London, United Kingdom – 30th July 2026 – The Pokémon Champion of Champions arena came alive on Wednesday as eight extraordinary champions from some of the world’s most unusual competitions pitted their skills against each other in a different kind of battle.
After receiving expert coaching from three-time Pokémon Video Game Championships World Champion Ray Rizzo, the competitors took to the battlefield in Pokémon Champions to compete for the title of the inaugural Pokémon Champion of Champions.
Broadcast live to fans around the world, the promotional tournament brought together champions from disciplines, consisting of whistling, pillow fighting, pizza acrobatics, French fry making, Stinging nettle eating, air guitar, hobby horse and spacing out.
Following a day of closely fought battles, Mike Hobbs, from the United Kingdom emerged victorious and was crowned the first Pokémon Champion of Champions.
The full list of Pokémon Champion of Champions competitors were:
• Mike Hobbs – Nettle Eating
• Zachary “Ichabod Fame” Knowles – Air Guitar
• Denis Kwan Hong-Wang – Doing Nothing
• Leandro Apollo – Pillow Fighting
• Ayna Ziordia Botella – Whistling
• Aurèle Mestré – French Fries
• Nicola Matarazzo – Pizza Acrobatics
• Nele Nöhrbaß – Hobby Horsing
“Today was a fantastic celebration of competition, community and the idea that anyone can be a Champion in Pokémon Champions,” said Peter Murphy, Senior Director of Marketing at The Pokémon Company International. “Watching such a diverse group of champions learn, compete and embrace Pokémon battling has been incredibly entertaining, and we are delighted to congratulate Mike on winning our Champion of Champions promotional event.”
3x Pokémon VGC World Champion, Ray Rizzo added: “It was amazing to see how quickly the competitors embraced Pokémon battling and developed their own strategies. Every participant brought the same competitive spirit that helped them become champions in their own fields, making for a genuinely exciting tournament.”
As the winner, Mike receives a trip to the 2027 Pokémon World Championships, and a charitable donation made in his name.
The Pokémon Champion of Champions tournament also showcased Pokémon Champions’ accessibility and cross-play functionality across mobile devices and Nintendo Switch 2 consoles, demonstrating how players from any background can jump into competitive Pokémon battles with ease.
Pokémon Champions is now available to download at no cost on mobile devices in addition to the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 consoles, bringing fast-paced, competitive Pokémon battles straight to players wherever they are.
For more information on Pokémon Champions, including where to download, please visit the official website.
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About The Pokémon Company International
The Pokémon Company International manages the Pokémon property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world. For more information, please visit www.pokemon.co.uk.
About Nintendo:
Nintendo Co., Ltd., headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, has been providing a wide range of entertainment products and experiences since its founding in 1889, beginning with the manufacture and sale of Hanafuda playing cards. Since the 1983 release of the Family Computer (Famicom) system in Japan, and continuing through Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo’s focus has been the development, manufacturing, and sale of its gaming systems and software. To date, Nintendo has sold more than 6.1 billion video games and over 870 million hardware units globally, and has created franchises such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, The Legend of Zelda™, Pokémon™, Metroid™, Kirby™, Animal Crossing™, Pikmin™, and Splatoon™. Nintendo’s continuing mission is to create reasons to choose Nintendo for unique, family-friendly entertainment that puts smiles on the faces of everyone it touches.
A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Frankfurt, Germany, serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in Europe. For more information about Nintendo of Europe, please visit the company’s website at https://www.nintendo.com/eu
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