The single hardest thing to get at this year’s Pokémon Center pop-up is a stuffed Pikachu you can’t simply walk up and buy.
It’s the Steiff 2026 Pokémon World Championships Exclusive Pikachu, and it’s locked behind a voucher. Steiff, the company that invented the teddy bear, has made Pikachu before: once in 2015, and again just this July for Pokémon’s 30th Anniversary. This one’s different. It’s the first accessorized edition.
Materials and price aren’t confirmed. For context, Steiff’s earlier Pikachu were made of premium natural mohair and sold for around $400 USD.
“As one of the standout items for this year, fans can only receive it via voucher – meaning, those booking a store reservation can opt in to enter the selection process to purchase fan favorite items,” said Cindy Ruppenthal, senior director of Pokémon Center and e-commerce.
Three lines, one very busy weekend
The 2026 Pokémon World Championships hit San Francisco, CA. from Aug. 28 to Aug. 30, and this year they share a roof with PokémonXP, the first-ever official Pokémon fan-convention. Add the 30th Anniversary on top and you get a merch drop with more moving parts than usual.
“To celebrate this year’s San Francisco location, Pokémon Center will be releasing three product lines – the PokémonXP Line, the 2026 Pokémon World Championships Line, and the San Francisco Line,” Ruppenthal said. Same three-line structure as last year’s Worlds in Anaheim, CA.
PokémonXP went to space
The PokémonXP line leans hard into blue and outer space. You’ve already seen the female Pikachu in full star-exploring astronaut gear (the heart-shaped tail is how you know she’s female). Her co-mascot is a Charizard in goggles and a jetpack, who turns up in his own figure, wall art and more.
The dark Charizard shirt is my pick. But the pastel blue bomber jacket covered in on-theme patches and the baseball jersey are the ones I’d bet sell out first. Don’t sleep on the Rocket backpack either, which is one of the odder, better items revealed so far.
So why space? Ruppenthal said the team built everything around the concept “Out of This World,” designs and experiences alike, with the goal of giving fans a weekend that takes them “somewhere truly out of this world.”
The first glow-in-the-dark collection, somehow
Umbreon and Elgyem headline a set of glow-in-the-dark items that would’ve looked at home next to the plastic stars on my childhood ceiling. Charge them under sunlight, an LED flashlight or a UV blacklight and they light up.
Here’s the part that’s genuinely hard to believe after decades of product: Ruppenthal said this is Pokémon Center’s first-ever glow-in-the-dark collection.
Another debut this year, per Ruppenthal, is the lava flow glitter pin, which uses actual liquid inside the pin to add depth. The Charizard pin from this collection looks like one of them.
A Pikachu in a crown, and Greninja everywhere
The Worlds line crowns a male Pikachu plush in a champion’s cape, then puts him on shirts, bags, hats, TCG accessories and more. Greninja gets serious real estate too: he shares the double deck box with kingly Pikachu and gets his own collectible pin, light-up display and hat.
Orange-red runs through the whole line, stamped with the classic Pokémon World Championships logo and the 2026 San Francisco logo.
San Francisco, redrawn with Poké Balls
The San Francisco line trades mascots for colorful, eclectic line drawings. The playmat is the standout, packed with small details you’ll keep finding. The cream ringer tee is a nice break from the standard t-shirt, and the matching Krabby hat completes it.
“The San Francisco Line reimagines the city through a Pokémon lens, blending the PokémonXP ‘Out of This World’ design theme with iconic San Francisco architecture transformed by Pokémon-inspired elements,” Ruppenthal said. “Some fun artwork fans can look for include Poké Ball details on the Painted Ladies, a Gigantamax Duraludon-inspired variation of the Transamerica Pyramid, Poké Ball-inspired cable cars, and a Technical Machine (TM).”
“Fans can also discover Pokémon woven through the playmat design, including Pikachu, Vileplume, Krabby, Ditto, Umbreon, Espeon, Latias, Latios, Jirachi, and many more – adding even more Pokémon-inspired details for fans to discover,” Ruppenthal said.
The crossover stuff for the indecisive
“Inspired by the bright and vibrant spirit of the city, each unique line captures the energy and character of San Francisco while bringing a distinctly Pokémon twist,” Ruppenthal said. “And because this is a milestone year, fans may even spot exclusive items featuring a mix of both the PokémonXP Line and the 2026 Pokémon World Championships Line…”
That mix isn’t a fourth line, just items that commemorate both events and the city at once. Bold PokémonXP blues, fiery Worlds reds, San Francisco design cues. The keychain carries charms for all three line logos plus both mascot Pikachu; the pin set pairs the two mascot Pikachu with the cable car and the Pokémon-ified Painted Ladies.
Then there’s the collectible coins set, nine coins deep, each featuring a different Pokémon from this year’s merch.
What else you’ll be fighting over
Reyn Spooner returns for what’s now an annual tradition, started at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships in Honolulu. Appropriate, given the brand is designed in Hawaii. Collab items are on the online Pokémon Center store right now, but this year’s aloha shirt, hat and bag designs are exclusive to San Francisco.
The Pokémon Company previously revealed the two mascot Pikachu, Charizard and Kirlia plushies. Bear Walker also revealed two new skateboards, one for PokémonXP and one for the Pokémon World Championships. Expect to opt into the drawing for a voucher to buy those, the way it worked at Worlds in Anaheim.
As for the store itself, Ruppenthal said each line gets “its own moment to shine.”
Getting in is its own event
You need a PokémonXP / Pokémon World Championships badge to enter the pop-up, plus a signed-up timeslot. If you’re not there, Ruppenthal said a “Worlds at Home” online-only “shopping experience” starts Aug. 26. What that actually involves is still a mystery.
Last year offered a code for the Worlds Promo Card with purchase and a separate code for the collectible Worlds Coin with at least a $50 purchase, plus the Sweetheart Diner collection, which launched online and at the pop-up simultaneously.
You can also grab the 2026 Worlds Pikachu promo card by playing in a Worlds Celebration Tournament at Play! Pokémon Store events, VGC with Pokémon Champions or the TCG, from Aug. 21st to Aug. 30th.
I own the 2025 Pokémon World Championships Reyn Spooner tote from Anaheim, and it’s the best beach bag I’ve ever had: deep, lots of internal pockets, a clip for your keys, a big zipper that keeps everything where you put it. It’s currently holding my overflow of deckboxes and bulk cards, which is exactly the excuse I need to buy this year’s and let it go outside.
