| Event | Pokémon Trainers Cup 2026 (PTC2026) (포켓몬 트레이너스 컵 2026) |
|---|---|
| Location |  Seoul, South Korea |
| Date | 24–25 May 2026 |
| Capacity | 64 qualified players (MA) + 64 SR + 64 JR |
| Videogame | Pokémon Champions |
| Season | 2026 Season – Regulation Set M-A |
| Format | Bo3 Swiss rounds + Bo3 single-elimination top 16 Open team lists (including Nature) |
| Organizer | Pokémon Korea (PKI) |
Check the organizer’s website here for further info!
Table of Contents
Participating players
The 2026 Trainers Cup is open only to the players that qualified through the following criteria:
- Top 64 among players in South Korea in the Global Challenge
Streaming
The event is expected to be broadcast live on YouTube by PKI, in Korean. Check out further info soon!
Venue and schedule
The tournament is held in the Hall C (C홀) of the following location:
COEX Convention & Exhibition Center
코엑스 전시장
513, Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu
Seoul 06164 Republic of Korea
서울특별시 강남구 영동대로 513
Masters players must be in the venue on Monday, 25 May, with details regarding the day schedule sent to the qualified players.
Senior and Junior players play one day earlier and must be in the venue on Sunday, 24 May, again with details regarding the day schedule sent to the qualified players.
The tournament structure is as follows. Players play up to 6 best-of-3 Swiss rounds with open team lists. Then, the 16 best players advance to a best-of-3 single-elimination bracket.
Prizes
This event is an official tournament and is part of the 2026 official circuit in South Korea.
Qualified players play for invites to the 2026 World Championships, with the highest-placed players earning Travel Awards.
| Placement | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st to 4th | Invite to the 2026 World Championships + Travel Award |
| 5th to 16th | Invite to the 2026 World Championships |
Overview
The Pokémon Trainers Cup is the most important VGC competition for players in South Korea, where PKI is responsible for the circuit, and is the only tournament through which players in South Korea can earn invites to the World Championships.
It is the seventh edition of the Pokémon Trainers Cup, which has been the major tournament in South Korea since the Korean points system with Leagues and a National was abandoned in the 2020 season. See the previous editions:
- 2020, won by
Sangyoon Jeong - 2021, won by Wonseok Jung
- 2022, won by Wonseok Jung for the 2nd time
- 2023, vacant in the Masters division
- 2024, won by Juyoung Hong, 2017 Senior World Champion
- 2025, won by Taeseok Roe
The 2026 edition introduces a Swiss-round system for the first time, followed by a single-elimination top cut, and it is played in person in its entirety; previous instances of the Trainers Cup had always featured only single- or double-elimination brackets with no Swiss rounds, and only the final phase was played in person. Qualification is kept through an in-game ladder qualifier, though this time it comes directly from the Global Challenge with no second stage.
The ruleset is Regulation Set M-A with open team lists including Natures.
A little bit of history
South Korea has been a part of the official Pokémon Korea circuit since the first years of VGC, running in parallel to the TPC and TPCi circuits. It has hosted multiple major events, including Korean Leagues, Trainers Cups and old-era National Championships. South Korea’s greatest VGC success was the iconic victory achieved by Sejun Park at the 2014 World Championships. Juyoung Hong also achieved this feat in the Senior Division at the 2017 World Championships.
The last time the Pokémon Trainers Cup was held was the 2025 edition, with the PTC Finals hosted in Seoul, South Korea, and played in Pokémon Scarlet & Pokémon Violet with the VGC Regulation Set I in June 2025. The finals saw 2020 Korean League S1 Champion Taeseok Roe defeat fellow Korean player Wonjae Kim to win his first National Championship title in the Masters division and fourth overall!
