By Payden "ItsAXN" Bingham, Contributing Writer
The 2025 Pokémon GO Latin America International Championships (LAIC) is just around the corner, taking place in São Paulo, Brazil, from November 15 to 17, 2024. During this event, hundreds of Trainers from around the world will look for their chance to etch their name as the first International Champion of the season. Following the massive meta shakeup after the 2024 World Championships, a fresh new set of Pokémon have come out on top. While a few Pokémon have been consistent throughout the first few months of the 2025 season, it can’t be understated how much the top picks have changed between every Regional Championship so far. The next LAIC Champion will have to be a Trainer that not only has the ability to outplay their opponents, but also has a complete understanding of where the competitive meta is heading.
Trainers to Look Out For
There are many extremely talented Trainers attending LAIC this year, which makes it difficult to narrow down who the favorites are. Trainers who have won multiple regional titles, Trainers who have top cut nearly every event they go to, and even Trainers who have won international titles in the past will all be looking to take the win home this year.
Starting with a few Trainers from Latin America, we have none other than last year’s LAIC Champion, LNDsRargef. During his run last year, he not only went the entire tournament without losing a single match, but he also only lost four individual battles out of 24. But that’s just the beginning of his accomplishments—he also won the 2024 Curitiba Regional Championships and came in fifth place at the 2024 North American International Championships. To top it all off, he won his very first event of the 2025 season, the Joinville Regional Championships. LNDsRargef’s ability to read the meta, build teams, and perform consistently is nearly unmatched.
The next Trainer residing in Latin America that deserves the spotlight is MartoGalde. At the 2024 Pokémon GO World Championships, MartoGalde was the highest performing Latin America player, placing third and only losing to Worlds runner-up Inadequance and World Champion Yekai0904. He is also one of only three Trainers who have been able to reach Top 8 at World Championships twice. While MartoGalde has not won an event since the 2022 season, his consistent top cut performance throughout each season speaks for itself, and LAIC may be his chance to take home another Championship title.
LNDsTSteinar is yet another Trainer from Latin America whose résumé speaks for itself. He has won a Regional Championship, along with making Top 4 at three other Regionals. His performance doesn’t stop there, as he has one of the most impressive International Championship performances out of anyone in the world. He is the only Trainer who has made Top 4 at two different internationals in one season, placing fourth at LAIC 2024 and third at NAIC 2024. Although LNDsTSteiner has not yet won an International Championship, this level of consistency throughout his competitive career speaks volumes regarding his ability to take the title for himself.
While all three of the Trainers discussed so far have been fairly obvious favorites to win LAIC this year, the next Trainer is a relative newcomer to the competitive circuit. Desinked is one of the most consistent Trainers to have ever entered the Play! Pokémon circuit. The only reason he isn’t talked about more is because he hasn’t competed as long as many other Trainers. In the 2024 season, he was able to come in Top 32 at LAIC. While that is an extremely impressive feat, that’s not why he is on this list. At the end of the 2024 season, Desinked had the most impressive tournament run streak ever seen in competitive Pokémon GO. In the same month, he was able to win the Buenos Aires Special Event, achieve second place at the Santiago Regional Championships, and then win the Special Event in Lima. Desinked is by far one of the most impressive new Trainers to compete. If his performance last season is anything to go by, there is a great chance the LAIC title could be his.
While there are many more battlers from Latin America who could easily have made this list, there are some Trainers from outside the region who are also looking to take the LAIC title for themselves. So far in Pokémon GO’s competitive history, there has never been a Trainer who has been able to win an International Championship title from outside their home region. Some Trainers have come close, but none have never quite been able to accomplish it. Some of the best Trainers from the North American and European regions are looking to be the very first to achieve this goal.
First and foremost, you can’t talk about the best Trainers from the North American region without bringing up one name: Doonebug97. While some Trainers heading to LAIC may have won one or two events and have been able to consistently make the top cut, none of them can come close to what Doonebug97 has been able to achieve. He won his first Regional Championship title in the 2023 season at Arlington, but that was just the beginning. The 2024 season is where he really separated himself from the pack by winning not one, not two, but three Regional Championships in just four months. He is the only Trainer who has ever won this many events in one season, and that’s not all he did in 2024. Doonebug97 is one of a very select group of Trainers to nearly take home an international title from outside his home region, being the 2024 European International Championships runner up. He is looking to make history once again by winning LAIC, and based on his accomplishments from last season, it may just happen.
Another North American Trainer who has been making a name for himself recently is OutOfPoket. Being both the 2024 NAIC Champion as well as the highest-placing North American Trainer at the 2024 World Championship, he is one of very few Trainers who could potentially rival Doonebug97 as the best battler from North America. His consistency when it comes to reaching top cut at tournaments is one of his biggest strengths. The main thing that sets OutOfPoket apart from many Trainers is his team building. He isn’t afraid to try out unique Pokémon that not many people are using, making deep runs in tournaments with Pokémon like Shadow Typhlosion, Bastiodon, and Arctibax. His ability to balance his teams with both top meta Pokémon and innovative picks makes him a huge threat in this metagame. Every regional tournament this season has seen a shift in what the top picks have been, and OutOfPoket’s ability to capitalize on this could give him a competitive edge at LAIC.
