Pokemon Champions (Switch & Mobile)

Titles	Pokémon Champions ポケモンチャンピオンズ (Pokémon Chanpionzu) Pokémon Champions + Starter Pack (paid Switch bundle) · Pokémon Champions Junior (Germany and Brazil)
Platforms	Nintendo Switch · Nintendo Switch 2 (free update) · iOS and iPadOS (App Store) · Android (Google Play) Cross-play and shared save data through a Nintendo Account; internet connection required
Developer	The Pokémon Works (a joint venture of The Pokémon Company and ILCA), with GAME FREAK staff in key roles
Publisher	The Pokémon Company ·Nintendo
Director	Kazumasa Iwao (game director) · Masaaki Hoshino (development director) · Shigeki Morimoto (battle director)
Producer	Masaaki Hoshino (general producers Shigeru Ohmori, Shinya Takahashi and Takato Utsunomiya)
Music	Minako Adachi (sound design) · Go Ichinose (sound supervision)
Players	1–2 online; Private Battle lobbies can host spectators
Genre	Battle simulation (turn-based strategy)
Business model	Free-to-start with optional purchases (Premium Shop memberships and Premium Battle Passes); paid Pokémon Champions + Starter Pack on Switch (£5.99 / €6.99 / US$6.99)
Pokémon	About 186 species at launch (Regulation Set M-A), with more added in each regulation set
Battles	Single and Double Battles · Ranked, Casual and Private · three regulation sets and six Ranked seasons by October 2026
Released	Nintendo Switch: 8 April 2026 (worldwide) iOS, iPadOS & Android: 17 June 2026 (worldwide) Pokémon Champions Junior: 9 September 2026 (Germany & Brazil)
Rating	ESRB E · PEGI 7 · CERO A · ACB PG · USK 12 · ClassInd 14
Predecessor	None as such – the Video Game Championships moved to it from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Downloads	Over 20 million by 2 August 2026 (Switch and mobile combined)

Overview · Quick Answers · Competitive Play · Gameplay · Characters · Pokémon · Updates · Regional Variations · Glitches · Videos · Trivia · Legacy · Sales & Reviews · Media

Overview

Pokémon Champions is a free-to-start game about one thing: competitive Pokémon battles. It arrived on Nintendo Switch on 8 April 2026, with a free update that sharpens it on Nintendo Switch 2, and followed on iPhone, iPad and Android on 17 June 2026. Every version runs from the same Nintendo Account, so the same save and the same team work on a Switch and a phone, and players on either can battle each other. It was developed by The Pokémon Works, a studio that The Pokémon Company and ILCA set up in 2024, with GAME FREAK staff leading its direction and battle design, and it is published by The Pokémon Company and Nintendo.

There is no adventure to finish and nothing to catch. Battles earn Victory Points (VP), which pay for recruiting Pokémon at Roster Ranch, training their stats and moves, and fine-tuning teams for Ranked, Casual and Private Battles in Single or Double formats. Much of the hidden maths of the main games has gone: every Pokémon fights as if it were level 50 with perfect individual values, effort values give way to stat points that are assigned directly, and Mega Evolution returns through the Omni Ring, once per battle. Pokémon raised in the main series can visit from Pokémon HOME, and ranked play runs in short seasons under regulation sets that add new Pokémon in batches.

Battle-only Pokémon games are nothing new, as Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Battle Revolution show, but Champions goes further than any of them: it took the official Video Game Championships away from the main RPGs. Confirmed as the VGC game at the 2025 World Championships, it replaced Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on the Play! Pokémon circuit in May 2026 and decided the 2026 world titles in San Francisco that August, with Japan’s Takuma Yamazaki winning the Masters Division.

Reviews were mixed. Critics liked the battle engine and how easy it makes competitive play to pick up, but found the launch roster thin and took issue with bugs and muddled monetisation. Players were not put off: Champions passed 20 million downloads in less than four months.

Quick Answers

The questions people ask most about Pokémon Champions, answered briefly here and in more depth further down the page.

Is Pokémon Champions free to play?

Yes. It is free to start on Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android, and Victory Points (VP), the main currency, are earned by battling, so a full team can be built without paying anything. Optional purchases include memberships and Premium Battle Passes, and Switch players can buy the Pokémon Champions + Starter Pack (£5.99) for extra storage, a music track and tickets that skip VP costs. More →

Is Pokémon Champions on Nintendo Switch 2 and on phones?

Yes. The Nintendo Switch version runs on Nintendo Switch 2, where a free update gives it sharper graphics, and the iOS, iPadOS and Android versions arrived on 17 June 2026. Every version shares cross-play and save data through a Nintendo Account, although official Play! Pokémon events need a Nintendo Switch family console. More →

Can I bring my Pokémon from Pokémon HOME or Scarlet and Violet?

Yes, as long as the species is in Champions. Pokémon stored in HOME, including ones from the main games and Pokémon GO, can visit through the Recruit menu and keep their moves, Nature-based stat alignment and converted effort values. Training done in Champions stays in Champions, and Pokémon recruited in the game can’t be sent to HOME. More →

Is Pokémon Champions the official VGC game?

Yes. It took over from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet for the Pokémon Video Game Championships in May 2026, starting with the Malaysia Master Ball League and the Indianapolis Regional Championships, and it decided the 2026 World Championships in San Francisco. It is also the official game for the 2027 season. More →

How many Pokémon are in Pokémon Champions?

Not every Pokémon in HOME is included. About 186 species were usable at launch, none of them Legendary or Mythical, and more arrive in batches with each new regulation set: Regulation Set M-B widened the list in June 2026, and M-C added Pokémon such as Rillaboom and Baxcalibur in September 2026. More →

How do you get new Pokémon in Pokémon Champions?

You recruit them at Roster Ranch instead of catching them. A lineup of ten random Pokémon appears and refreshes for free every 22 hours, or straight away for VP or Quick Coupons. Any of them can join on a seven-day trial, or permanently for VP or a Teammate Ticket. Pokémon can also visit from Pokémon HOME. More →

What is Pokémon Champions Junior?

A separate Nintendo Switch version, released on 9 September 2026 for Germany and Brazil, where the standard game’s age ratings (USK 12 and ClassInd 14) would shut younger players out of official events. It plays exactly like the main game but has no in-game purchases, and Junior-age competitors in those two countries must use it. More →

Does Pokémon Champions have a story mode?

No. There is no campaign or exploration. The game is set around Frontier City and its Battle Arena, with a small cast running the facilities, such as coach Cordy, who hosts the tutorials, and rancher Kitt at Roster Ranch. Everything else, the tutorials included, is online battling. More →

Competitive Play & the Road to Worlds

Pokémon Champions was made to be the home of official competitive play. Announced as the Video Game Championships game at the 2025 World Championships, it took over from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet in May 2026 and decided the 2026 world titles in San Francisco less than five months after launch. Its regulation sets, tournament tools and Pokémon HOME link now shape how competitors build teams, and for the 2027 season official play has been tied to Nintendo Switch consoles, with a Junior version for two countries.

• 3regulation sets by October 2026
• 6Ranked seasons, M-1 to M-6
• 4 of 6Pokémon brought to each VGC battle
• 1Mega Evolution allowed per battle

Taking over from Scarlet and Violet

The move from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to Champions happened halfway through the 2026 season, and the new game brought tournament features of its own:

Regulation sets

Every few Ranked seasons a new regulation set takes over, deciding which Pokémon, held items and Mega Evolutions are legal. So far each set has added to the one before, and every change goes live at 02:00 UTC:

Regulation Set M-C was announced at the closing ceremony of the 2026 World Championships, together with the first Z Mega Evolutions. Mega Absol Z is Dark/Ghost with Sharpness, Mega Lucario Z is Fighting/Steel with the new Aura Guard Ability, which halves damage from contact moves, and Mega Garchomp Z is a pure Dragon type with Levitate.

Building a competitive team

The 2026 World Championships

The first Worlds on Champions took place at San Francisco’s Moscone Center on 28–30 August 2026, under Regulation Set M-B. In the Masters Division, 395 of the 436 qualified players took part in Swiss rounds followed by a top cut, with open team lists. Japan’s Takuma Yamazaki took the Masters title with the team below, ahead of his compatriot Hiroshi Onishi. Vikram Thiagarajan won the Senior Division and Kazuke Kage the Junior Division, and the three became the first world champions crowned on Champions.

• DragoniteMega Dragonite
• FloetteMega Floette
• Basculegion#902
• Kingambit#983
• Sneasler#903
• Garchomp#445

The 2027 season and Pokémon Champions Junior

The 2027 seasonFor 2027, official play is limited to Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 consoles, so phone players can battle in the game’s own modes but not at sanctioned events. Six online Global Challenges run from September 2026 to April 2027, awarding Championship Points towards Worlds invitations.

Pokémon Champions JuniorIn Germany and Brazil the standard game is rated USK 12 and ClassInd 14, which would keep younger Junior Division players out of official events. Pokémon Champions Junior, a separate Nintendo Switch version released on 9 September 2026, solves that: it plays the same but has no in-game purchases, and Junior-age competitors in those countries must use it.

Gameplay

Everything in Champions feeds into building a team and taking it online. The battle system follows Pokémon Scarlet and Violet closely, with a long list of tweaks to make online play quicker and fairer, and the only progression is the team you build and the rank you reach.

Battling online

Recruiting and training

Victory PointsVictory Points, or VP, are the main currency. They come from Ranked Battles and other activities and pay for almost everything involved in building a team: permanent recruitments, an early Roster Ranch lineup, and stat and move training. The Frontier Shop also swaps VP for held items and clothes. Promotional codes top up the pot, such as the 2026 World Championships code worth 5,000 VP, while Teammate Tickets stand in for VP on a single recruitment.

Recruiting at Roster RanchInstead of catching Pokémon, players recruit them at Roster Ranch, run by the rancher Kitt. Each lineup shows ten random Pokémon from the Regular Roster, sometimes alongside limited Special Rosters. A new lineup arrives free every 22 hours, or straight away for VP or Quick Coupons, and Affinity Tickets make a chosen type more likely to turn up. Any Pokémon can join on a seven-day trial or be recruited permanently for VP or a Teammate Ticket. Visual cues hint at what is on the way, and a sparkling silhouette means one of the lineup is Shiny.

Training and stat pointsChampions strips out the hidden numbers of the main games. Levels are never shown and every stat is worked out as if the Pokémon were level 50 with all its individual values at 31. Effort values are replaced by stat points, up to 66 per Pokémon, which are assigned directly, and a stat can sometimes end up one point higher than effort values allowed. Stat alignment, the equivalent of a Nature, and moves are set in the Training menu. Training costs VP, but a Training Ticket covers one session whatever the price.

Pokémon HOME visitsPokémon stored in Pokémon HOME, including those from the main series and Pokémon GO, can “visit” Champions through the Recruit menu if their species is in the game. On a first visit a Pokémon brings its moves from the last game it was in, its Nature or Mint stat alignment and its effort values converted into stat points. Training done in Champions is kept for later visits but never written back to HOME, Pokémon recruited in Champions can’t leave, and a visitor sent back in a different form loses its Champions training.

Mega Evolution and battle rules

Mega Evolution is the headline mechanic, and the rest of the rulebook is Pokémon Scarlet and Violet with a long list of adjustments:

Mega Evolution and the Omni RingMega Evolution is triggered with a new device, the Omni Ring. The Pokémon must hold its own Mega Stone and each player can Mega Evolve only once per battle. The Megas introduced in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, a game without Abilities, were given new Abilities here, such as Mega Sol for Mega Meganium and Dragonize for Mega Feraligatr. Mega Stones come from Battle Passes, campaigns and the Pokémon Legends: Z-A link, and Regulation Set M-C added the first Z Mega Evolutions.

Rebalanced battle rulesStatus conditions are weaker than in the main games, PP values are standardised and dozens of moves have changed, some by type, some by accuracy and some by the chance of their extra effects. The main differences are in the table below.

Platforms and purchases

Platforms, cross-play and Nintendo Switch 2The Nintendo Switch version launched first and also runs on Nintendo Switch 2, which gets a free update for clearer visuals (the download is 2.1 GB on Switch and 2.4 GB on Switch 2). The iOS, iPadOS and Android versions followed on 17 June 2026 and need iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, or Android 13 or later, with at least 4GB of RAM. All platforms battle each other and share save data through a Nintendo Account. Because damage is worked out on the game’s servers, even the tutorials and Private Battles need a connection, and the Switch version doesn’t support Save Data Cloud backups.

Monetisation and the Starter PackThe base game is free. On Switch, the paid Pokémon Champions + Starter Pack (£5.99, €6.99, US$6.99 or ¥980) adds 50 storage spaces (taking the box from 30 to 80, or from 50 to 100 at Masters Rank), the “Battle! (Trainer Battle)” theme from Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!, 30 Teammate Tickets and 50 Training Tickets. The Premium Shop sells memberships and Premium Battle Passes for real money, and Battle Pass tracks reward Mega Stones and outfits. Pokémon Champions Junior has none of these purchases.

Characters & Frontier City

Champions has no story mode, but it does have a setting. Everything happens in and around Frontier City, where Pokémon battles are entertainment for everyone, with Caraway’s Battle Arena at its heart and a small cast running the places players visit between battles.

Willem and Becca

At the start, players pick one of two avatars, Willem or Becca. Neither has a fixed personality or a part in any story: they exist to show off the player’s style in battle, in lobbies and on the ranked ladder. Clothes come from challenges, from the Frontier Shop for VP, from Battle Passes and from promotions such as a Pokémon Legends: Z-A outfit and the cap and shirt given away during the 2026 World Championships, while titles won in online competitions add some bragging rights.

Who’s who in Frontier City

Cordy

A veteran Trainer who once ran a gym and now works as a training coordinator, Cordy hosts the tutorials at Cordy’s Personal Gym. He claims a good 55 years of battling, comes from Lumiose City in Kalos and wears an Ampharos emblem on his jacket. His granddaughter Tatora runs the front desk.

Tatora

Cordy’s granddaughter staffs the front desk at his gym and signs the player up for Ranked Battles and competitions. Cheerful and encouraging, she celebrates every win, admits that the Maractus she caught refuses to listen to her and is a huge fan of the celebrity Caraway. Her outfit features a Poké Ball-style bow, Maushold-patterned arm warmers and a Maractus flower earring.

Kitt

The rancher looks after the Pokémon at Roster Ranch and guides the player through recruiting new team members, whether on a seven-day trial or for good. Bouffalant motifs run through her look, on her belt buckle and as a tattoo on her upper left arm. Her Japanese name, Rukkora, comes from rucola, the Italian name for the salad leaf rocket.

Caraway

The owner of Frontier City’s Battle Arena scouts promising new talent there. She is a local celebrity, known for modelling videos and interviews, yet stays down to earth and enjoys meeting up-and-coming Trainers. She wears a white tailcoat, one-legged trousers and sunglasses shaped like Pikachu’s ears and tail, her partner Pokémon are Hatterene and Serperior, and she is the mayor’s daughter.

Kajima

The mayor of Frontier City and Caraway’s father, Kajima promotes Pokémon battling as entertainment for the whole city. His showman’s streak shows in his muscular build, purple suit and wrestling-style mask, and his partners are Incineroar, the wrestler-themed staple of competitive Double Battles, and the Dragon/Fighting-type Kommo-o.

Cordy’s lessons

Newcomers learn the ropes at Cordy’s Personal Gym, where nine lessons run from the basics of Single Battles to weather and terrain, each one built around its own Pokémon:

Pokémon

Champions uses a hand-picked roster rather than every Pokémon in HOME. About 186 species were usable at launch under Regulation Set M-A, with no Legendary or Mythical Pokémon, and dozens of them able to Mega Evolve. The list grows in batches with each regulation set: M-B added more Pokémon and held items in June 2026, and M-C brought Rillaboom, Baxcalibur and the first Z Mega Evolutions in September. Pokémon join from Roster Ranch or visit from Pokémon HOME, and campaigns have handed out a few for free: Dragonite as an early-download bonus, Raichu with Raichunite X and Y for the mobile launch, and Incineroar through Twitch Drops during the 2026 World Championships.

In menus and team lists each Pokémon appears as a small icon, as with Charizard , Garchomp and Kingambit .

Pokémon worth knowing

These are the gifts, new Megas and recent arrivals worth knowing about. Dragonite, Floette and Garchomp are pictured with the world champion’s team above.

• RaichuMobile launch gift
• IncineroarWorlds Twitch Drop
• ArchaludonGlobal Challenge reward
• IndeedeeOnline competition reward
• MeganiumMega Sol
• FeraligatrDragonize
• AbsolMega Absol Z
• LucarioMega Lucario Z
• RillaboomNew in M-C
• BaxcaliburNew in M-C
• HeatranMega teased

• Dragonite – Early-download bonus until 31 August 2026, with its Mega Stone, Dragoninite, earned through the Battle Pass. Mega Dragonite was on the 2026 world champion’s team.
• Raichu – Mobile launch gift from 17 June to 2 September 2026, with Raichunite X and Raichunite Y for Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y.
• Floette (Eternal Flower) – Mega Floette was a key part of Takuma Yamazaki’s winning team at the 2026 World Championships.
• Incineroar – The competitive staple was handed out through Twitch Drops to viewers of the 2026 World Championships stream. It is also Mayor Kajima’s partner.
• Meganium – Mega Meganium, one of the Pokémon Legends: Z-A Megas, is Grass/Fairy and gained the new Mega Sol Ability.
• Feraligatr – Mega Feraligatr is Water/Dragon, with the new Dragonize Ability.
• Absol – Mega Absol Z, added in Regulation Set M-C, is Dark/Ghost with Sharpness.
• Lucario – Mega Lucario Z arrived with M-C and debuted Aura Guard, which halves damage from contact moves.
• Garchomp – Mega Garchomp Z is a pure Dragon type with Levitate, and regular Garchomp was on the 2026 world champion’s team.
• Baxcalibur – One of the newcomers in Regulation Set M-C on 9 September 2026, alongside Rillaboom.
• Archaludon – The reward for playing three or more battles in the 2027 Global Challenge I. Version 1.2 took away its Mirror Coat and Metal Burst.
• Heatran – A Mega Heatran was teased at the very end of the Z Mega Evolution trailer shown at the 2026 World Championships.

Updates & Versions

Champions is updated regularly, with bigger version numbers arriving alongside new platforms and regulation sets. The main versions so far:

Each regulation change also brings a fresh Ranked season and, usually, new campaigns and Battle Pass rewards, so the game changes more often than the version history alone suggests.

Regional Variations

Champions launched worldwide on the same day on each platform, but a few things still differ from country to country:

• Germany and Brazil have their own Switch version, Pokémon Champions Junior, with no in-game purchases, because the standard game’s USK 12 and ClassInd 14 ratings there would keep younger players out of official events (more above).
• The mobile version lists Bolivia, mainland China and Paraguay in its region selector, but the app can’t be downloaded in those countries.
• When the February 2026 Pokémon Presents announced the mobile release, the English broadcast only promised it “later this year”, while the Japanese broadcast said summer 2026.
• The Starter Pack is priced locally, including £5.99 in the UK, €6.99 in the eurozone, US$6.99 in the United States, ¥980 in Japan and A$10.50 in Australia.
• The Switch launch and every regulation change go live at 02:00 UTC, so players in the Americas could start on the evening of 7 April 2026, the day before the official release date.

Glitches, exploits and oddities

In a game decided by fine margins, a few launch bugs mattered. The first patch, two weeks after release, dealt with these:

Unnerve not stopping Berries

At launch the Unnerve Ability didn’t always do its job. It should stop opposing Pokémon from eating their Berries, but in version 1.0.2 it failed against certain Abilities, so some Pokémon could still eat a Berry with an Unnerve user on the field. With Sitrus and Lum Berries all over competitive teams, that could swing a battle. The Pokémon Company fixed it in version 1.0.3 on 22 April 2026, two weeks after release.

Held items ignored in Ability order

When several Abilities trigger at once, for example as Pokémon enter battle together, they should activate in order of each Pokémon’s current Speed, including any change from a held item. The launch version left held-item Speed changes out of the calculation, which could give the wrong result in a format where switch-in Abilities such as Intimidate decide so much. Version 1.0.3 corrected it on 22 April 2026, alongside several networking and visual fixes.

Tutorial and menu errors

The same patch tidied up a few presentation mistakes. Some Pokémon in the tutorial were shown with the wrong gender, the in-game description of Leech Seed was inaccurate, and viewing a Pokémon’s Mega Evolution details mid-battle could cause problems when choosing moves afterwards. All three were fixed in version 1.0.3. Reviewers had singled out bugs and performance as weak points at launch, and later patches up to version 1.1.5 kept listing general bug fixes.

Videos & media

Trailers and the opening movie for Pokémon Champions, from the official Pokémon and Nintendo channels.

An official trailer confirming Pokémon Champions for 2026.

Nintendo of America’s pre-release overview of the modes, recruiting and training.

The game’s opening movie, from the official Japanese Pokémon channel.

The Worlds 2026 trailer that revealed Mega Absol Z, Mega Lucario Z and Mega Garchomp Z.

Trivia & facts

• Every Video Game Championships season before 2026 was played on a main-series RPG, which makes Champions the first dedicated battle game to serve as the official VGC game.
• Even in Japan the logo reads “Pokémon Champions” in English letters, with a small kana reading, ポケモンチャンピオンズ, added to it.

  

• Pokémon Legends: Z-A has no Abilities, so its new Mega Evolutions were given seven brand-new ones when they arrived in Champions, among them Mega Sol, Dragonize, Spicy Spray and Eelevate.
• Levels never appear anywhere in the game: every Pokémon is simply treated as level 50, with every individual value fixed at 31.
• PP values were standardised to 8, 12, 16 or 20, but the pre-release overview trailer still showed the old figures from the main games.
• Quadruple and quarter damage get labels and icons of their own: “extremely effective” and “mostly ineffective”.
• Two moves changed character completely: Snap Trap, a Grass-type move ever since its debut, became Steel-type, and Freeze-Dry lost its chance to freeze.
• Coach Cordy comes from Lumiose City, the setting of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and keeps offering the player Lumiose Galettes, the Kalos treat from Pokémon X and Y.

• 

  The one piece of music sold with the Starter Pack is a throwback: “Battle! (Trainer Battle)” from Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!.

• Shigeki Morimoto, whose battle design at GAME FREAK goes back to Pokémon Red and Green, is credited as the game’s battle director.

Legacy

What came after

• Announcement – 27 February 2025. Revealed in the Pokémon Day Pokémon Presents, for Nintendo Switch and mobile
• Named the official VGC game – August 2025. Confirmed during the 2025 World Championships in Anaheim as the game for Worlds 2026
• Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 launch – 8 April 2026. Free-to-start release, with the paid Starter Pack bundle on Switch
• First Play! Pokémon circuit event – late May 2026. The Indianapolis Regional Championships, the first circuit event played on Champions
• iOS, iPadOS and Android launch – 17 June 2026. The mobile release, with full cross-play, arrived alongside Regulation Set M-B
• 10 million downloads – 8 July 2026. Across Nintendo Switch and mobile, three weeks after the mobile launch
• 20 million downloads – 2 August 2026. Reached less than four months after the Switch launch
• 2026 World Championships – 28 August 2026. The first Worlds on Champions, held in San Francisco on 28–30 August
• Version 1.2, Regulation Set M-C and Pokémon Champions Junior – 9 September 2026. Z Mega Evolutions, new battle features and a Junior version for Germany and Brazil
• 2027 season begins – late September 2026. Global Challenge I opens a run of six online events lasting until April 2027

Where to play it today

In October 2026 Pokémon Champions is live and free to download: from the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, from the App Store on iPhone and iPad, and from Google Play on Android. The paid Starter Pack is still on sale for Switch, and Junior-age players in Germany and Brazil have Pokémon Champions Junior. Every mode needs an internet connection, Regulation Set M-C is scheduled to run until 2 December 2026, and Champions is the official game of the 2027 Play! Pokémon Video Game Championships season.

How it was made

Pokémon Champions was made by The Pokémon Works, a Tokyo-based company founded in March 2024 as a joint venture between The Pokémon Company and ILCA, the studio behind Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. GAME FREAK staff filled key creative roles: Kazumasa Iwao was game director, Shigeki Morimoto battle director, Takeshi Kawachimaru lead game designer and Tatsuya Makita art director, while Masaaki Hoshino of The Pokémon Works served as development director and producer.

The game was announced on Pokémon Day, 27 February 2025, in the same Pokémon Presents that showed Pokémon Legends: Z-A. In August 2025, during the World Championships, The Pokémon Company confirmed it as the game for the 2026 Video Game Championships and announced Nintendo Switch 2 support. A year after the reveal, the February 2026 Presents introduced the cast and an April window, and the 8 April release date followed on 24 March 2026, together with the free Switch 2 update and the Starter Pack.

One design decision shapes the whole game: all damage is calculated on the servers rather than on the console or phone, which is why every mode, the tutorials included, needs an internet connection.

Champions on stage and on stream

Sales & reviews

Downloads

As a free-to-start game, Pokémon Champions is measured in downloads rather than copies sold, and no revenue figures have been published. Downloads across Nintendo Switch and mobile passed 10 million by 8 July 2026, three weeks after the phone versions arrived, and 20 million by 2 August, less than four months after the Switch launch. The mobile launch was especially strong: Sensor Tower figures published by Pocket Gamer.biz put Champions at number one on the iPhone download charts in 13 countries on launch day, among them Japan, South Korea, the United States, Italy, Spain and Brazil, and in the top five in 29. A day later its Google Play listing showed an average of 4.4 stars from 21,200 reviews.

• 20m+downloads by 2 August 2026
• 10mdownloads by 8 July 2026
• No. 1iPhone downloads in 13 countries on mobile launch day
• 67on Metacritic (Switch, 31 critics)

Review scores

Pokémon Champions launched to mixed reviews: Metacritic shows 67 out of 100 for the Switch version from 31 critics, and OpenCritic a 65, with 48% of critics recommending it. IGN’s verdict was that “it’s going to need a lot of updates and maybe even an evolution of its own”, and Nintendo Life singled out “the convoluted monetisation, disappointing performance, and inexplicable bugs”, while Cubed3 called it “a solid start to the new Pokémon battling experience on Nintendo Switch”.

Most reviewers agreed that the battling at the heart of Champions is sound and that the package around it launched unfinished. The low barrier to entry won praise: it costs nothing to start, recruitment and training skip the breeding and grinding of the main games, and Pokémon HOME support lets existing teams come straight in. Game Informer felt endless multiplayer was enough for a free game, GameWith expected regular regulation changes to keep it fresh, and Kotaku found it a gentler way into competitive play than fan-made simulators. The complaints were about content and polish: IGN thought the launch roster of 186 species was thin and found little to do beyond online battles, Nintendo Life and The Verge pointed to bugs, weak performance and confusing monetisation, and Game Informer warned that VP costs could slow progress.

Media & artwork

• Box art from Pokémon Champions, including the eShop banners and app icons

Further reading

More competitive, Mega Evolution and battle-game links on the site: