has an extremely versatile move set to tackle Fairy- and Water-type Pokémon.
And with Tentacruel and Scizor scaring off the Fairy-type Pokémon, the door is now open again for Dark-type Pokémon that can keep Lapras and Malamar in check! If you needed a reason to use your Daily Adventure Incense again, Galarian Moltres now has access to Fly. I think this powerful Flying-type Charged Attack will push Galarian Moltres straight back to the top meta!
While I’m not sure if Lairon will make it to the top of the meta right away, Metal Sound seems like a strong addition to its move set. Lairon also has access to the low energy Charged Attack Body Slam and can debuff an opponent’s Attack using Rock Tomb. If Tentacruel can scare Primeape out of the meta, it means Lairon may only have Ground-type Pokémon to fear!
Last but not least: Metang. It has an interesting typing of Steel- and Psychic, giving it a double resistance against opposing Psychic-type Pokémon. It also deals supereffective Bug-type damage against Dark-type Pokémon with the Fast Attack Fury Cutter! Metang may be a surprise that Pokémon players will need to look out for, as it can really disrupt some team cores.
Trainers from all over the world will be travelling to New Orleans, with over 300 signups. Let’s take a sneak peek at some of the top-tier talent we’ll be seeing in action!
Let’s kick things off with a name you definitely know: the reigning NAIC Champion himself, OutOfPoket. He’s been having a stellar season and comes off fresh from a victory in Milwaukee last month. OutOfPoket is the kind of Trainer that reads a meta and defines it; many Trainers follow his example on what Pokémon to bring to the competition. He’s exceptionally good at this when the meta is new, and guess what? The meta played in New Orleans is new. Let’s see if he can thrive and define this tournament too!
Next up, a master of consistency: Ilqm. This Trainer reached the Top 8 in 14 tournaments before winning his first gold medal this season in Toronto. Then he decided to win another one in Atlanta, which is the largest Regional Championships in North America to date! We’ll see if Ilqm can keep up his streak of consistent performances.
Of course, you can’t talk about North American competition without Reis2Occasion. He’s a successful competitor, content creator, occasional commentator, and the only competitor to have won Regional Championships every season since Pokémon GO was included in the Championship circuit!
And if he’s here, you know who else might be lurking: Doonebug97, his longtime Pokémon rival. When these two collide, it’s always a showstopper. Will we see the next chapter in their rivalry unfold in New Orleans?
This Trainer has been a revelation. NiteTimeClasher has been working with OutOfPoket on building teams and developing strategies, which has worked out incredibly well. He’s reached the Top 5 of the last five Championships he’s competed in!
But that’s not his only skill. He’s also been preparing his brother—known by his in-game name Sustenance Eater—for the Championship Series, and it’s paying off! Sustenance Eater even managed to defeat the titans Reis2Occasion and 2023 World Champion ItsAXN in Atlanta. Let’s see if the student can surpass the teacher and how the brothers will do at the NAIC!
Now this competitor is one of my personal favorites to watch. Ashtonash is a Trainer from Mexico who regularly competes in North America, and he is one of the most passionate battlers you can find in Pokémon GO. You can tell by his face, reaction, and emotions when the battle is turning in his favor. It almost makes it impossible not to root for him. Ashtonash hasn’t won a Championships event yet, but I’ve no doubt he will sometime soon. He is the runner-up of both last season’s NAIC and the largest Regional Championships in Mexico this season. He’s hungry for gold, and his moment might just be coming!
And these are just a handful of North American competitors to look out for. There are so many more talented Trainers, but the international competition is also lurking. Fun fact: No non-North American Trainer has been able to win in North America! Could that finally change?
Arguably the best out-of-region contender for the crown in North America is none other than the 2025 EUIC Champion, P4T0M4N. He stands out with his creative team compositions and unique Pokémon picks. Combined with precise gameplay, P4T0M4N is almost always a step ahead of his opponents, and he has a large fanbase in Spain supporting him. However, P4T0M4N is not the only name that the North American competition should fear, as he is accompanied by other successful European Trainers such as Colin6ix, TomahawkUK, and Zzweilous.
Now let’s turn to South America. Last season, Brazilian competitors found a lot of success, with LNDsTSteinar able to take home a third place trophy and LNDsRargef placing fifth.
But their story has continued to develop. It took a while before LNDsKourlash was able to overcome some of the many talented Trainers in Brazil. One of them is LNDsRargef—arguably the most successful Brazilian competitor, with four first place finishes to his name. But in the last two Regional Championships in Brazil, LNDsKourlash managed to win gold not once, but twice! And he did so by defeating LNDsRargef in the finals in both tournaments. A rivalry? Perhaps. But they’ll be travelling to the 2025 NAIC together, side-by-side, with only one goal: bring another trophy home to Brazil.
The Oceania competitors are small in number, but growing larger! Travel Awards for the International Championships were introduced to the Pokémon GO Championships circuit this season, which have been very helpful for competitors from Australia and New Zealand to go international. One of them is the up-and-coming Trainer TheyLuvJy, who reached second place twice with his signature Shadow Alolan Ninetales in his first two Regional Championships! By his side, the experienced two-time Regional Champion RicFlareon will also compete at his third International Championships this season, hoping to pick up the first trophy for the Oceania region.
Make sure you don’t miss out as all of these exciting storylines unfold at the 2025 NAIC! Plus, it’s your only chance until the World Championships in August to watch how the best players in the world handle this meta. It may even help and inspire you for your own battles!
Follow the official Pokémon channels for all the latest updates, behind-the-scenes content, and live coverage. Cheer on for your favorite Trainers and share your thoughts on who will take the crown in New Orleans!
Martijn “Inadequance” Versteeg
Martijn “Inadequance” Versteeg is a 2024 Pokémon GO Worlds finalist, a Pokémon GO content creator on Twitch and YouTube, and a commentator at Play! Pokémon events. Known for his strategic depth and unconventional choices, he has made a significant impact on the global competitive scene for Pokémon GO.
Source: Pokemon.com and The Pokémon Company
Source:Pokémon
