Trainers, it’s that time of the year when the best PvP battlers of Pokémon GO vie for the ultimate glory on the grandest stage of them all — the 2025 Pokémon GO World Championships!
This year’s edition is to be held in Anaheim, California, USA, from August 15 to 17, 2025, and it promises to be a sizzling affair, as devoted fans, players, and participants can vouch. Among them are three experts who will not just catch the action from ground zero, but also convey all of it for everyone watching from around the world — the commentators.
The eyes and ears of the audience for the 2025 Pokémon GO World Championships are three renowned members of the community: Amanda Lundberg, Will Dunphey, and Martijn “Inadequance” Versteeg, who took time to give us a special preview of what all to expect and look out for in the ultimate showdown of the year, before they don with their commentary equipment for the event.
Meet The Commentary Panel
Amanda Lundberg
Amanda Lundberg (Lundberger) is a contributing writer for Pokemon.com and the favorite Pokémon GO commentator of two World Champions’…moms! Follow her Pokémon travel adventures at youtube.com/@LundbergerPoGo or on x.com/Lundberger.
Will Dunphey
Will Dunphey is an esports commentator for the Pokémon GO Championship Series, having casted more than 35 official events, as of July 2025. Will began creating content for Pokémon GO PvP in 2020, the same year he became a grassroots World Champion. He is a leading voice in the Pokémon GO community, and the speediest of all the chiefs. Follow him on social media at @SpeediestChief2.
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.
Now that you’ve met the commentators, let’s see what they have to pitch in about the happenings in the 2025 Pokémon GO World Championships.
Participants to look out for
Amanda Lundberg’s picks
Amanda believes that the bronze medalist from 2024’s Worlds, MartoGalde, would make waves this year. This comes from the fact that the trainer didn’t slow down one bit after his major feat in Worlds, as he went on to lock in direct invites through victories in Honolulu, and then three tournaments in Lima, Mérida, and Santiago. Additionally, he also bagged the prestigious LAIC trophy in Brazil, adding an International Championship title to his track record. This way, the unstoppable trainer qualified for the 2025 Worlds in five different ways!
Easy to see why he’s a favorite, but Amanda adds two more trainers to watch out for.
She adds Beelzeboy from India to her elite list. This trainer had joined the fray from an altogether different qualifying system, having aced the first position of the 2024 India Playoffs to claim his spot in last year’s Worlds. However, he was ultimately taken down by the 2024 champ and runner-up, securing a cool fourth-place finish and consequently, an automatic return invitation to this year’s Worlds. He has kept a low profile since then, but he remains one of the most hyped trainers in the 2025 edition
Finally, Amanda vouches for the Spaniard P4t0M4N, a trainer who keeps on adding feathers to his accomplished cap. This runner-up of the 2023 Pokémon Liverpool Regional Championships has scored a hat-trick by qualifying for three straight Worlds events! After earning direct invites in the last two years, this remarkable player won the 2025 EUIC and barely lost the 2025 NAIC. Maybe third time’s the charm for P4t0M4N in 2025 Worlds? We’ll see!
Will Dunphey’s picks
Will’s top pick for the tournament is “The Reverse Engineer,” none other than trainer Zzweilous, whom Will calls the “world’s most creative team-builder.” This top-notch player literally reverse engineers and core-breaks the meta with his amazing teams, having grabbed the second position at EUIC with Primeape and Charjabug, and fourth place at NAIC with Shadow Scizor, Greninja, and Galarian Weezing.
Expect to see him engineer a jaw-dropping team for the grand stage!
Another pick for the event is a trainer who has made Shadow Drapion his signature weapon—Ilqm. This calm player has dominated the competitive scene with Shadow Drapion, wreaking havoc with it through his wins in Toronto, Atlanta, and second place at NAIC. Newsflash, Iilqm’s fearsome Poison/Dark Shadow Pokémon is coming for the jugular in 2025 Worlds!
