Why the Pokémon World Championships Going to Hawaii Is Proving to be a Controversial Choice

Fresh off its most recent turn in Japan, The Pokémon World Championships is returning to Hawaii. It’s proving to be a controversial choice in some quarters.

Earlier this month, wildfires swept across Maui and other parts of the state, killing at least 99 people. While 85 percent of the fire is contained, it’s still burning in parts of Lahaina and governor Josh Green expects the death toll to “go up very significantly.”

Against the backdrop of this tragedy, a Pokémon Company spokesperson donned Hawaiian shirt and stood on a beach alongside a Pikachu to announce that the 2024 event would be taking place in Honolulu.

Now revealing the destination for #PokemonWorlds 2024…

Honolulu! pic.twitter.com/2VTDncr8Ot

— Play Pokémon @ #PokemonWorlds (@playpokemon) August 13, 2023

The Pokémon Company followed this announcement by donating $200,000 to the Hawaii Wildfire Relief Fund. In a statement announcing the donation, the company said “our hearts go out to all those who have been impacted by the devastating wildfires in Hawai’i.”

pic.twitter.com/vlbaNRD2iX

— Play Pokémon @ #PokemonWorlds (@playpokemon) August 13, 2023

Some praised the donation, but others had misgivings even beyond the optics of making the announcement in the midst of the devastating wildfires. In particular, they pointed to the influx of tourism that it would bring, which they say has disproportionately impacted Hawaii.

A highly-upvoted post by Kari Keone, a Hawaii native, summed up the mixed feelings raised by the announcement.

“There are people right now who want to do right by Hawai’i, people who were not interested or paying attention before, and I am insanely grateful for that,” Keone wrote in a lengthy thread. “Tourism doesn’t help natives, period. To give you an idea — there is only one locally owned hotel on the entire island of Oahu. There are 233 hotels on Oahu. I know because I stayed there last week. Researching what places are locally owned is the key to doing this ethically.”

She implored The Pokémon Company to “work with local NATIVES [emphasis hers] to direct all of their Worlds attendees and staff to EXCLUSIVELY local services. Anything less is exploitation.”

Keone added that tourism was partly to blame for the recent wildfires, claiming that water had been redirected from wetlands to tourist resources such as water features.

“If Pokémon does not put up very real and serious efforts to direct as much of their Worlds traffic to native Hawaiians, you shouldn’t go. As a Japanese owned company, Nintendo is aware that 10 of the 12 Shinto shrines in the US are in Hawai’i. They understand what is sacred,” Keone wrote.

If @Pokemon does not put up very real and serious efforts to direct as much of their Worlds traffic to native Hawaiians, you shouldn’t go.

As a Japanese owned company, @Nintendo is aware that 10 of the 12 Shinto shrines in the US are in Hawai’i.

They understand what is sacred.

— kari keone (@spaceghost) August 14, 2023

An article in the International Relations Review recently described Hawaii tourism as the “opposite of a paradise for locals,” citing overcrowding, damage to the environment, and a higher cost of living. This year, Hawaii weighed a tourism fee amid what was described as worsening environmental damage.

I rly think they need to reconsider hosting Worlds in Honolulu… in a place that is hurt by a lot of tourism and gentrification that also is struggling with some of the worst wildfires in their history, it’s just a bad idea. https://t.co/AryFE6lwR0

— Gabi Rodea (@TheGabiType) August 14, 2023

The Pokémon World Championships is an annual competitive event featuring the video games, trading card games, and other releases. It has been held since 2004, with the last event in Hawaii taking place in 2012. It has grown into a major event, with more than 1600 players registering for the competition and the livestream averaging more than two million viewers a day.

The Pokémon World Championships have been held in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, with this year’s event being the first to be held in Japan. Last year our own Joshua Yehl reported on what it was like to play in the world’s hardest Pokemon tournament. Joshua was there again this year alongside our guides editor Casey DeFreitas, so expect lots more coverage from this year’s event soon.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.