Naoto Mizobuchi won the Masters Division for Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships. The event took place in Washington D.C. and concluded on Sunday, Aug. 18.
Mizobuchi finished Swiss pools as the No. 17 seed. As a result, he had to play a qualifier match just to make it into top 16. Despite the long list of matches set before him, Mizobuchi was unfazed. He won two sets in order to advance into top 8 of the 2019 Pokémon World Championships.
Mizobuchi continued his strong performances in top 8. In quarterfinals, he earned a victory against Eric “Riopaser” Rios. Then in semifinals, he defeated James “Jamesspeed1” Baek in a three-game set. This led Mizobuchi to finals, where he was able to 2-0 Hirofumi Kimura and become the Pokémon World Champion.
Naoto Mizobuchi was not the favorite to win the 2019 Pokémon World Championships. In fact, he had never placed higher than top 4 at a competitive Pokémon event before. Conversely, his fellow finalist Kimura is a seasoned veteran when it comes to winning significant events. Hirofumi Kimura won the Japanese National Championships in both 2018 and 2019. This makes Mizobuchi’s dominant victory in Finals all the more impressive.
Other results from the 2019 Pokémon World Championships
Ko Tsukide won the VGC Senior Division at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships. He notably made use of Togedemaru as one of his most important Pokémon in the finals match. Tsukide earned victories over Alessandro Marchionne, Kenshin Hossoi, and Lewis Tan. Pi Wu won the VGC Junior Division, defeating Sota Tamemasa, Yuta Nakaue, and Teddy French.
Henry Brand defeated No. 1 seed Shintaro Ito to win the Pokémon Trading Card Game Masters Division. Kaya Lichtleitner defeated Grant Shen to become the Senior Division champion. Haruki Miyamoto won the TCG Junior Division at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships by overcoming Isaac Terceira.
Kieng “PoGoKieng” Iv won the Pokémon GO Invitational at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships. He advanced to winners finals by earning 3-0 victories over “Carrymeh” and Michael “UnlistedLeaf” Anderson. However, PoGoKieng lost to Matthew “Poké AK” Anderson in winners finals. Unshaken, PoGoKieng won his rematch against Carrymeh in losers finals. Then he beat Poké AK in both sets of grand finals in order to win the tournament.
Pokkén Tournament DX results
Hiroki “Subutan” Ishida won the Pokkén Tournament DX Masters Division at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships. Despite intense competition, he did not lose any sets throughout the tournament. Subutan defeated fellow Japanese greats like Masami “Potetin” Sato, Hisaharu “Tonosama” Abe, and Toshiki “Haruyuki” Kunieda.
Haruyuki made a huge Cinderella run to 2nd place at the 2019 Pokémon World Championships. Haruyuki did not automatically qualify for Worlds. Instead, he won the last-chance qualifier bracket over players like Benjamin “Toasty” De La Rosa and Yuuki “APOLLO” Horiguchi. Then in the main bracket, Haruyuki defeated players like Takuma “Azazel” Araki, Davon “Shadowcat” Amos, Potetin, and Tonosama.
Collin “Ashgreninja1” Jones won the Senior Division for Pokkén Tournament DX. He defeated Yusuke Kato in grand finals. While this exact duo faced off in grand finals at the 2018 World Championships, it was Yusuke Kato who came out on top in 2018. Therefore, Ashgreninja1’s victory was certainly vengeance for the championship he lost last year.
