Players Frustrated with Long Lines, Sold Out Merch at Pokemon World Championship 2023

The Pokémon World Championships is here but the ongoing drama within the TCG community has not slowed down. If anything, it’s worse now that the event has arrived.

Leading up to Worlds, the community was plagued with an abundance of frustrating realizations about the long-awaited event, located in Japan. One of the big tournaments was canceled, spectator badges were limited, and most fans couldn’t get into any of the activities or entertainment. The Pokémon Center was the last remaining hope for many fans, allowing them access to Worlds exclusive merch and plush.

But now, even that has escalated.

Pokémon Players Angry About Sold Out Merch at Worlds

The lines at Worlds have been frustrating for attendees. Even picking up competitor and spectator badges had trainers waiting in lines of thousands. It reportedly took some attendees over four hours to get their badge and get into the event.

“I hope I can fit into my size small shirt. This registration process has been the worst experience out of every World Championship ever. The worst part is that this was totally avoidable with an hour in a spreadsheet,” said one attendee on Twitter.

Somehow I didn’t have standing in 90 degree heat for HOURS to check in for the World Championships on my list of things I thought I’d be doing today, the day before the biggest competition of the year. What is this @playpokemon? pic.twitter.com/yJxSmJpGfl

— Andrew Mahone (@enjoifriend) August 10, 2023

It was even reported that employees ran out of badges for competitors, meaning trainers had to wait for them to make more. This made the wait even longer, with trainers wondering how this could even happen since they should have known how many people were attending as a competitor beforehand.

Update: finally got the kit, had to wait a while so they could make more bags but better late than never, I suppose

— Le Bui (@LeBui18) August 10, 2023

Once in the event, it was often another couple of hours or more to get into the Pokémon Center, only to find out that most exclusive items were already gone.

Worlds attendees are usually rewarded with exclusive merch they can purchase at the Pokémon Center, including dice, card sleeves, and plushies. Unfortunately, it appeared that a lot of these items were gone almost immediately.

This is so embarrassing

— Andrew Mahone (@enjoifriend) August 10, 2023

What made the situation even more frustrating was that attendees were promised that merch would be restocked later on. This didn’t seem to be the case, however, as trainers who had later slots to the Center noticed various things still sold out completely. This included clothing, statues, dice boxes, and backpacks.

Even some people that were “first in line” were unable to get some of their desired products.

Some trainers noted that Pokémon should have been aware of this issue beforehand. Seeing as the event was capped significantly, the company should have known that the event would be very popular and have a lot of attendees. So why not have more product available?

My first time at #PokemonWorlds so I'm not sure what the norm is. The badge pick up line is pretty long and I know many folks are having to line up outside, where it's pretty dang hot 🥵 But everyone in line seem to be making the best of it, playing and hanging out. pic.twitter.com/hdyyDG7z3C

— Daniel Ryne Lucio ⚡ (@danielrynelucio) August 10, 2023

Another problem was that the Pokémon Center employees were not limiting how many items people could purchase. It’s common knowledge that Worlds attendees will often buy exclusive items in bulk in order to give to their friends or even sell online for a profit. This meant that a lot of trainers were able to buy a large amount of each exclusive item early on, leaving the shelves empty very soon into Worlds.