This week in Pokémon Go (24th to 30th August): It's Worlds week

Welcome to the latest One More Catch weekly newsletter, offering you a guide to the days ahead in Pokémon Go.

This week is all about the 2026 Pokémon World Championships, and the inaugural PokémonXP event. Though they won't start until Friday, Pokémon Go is celebrating from Tuesday with new Pikachu forms, and will be swapping the usual Saturday event for a handful of free Timed Research tasks - provided you log into Twitch streams, of course.

So here's a snapshot of everything coming to Pokémon Go in the days ahead, the biggest opportunities available, and a roundup of Pokémon news and site updates you may have missed.

Events in Pokémon Go this week (24th to 30th August)

All times are at your local time, unless otherwise stated.

What to know about this week

Here's what jumps out to me in the days ahead:

Two new Pikachus

In an anniversary year filled with new Pikachu - from Marathon Visor to Professor Willow's Assistant - why not two more? Tuesday will see the first (Pikachu wearing a Cosmog-themed spacesuit) debut, while Friday will see a World Championships 2026 Pikachu make an appearance.

The easiest way to get these will be in one-star raids, but they will likely be in the event Go Pass, and definitely in various Twitch Timed Research from Friday onwards too.

There's more to the event than that, of course - including changes to wild spawns - and you can review the official infographics below for details:

There's four free Timed Research up for grabs

By watching the 2026 Pokémon World Championships and PokémonXP events over the weekend, there's a whopping four Timed Research available to claim. Tune in on Twitch with a linked account to the following to get involved.

I'll have a dedicated guide on the site soon with specifics - including how to link accounts and the exact streams to watch - but the TLDR is as follows:

• Watch the main streams for 30 minutes then 60 minutes total for two Timed Research quests, Lickitung, Totodile or Paldean Wooper Choose a Path and 2025 World Champion's Timed Research
• Watch a co-streamer for 45 minutes for the 'Greetings from San Francisco!' Bonus Timed Research
• Finally, watch Saturday's PokémonXP Panel: Celebrating 10 Years of Pokémon Go (at 6pm UK / 1pm EDT / 10am PDT) for 30 minutes for the final Timed Research

No, there isn't a Saturday event

With Worlds taking place, there's no Saturday event. While this sort of makes sense for those in the Americas, where you could argue they want people to stay at home to watch the event instead of playing, it does mean everyone in earlier timezones will be twiddling their thumbs until the 6pm UK / 12pm EDT / 9am PDT kickoff. Well, at least we have the Mega Finale next week...

What's new in Pokémon and Pokémon Go?

Here's a roundup of stories from the week:

• Sticking with Worlds a moment - as well as various Pokémon Go freebies, there's similar Twitch rewards for Pokémon Champions, TCG, TCG Pocket and Unite. See the full list of giveaways on the official site.
  • As part of the build up, for Pokémon Champions players there's already a new Mystery Gift code - W0R1DCHAMP10NS26 - which rewards 5,000 VP. Be sure to nab it before the weekend is out.
• There has been little official news for Pokémon Go - including what is coming to the new season starting 8th September (first details are expected during Worlds / PokémonXP) - but datamines have given us some idea of what the weeks and months ahead will bring.
  • Highlights include several unreleased Pokémon (including Minior and its forms and the possibility of Maschiff), even more Pikachu forms for the PokéXciting! events starting September, and yet another Kanto event with Mewtwo.

• In wider Pokémon collab news, you can now get Pokémon Krispy Kreme doughnuts. In the UK, they are based on three Pokémon (Pikachu, Charmander and Jigglypuff) and a Poké Ball, with flavours including lemon sherbet, dulce de leche and marshmallow, and strawberry frosting.
  • There's a variety of ways to get in on this - from dozen doughnut sets to individual Mystery Boxes - with the entire collab seemingly around until 22nd September. And, in the UK at least, there will be four more flavours from 7th September too:

Pokémon Krispy Kreme donut flavours and boxes in full

The collection sees three Pokémon and a Poké Ball transformed into treats - with more on the way.

One More CatchMatthew Reynolds

• There's also been a Pokémon range of Polaroid cameras revealed [insert Pokémon Snap joke here]. No dates or pricing mentioned yet, but expect preorders to open "soon".

One More Catch notes

A new subscriber-only piece went live on Friday, looking at the three changes that would make the Explorer Gadget so much better (and three things I already appreciate). Needless to say, as a Go Plus sicko, I have thoughts:

Three changes that would make the virtual Go Plus so much better

And three things I already appreciate.

One More CatchMatthew Reynolds

Otherwise, I published dedicated guides for Arrokuda, Barraskewda and Cramorant (which will be available in-game until Monday night). Expect the same for the new Pikachu forms and the various Worlds Timed Research in the week to come.

Finally, I want to give a shoutout to fellow independent venture Jank, which has published a list of subscriber goals in an aim to bolster its (already wonderful) output with an array of superb freelance talent. Despite only launching this year, Jank has already become one of my favourite places to visit, and I'd highly recommend you give it a read (and hopefully, your support) if you haven't already:

Behold, our first subscriber goals

Here’s what we will do if more of you all support us

JankJon Hicks

That's the end of this week's newsletter! As usual, we wrap with a reminder that you can subscribe to One More Catch for bonus articles, extra site functionality such as ad-free browsing, and as a way to show your support for the newsletter and site in general.

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Hope you have a great week!