As part of the February 2025 Pokemon Day celebration, a brand-newPokemontitle was announced. This game, dubbedPokemon Champions, is inbound for Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android in the near future, and will serve as the purest officialPokemonbattle simulator in the franchise yet.Pokemonhas produced similar games like thePokemon Stadiumseries in the past, but with few details available, that’s all thatPokemon Championsappears to be right now. Still, there are a few things worth noting about this interesting newPokemontitle.
One of the first noteworthy details is the development situation behindPokemon Champions, as it is the first project started in-house at The Pokemon Works, a joint venture by The Pokemon Company andBrilliant Diamond/Shining Pearldeveloper ILCA. The company was founded in 2024 to support the production ofPokemongames and services, and currently does so withPokemon HOMEandPokemon Sleep. Game Freak providing The Pokemon Works support onPokemon Championsis an unusual reversal of their roles, butPokemon Championssounds like it already has a good grasp on the strengths of Game Freak’s usual games.
What Pokemon Champions Will Play Like
According toPokemon Champions’ initial description, all the familiar competitive chops of Game Freak’s usualPokemontitles, like Pokemon Types, Abilities, and moves, will be featured in this strategic turn-based game. That doesn’t sound like a major feat, but this series has come a long way sincePokemon Battle Revolutionserved asthe Wii’s spiritual successor toPokemon Stadium.Pokemon Champions' competitive focus is emphasized by the use of a double battle in its reveal trailer, likely not at the expense of single battles, but still conveying its competitive mindset.
Pokemon Champions Will Offer An Assortment Of Modes
Speaking of playing singles, it’s currently unknown whetherPokemon Championsactually supports offline single-player modes. These, and the rental Pokemon that accompanied them, were a fairly major part ofPokemon Stadium 1,2, andBattle Revolution. A “variety of different modes” have been advertised forChampions, but the only ones known for sure are Ranked, Casual, and Private online matches. With that said, the presence of two-player avatars implies some sort of cosmetic element like the mainlinePokemontitles, though whether that will include unlockables, rank-up rewards, or microtransactions is also unknown.
Interconnectivity Plays A Major Role In Pokemon Champions
What is known for sure is thatPokemon Championsplans to cast the widest net it possibly can, starting with cross-platform play. On top of the Switch and mobile platforms already announced,Pokemon Championsmight end up with a Nintendo Switch 2 skew, as official sources have made pointed references to a “family” of Nintendo Switch systems. Players will also be able to bring their favorite teams in thanks toPokemon HOMEintegration. Unfortunately,recentPokemontitles’ trend of excluding some Pokemonwill continue, though patching more Pokemon intoPokemon Championsis theoretically easier than in the usual RPG adventure games.
Mega Evolution and Terastallization Will Feature Prominently In Pokemon Champions
With all of that said,Pokemon Championsstill has an elephant in the roomthat must be addressed, and that is its usage of Mega Evolution and Terastallization in the same battle system. The only other time this happened was whenPokemon’s seventh generation carried Mega Evolution forward alongside the debuting Z-Moves, and the series is already bringing Mega Evolution back viaPokemon Legends: Z-A. Most likely,Z-Awill be integrated withPokemon HOMEto serve asChampions’ main source of Mega Evolutions, whilePokemon ScarletandVioletsupply optimized Tera Types.Pokemon Championshas a lot going on, so fans should keep an eye out for more news on it and its eventual release date.