Shadow Drapion
Next up in Will’s list is CharmingP0ri, who uses bulky mons like Dewgong to get the job done. 7-0 in the South Korea qualifiers, 5-0 in South Korea playoffs, and numerous tournament wins under his belt, you can bet he is coming with an unbeatable mean streak in the 2025 Worlds.
Martijn Versteeg’s picks
Trainer ItsAXN is very well-known in the community. He’s the 2025 NAIC Champion, the first Pokémon GO competitor to win two International Championships, and the 2023 World Champion! This champ is raring to take on the 2025 Worlds and is a favorite to take home the trophy among many of his fans, who call him “Master AXN” courtesy of his educational content on PvP.
Martijn also holds Richie1409 in high regard, complimenting not just his heartwarming smile and positivity, but also his skills in battle. A win at the 2025 Worlds would give him another reason to flash his trademark grin!
Finally, there’s Japanese trainer pokemonemaker. Japan has enjoyed extensive success in VGC and TCG, but Pokémon GO has eluded them. This year, the 2025 Pokémon Regional Championships in Melbourne, pokemonemaker may finally seal the deal for Japan and the world for them!
Out-of-the-box predictions for 2025 Pokémon GO Worlds
Amanda Lundberg
We won’t see a repeat World Champion for at least the first TEN YEARS of competitive Pokémon GO. AT LEAST!
Can defending champion Yekai0904 break this prediction, or will one of the many talented trainers help fulfill Amanda’s bold prophecy?!
Will Dunphey
Another Bug Bite user will win gold on Championship Sunday. That Pokémon is…Forretress!
This bold prediction stems from the fact that many Bug Pokémon got buffed in the Delightful Days season. Golisopod and Araquanid are solid match winners, but Will is convinced that it’s Forretress’ time to shine!
Forretress
Martijn Versteeg
We’ll see at least four competitors from the Latin American region in the Top 8.
With teamwork and friendship being their strength, Martijn is sure that members of the LATAM team would come out with flying colors in Worlds!
Pokémon expected to excel in 2025 Worlds based on NAIC usage data
Amanda Lundberg
- Dusclops is extremely bulky, gets enough coverage to disrupt the meta, and has a good showing against Azumarill, Diggersby, and Fighting types.
- Galarian Moltres with Fly is a menace.
Will Dunphey
- Even though Dedenne has a hard time in a meta filled with Diggersby and Mud Slap users, it can rampage through core targets like Mandibuzz and Araquanid with its potent Parabolic Charge.
- Shadow Scizor does heavy neutral damage with the buffed Bullet Punch being too overwhelming for opponents. Night Slash and Trailblaze apply tremendous pressure as they help Shadow Scizor get out of hand in no time. Fire types are a glaring weakness, but they have been pretty uncommon in recent times.
- Ninetales (Kanto) is deadly with legacy Ember, Weather Ball Fire, and Overheat. Any Bug and Steel types are easy target, it can bait shields with Weather Ball, and tear off massive chunks of the opponents’ HP with Overheat.
- Aside from the above picks, Will also predicts usage of “safe” bets like Furret, Diggersby, Shadow Drapion, Azumarill, Shadow Annihilape, Stunfisk (Unova), Galarian Moltres, Corviknight, and Blastoise
Martijn Versteeg
- Dusclops has always been the cream of the meta, and Martijn insists that Ice Punch would be pivotal in securing wins, including taking the fight to Mandibuzz and Galarian Moltres.
- With a buffed Bug Bite, Dark and Grass types fall to it, and it’ also able to manage battles better against Ground types like Diggersby and Quagsire much better than before.
- The humble Furret is an answer to Ghost types thanks to its Normal typing, and can even take down Water types with its snappy Trailblaze.
And there you have it! That was an excellent preview of the 2025 Worlds by the three experts doing commentary for the monumental event.
To watch all the action, follow the 2025 Pokémon GO World Championships live with the Pokémon GO Twitch channel at 9:00 a.m. PDT on August 15 and 16, 2025. On Championship Sunday, August 17, 2025, tune in to the Pokémon Twitch channel at 9:00 a.m. PDT.
Have fun, trainers!
