The Pokémon Company has axed the Pokémon World Championships for a second consecutive year.

The company announced the cancellation of the event on the official Pokemon website, calling it a “difficult decision.” Instead, the next Pokemon World Championship will take place sometime next year in London, in the same city as the event scheduled for 2021.

“The safety and well-being of our competitors, organizers, employees, communities, and partners remain our number one priority and our number one priority in all the decisions we make,” Pokémon said.

“We made the difficult decision to quit after carefully considering and following the recommendations of local, regional, and national health authorities, the World Health Organization, the UK Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Until the next Pokemon World Championship. ”

The Pokemon Company states that next year’s event will be “Celebrating the Expansion of the Pokemon Tournament” and that all invitations to the 2020 Pokemon World Cup will be accepted at the 2022 event. The company also said it will closely monitor the status of COVID-19 with relevant government agencies to “determine when events and resumption of operations are safe for the community.”

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The Pokémon World Championship began in 2004 and focused primarily on card games with Pokémon, but has since included a dedicated competition for the main video game series and the Pokkén Tournament DX.

2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the franchise, and the Pokemon Company has announced an anniversary celebration with special products, Katy Perry collaborations, and other surprises.

It is rumored that the Pokemon Diamond Pearl remake will also be released this year, and the Pokemon Center expects it to be officially announced this month. Plans to rework the game have yet to be confirmed.