While every Trainer up to this point has proven themselves as a Regional or International Champion, there is a Trainer from North America to watch who has yet to win an event. Arrohh has been competing in the Championship Series since the beginning. Although he hasn’t won a title of his own, he has come in second place at a Regional Championship three times. Along with this, he has come in ninth place at NAIC in 2023 as well as at EUIC in 2024, proving he has what it takes to do well on the big stage. What makes Arrohh such an interesting Trainer to watch is his approach to team building. While most people try to make teams with the top Pokémon, Arrohh makes teams to counter the top picks. He isn’t afraid to make hard reads or use risky Pokémon, which makes him a massive threat to Trainers not used to this style of play. While Arrohh hasn’t won a title for himself as of yet, underestimating him heading into LAIC would be a massive mistake.
The European region boasts some of the most consistent Trainers in the world. While there are not many EU Trainers attending LAIC this year, there is one that stands above the rest. Paulasha97 has an incredible résumé winning two Regionals, and reaching Top 4 in four more. She has also had fantastic runs at not just international-level events, but also on the world stage. In 2023, she was able to make Top 16 at the World Championships, and in 2024 she made Top 4 at EUIC and Top 32 at the World Championships. One key aspect of Paulasha97’s gameplay that has helped her achieve so much success is her ability to use offense to her advantage. Whether it’s with Shadow Swampert, Shadow Alolan Sandslash, or, of course, Shadow Magnezone, Paulasha97’s precise and hyper-offensive play style can easily overwhelm opponents. This could be what sets her apart from the competition and potentially earn her the LAIC title.
Pokémon To Look Out For
These Trainers all have an incredible shot at becoming the next LAIC Champion, but having the skills to win is only part of the battle. Reading the meta and knowing what picks will come out on top is extremely important, especially for an event as big as this. So far in the 2025 season, the meta has been extremely fluid. Picks like Shadow Feraligatr that many saw as meta-defining at the beginning of this season have seen less and less play, whereas Pokémon like Ariados, Marowak, and Malamar have been rising in popularity at recent events.
One of the most interesting parts about the LAIC meta will be Annihilape. In the past, Annihilape was a meta-defining Pokémon. Being a Ghost- and Fighting-type Pokémon, it had both incredible offense as well as a solid defensive typing. After Annihilape’s best Fast Attack, Counter, got nerfed, it has been nearly extinct from competitive play. All of that could change due to Annihilape receiving a new Charged Attack, Rage Fist. This attack is a low energy Ghost-type move that always increases the user’s attack by one stage. Even though Counter generates less energy now, the ramifications of Annihilape having access to such an energy-cheap move that can guarantee an attack boost cannot be understated. Shadow Annihilape has also recently appeared for the first time, allowing for even more damage output from this Pokémon. Many teams currently disrespect Fighting types, but this won’t be the case now that Annihilape is back in play.
In anticipation of Annihilape’s resurgence, Pokémon that can counteract Fighting-type damage will be key to succeeding at LAIC. Drifblim is a Pokémon that some Trainers have already had their eyes on as a pick to take out the Ground- and Poison-type Pokémon that have been popping up more recently. Its ability to handle Annihilape just makes it that much more enticing to use, being able to knock it out with just Fast Attack damage in many different shielding scenarios.
Malamar is already a Pokémon seeing a ton of play, but being a pick that can hold its own against Annihilape, Ariados, Toxapex—and even Drifblim—it will be everywhere. Using picks that can either work alongside Malamar or shut it down will be key to success at LAIC. This opens the door for Pokémon like Galarian Moltres, Mandibuzz, and potentially even some Fairy types, which are fairly consistent answers to Malamar.
Along with Malamar, Ground-type Pokémon have dominated the 2025 season so far. Clodsire and Diggersby started off the season as the dominant Ground types, but that meta has slowly shifted to Ground types with more Fast Attack pressure, such as Gastrodon and Marowak. These Pokémon with high-damage Fast Attacks put pressure on the Poison-type Pokémon as well as many picks with less bulk. Due to the emergence of these picks, Flying-type and Grass-type Pokémon may rise in usage as a way to slow them down and keep them from running through teams.
This year’s Latin America International Championship will be a sight to behold; between the incredibly talented Trainers attending and the unsettled state of the meta, there are many options for what to bring. Will Annihilape make its triumphant return? Will anti-meta picks like Drifblim be able to shut down popular teams? Only time will tell which Trainers and Pokémon will come out on top of such a prestigious tournament.
Payden "ItsAXN" Bingham is the 2023 Pokémon GO World Champion and an active competitor in the Play! Pokémon circuit. After winning Worlds, his main goals are to spread knowledge about competitive Pokémon GO, and to help grow the competitive scene. You can find them online at @ItsAXN.
