Pokémon Champions Could Be The Game Competitive Fans Have Waited For

This morning (July 22), during a Pokémon Presents, The Pokémon Company shared more details about Pokémon Champions — an upcoming competitive game that is set to launch in 2026 on the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. The battle-focused title strips away the excess and delivers a streamlined experience focused entirely on Pokémon beating the snot out of each other. We do not yet know if it will be free-to-play, but it probably will be.

I say that because most Pokémon spin-off games are. Pokémon UNITE is a free-to-play MOBA on the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices that launched in 2021. Pokémon Café ReMix is a free-to-play puzzle title on both platforms that dropped in 2020. Pokémon GO is a free-to-play augmented reality mobile game that originally released in 2016 and is still going strong. And Pokémon TCG Live is a free-to-play digital card game that became available on PC and mobile devices in 2023.

None of these titles excited me as much as Pokémon Champions does. As someone who has always loved Pokémon’s competitive side but often felt overwhelmed or bogged down by the obstacles that come with breeding and training, Pokémon Champions feels like the one. Pokémon Champions looks and feels like the spiritual successor to the classic Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2 on the Nintendo 64. However, this version comes with a modern twist, bringing together some of the best battle mechanics across generations: Mega Evolutions, Abilities, and even Terastallization.

What excites me the most is how Pokémon Champions removes the barriers to entry that have often made competitive Pokémon feel inaccessible to newcomers and even to longtime fans. Instead of having to breed perfect IV Pokémon, spend hours on EV training, or grind endlessly for Battle Points just to change Natures or Abilities, the game offers an in-game resource called Victory Points. These are earned strictly through battles and can be used to not only recruit Pokémon but also to tailor their builds. This is a huge relief.

While no microtransactions have been confirmed yet, I imagine that Victory Points will be available to purchase for real money at some point. We call that pay-for-convenience. As long as it does not turn pay-to-win, I am fine with that. The important thing is that players who want to earn everything the hard way can still do so through gameplay alone.

Also, the game’s structure appears simple and elegant. You begin with a basic roster and battle to earn VP. Once you have saved up enough, you can spend that currency to permanently recruit a new Pokémon. From there, you can customize its stats, moveset, Ability, and Nature to fit whatever strategy you are aiming for. This completely removes so much of the tedium and guesswork from competitive team-building and puts the spotlight where it belongs: battles.

Another major win is the inclusion of cross-platform play and Pokémon HOME integration. If you already have trained Pokémon stored in Pokémon HOME — whether from Pokémon Scarlet or PokémonViolet, or other previous titles — you can bring them into Pokémon Champions. That is huge for longtime fans who have kept their teams across generations. It is also a smart way to foster continuity in the franchise while giving those older Pokémon new life.

There is also something refreshing, nostalgic even, about a Pokémon game that is just about battling. No long-winded cutscenes. No villainous teams hijacking your journey. No filler dialogue, or no hand-holding tutorials. Just you, your Pokémon, and the battlefield. In a way, Pokémon Champions brings back that feeling of challenging a friend to a battle via the Game Boy Link Cable. Only now, the battleground is global.

For fans of Pokémon Showdown like myself, Pokémon Champions might also serve as a more official, more polished alternative. While Pokémon Showdown has always been the GOAT for competitive practice and theory-crafting, Pokémon Champions seems like a straight upgrade when it comes to the batles.

I genuinely cannot wait to dive in. I have already found myself theory-crafting potential teams and obsessing over possible meta shifts. There is a lot of potential here. Hopefully, it is not a bust. Pokémon Champions could be a major hit for both casual fans and hardcore ones.