I truly wanted nothing more than to go to the annual Pokémon World Championships tournament and XP fan convention this year in San Francisco, but whether it be because The Pokémon Company is trying to keep scalpers out or they don’t want me there because I might cause a commotion when I start crying in the middle of the lobby as I’m overcome with love for the electric rat, I couldn’t get in through the lottery this year. But my god, I think I may actually be dying of FOMO watching the opening ceremony right now.
The Grammy-winning video game orchestra 8-Bit Big Band has started the show with a lengthy tribute to the series’ 30 years of music. It kicked things off with a medley of picks from the original games, and then followed it up with a multi-generational song selection of tracks from across all of the other games.
The 8-Bit Big Band live show was probably the best Worlds opening ceremony ever. 🎼
Very nostalgic, but Sword and Shield proved once again that they’re some of the best Pokémon games. 🗡️🛡️
When that SWSH music hits, it took the whole show to another level. pic.twitter.com/89rVuOp6Yx
— SoulSilverArt (@soulsilverart) August 28, 2026
I was lucky enough to see the group perform Shovel Knight‘s music last year in New York City, and my god, I would pay so much money if they took this concert on tour. They’d probably have to work on longer arrangements for every song, given that they’re performing a masterful medley on stage for the convention.
The group says this is performance is a big tribute to the series for its 30th anniversary, but I would absolutely attend the show if it came around for the 31st. Fuck, I’m about to cry. The performance hasn’t been uploaded as a VOD as of this writing, but you can scroll back on the livestream and find it here:
This weekend will be big for Pokémon fans, with tournaments for most of its games streaming every day, as well as panels from XP, the new fan convention taking place alongside the competition in San Francisco. If you’re not just there for the vibes, there is typically big news during the closing ceremony at the end of Worlds on Sunday. You can watch all of it live across these five channels:
