2024 Pokémon World Championships this weekend in Honolulu

HONOLULU (KHON2) – You cant just catch one, you cant catch two, you gotta catch um all.

That is what this weekend is all about here at both the Hilton Hawaiian Village and the Hawaii Convention Center.

We are all talking about the 2024 Pokémon World Championships.

We are here with Senior Public Relations Manager of The Pokémon Company International, Elvin Gee.

Tell us a little bit about this. Is this the first time the world championships of Pokémon have been hosted in Hawaii?

“No, this is actually the fourth time. The first time in Honolulu but we have had 3 prior world championships actually on the Big Island,” says Gee.

So, what was the decision to bring it here to Oahu?

‘We love Hawaii. Its a very special connection between Pokémon and Hawaii and we couldn’t be more happier to be here,” says Gee.

“Its a fantastic city, as you know. World class city, great activities, fantastic weather, rich traditions, rich culture, vibrant community, we love being here.”

There are two parts to this championships.

Here at the Hilton Hawaiian Village is the Trainer Town.

Tell us a little bit what is taking place here.

“Correct. Like you said, two sections. So, the competition, the actual competition, happens on Friday, Saturday, Sunday at the Hawaii Convention Center,” says Gee.

“The brand activities that are open to the public, because the competition is only open to badge attendees, the public can join in on the fun at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. So, this is part of the Pokémon Trainer Town that you see right now. Lot of brand activities, everyone can join in and have fun. You don’t have to have a badge. We also have a drone show happening on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm on Waikiki beach towards the Hilton side. Its going to be fantastic. And, of course, the Hilton has their Friday fireworks so a lot of stuff, great things for everybody.”

How many people are expected to come through this weekend?

“So, right now, we are looking at about 14,000 badged attendees. Out of those 14,000, we are looking at about 3,300 that are actually competitors. This is not counting the folks who are joining in on the fun at the brand activities at the Hilton Hawaiian Village,” says Gee.

“So, we are so happy to be here. We are happy to bring our competitors here. We have a very special connection to Hawaii, we worked very closely with local community organizations to pull all of this off. We worked with the Hawaii Tourism Authority, we worked with the Hawaii Film Commission to pull off the drone show, and we also had the privilege in making a grant through our partners at Global Giving to Aha Punana Leo which is a local Hawaiian language school. So, we are so happy to be here, so grateful to be here.”

What kind of impact will this have, or does it have, on Hawaii’s economy?

“We hope it has a great impact on the economy. We try to bring our A game to whatever city we are in. We are definitely rolling out all the stops for Honolulu and bringing the world championships here so we hope that everyone joins in on the fun,” says Gee.

There are so many things taking place here at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

You have games, you have scavenger hunts, we have a podcast which is going to be live coming up in just a little bit and much, much more.

So, to find out what is taking place here at the Hilton Hawaiian Village but also the Hawaii Convention Center, click here.