It’s been a few weeks since the 2024 World Championships concluded in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, but the energy of the event and the city surrounding it continues to percolate in our minds. Attending the competitive season’s capstone event is a unique experience that players across the world chase tirelessly for the entire year—plenty of friends, fans, and family make the trip just to spectate as well.
If you’re looking for a window into what it’s like to travel to the World Championships—whether you want to qualify for your own invitation in 2025 or to visit and share in all the fun—look no further than the 2024 Worlds Pikachu plush and its adventures at one of the most exciting World Championships yet!
Pikachu Tours Honolulu
Naturally, our first stop when arriving in Honolulu was the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. We normally wouldn’t consider the airport as part of our trip—after all, deboarding a plane and waiting around a carousel for your luggage to arrive isn’t terribly fun—but we couldn’t help getting into the Aloha Spirit when we were met by all sorts of colorful signs welcoming us to Hawaiʻi. Pikachu’s cheery smile certainly reflects the traditional Aloha greeting. Now, let’s get our bags and see what Honolulu has to offer!
Now we’re talkin’. The sun, the sand, the surf… This is what we imagine when we think of Honolulu. We brought Pikachu out on the balcony of a room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village to get a view of the adventure that awaits—and what a view it is! Rest assured you’ve never seen anyone clutch a Pokémon plush tighter than we did while taking this photo.
OK! Now that we’re all checked into our hotel, it’s time to hit the beach! Our Pikachu plush was joined by a friend, the Worlds-exclusive Azumarill plush, as we chilled out on the sand and soaked up some rays. The pair looks like they’re longing to take a dip, but geez…we don’t want to get our new plush all wet. Still, that’s not going stop us from posing Pikachu with a mini surfboard. And remember, when you head out to the beach, be sure to wear sunscreen. Pokémon plush may not need protection against sunburn, but you do!
When you’re craving something sweet while in Honolulu, there are few things more satisfying than the one-two combo of malasadas and shave ice. In the world of Pokémon, malasadas are quite popular in the Alola region, so it’s little wonder that Pikachu looks so eager to tear into our box of the fried treats. If you’ve never had a chance to enjoy a malasada, imagine the best doughnut you ever had…and then imagine it being even better!
Piping hot malasadas are great, but there’s nothing better than a big serving of shave ice to cool down. Smoother and fluffier than a traditional snow cone, Hawaiian shave ice is available in a variety of flavors with all sorts of delicious add-ons, like ice cream, azuki beans, mochi balls, condensed milk, and more. Pikachu looks very excited about our cup of Rainbow shave ice, which was flavored with strawberry, pineapple, and vanilla syrups. So good!
Our sweet tooth was sated with malasadas and Hawaiian shave ice, but we found ourselves feeling particularly hungry for competition leading up to Worlds. We took a look at the Event Locator and found a local card shop hosting a Pokémon TCG League Cup that allowed Trainers from around the world to get their final reps in before the capstone tournament. And as two Trainers began a heated battle, we even got a look at variants of two of the most popular decks at Worlds—Lugia VSTAR and Regidrago VSTAR!
We’ve had our fill of sweets and competition, and now it’s time to unwind again before things get wild over the weekend. As the sun sets, we look beyond the water and up at Diamond Head with our snorkel-adorned friend in hand. It’s quite the view, but we’re left wondering: How is the view from the peak itself?
The Competition Begins
Friday has arrived, we’ve made it to the Hawaiʻi Convention Center, and the 2024 Pokémon World Championships are about to begin. Our little plush pal appears delighted by the choice of Pokémon to appear on the entrance sign. Fans have already begun pouring into the venue, so let’s head inside and check it out!
With its stunning snorkel, glamorous goggles, and fabulous flippers, it’s a shame that our Pikachu plush never got to embark on an underwater adventure. Even if it never got to swim in the ocean, it can still go for a simulated dive thanks to this bubbly photo op. Standees like this were set up throughout the convention center, giving Trainers (and plush) fun places to snap some pics to remember their Worlds journeys.
We’ve found our seats right up front! There’s no better place to enjoy the heat of battle, especially with the Hawaiʻi-themed stage bringing the Aloha Spirit to all our competitors. The 2024 Worlds Pikachu is front and center too, so our friend couldn’t help but peek into the frame.
Ah! We were excited to be at the 2024 Worlds Pokémon Center first thing in the morning, but we’ve lost the spark for all our adventures thus far! Can you spot the Pikachu we’ve been traveling with? We’re totally stumped.
Pikachu was eventually located among all its brethren, and we made our way over to the Pokémon TCG Illustration Contest 2024 Gallery for a more relaxing endeavor: enjoying the Top 100 Finishers’ brilliant artwork. During our visit, we ran into two Pokémon TCG illustrator superstars—Atsushi Furusawa and AKIRA EGAWA!
They were delighted to browse the illustrations drawn by this year’s contestants and were also excited to pose with Pikachu before making their way to other activities that included individual autograph sessions and a Pokémon Talk panel featuring both artists!
We couldn’t miss the history museum that was set up at Worlds. Displays of Pokémon RPGs throughout the ages alongside the systems on which they originally appeared, a timeline of the Pokémon World Championships that filled an entire wall, and a gallery of Worlds-exclusive merchandise from years past were all featured. While there, we learned that our Pikachu plush is a genuine historical artifact!
Trainers from across the globe triumphed in Honolulu as they became World Champions, and we made our own path to the peak as we hiked up Diamond Head with Pikachu in hand for a stellar view. After a heated battle up the mountain, we can truly appreciate the majesty of nature from the peak itself—we rate it 10/10!
We hope you enjoyed these photos of our adventures, Trainers. Maybe we’ll see you next year at the 2025 Pokémon World Championships!
