Summary
It’s been confirmed that the upcomingPokemon Championswill be a digital-only title.Pokemon Championswas one of the surprise announcements during the latest Pokemon Presents event. Airing as part of the Pokemon Day celebrations for 2025, the latest Pokemon Presents revealed thePokemon Legends: Z-Astarters, new content coming to ongoingPokemonlive-service games, and of course, the existence ofPokemon Champions.
Pokemon Championskeeps the focus on Pokemon battles, serving as a successor of sorts to the classicPokemon Stadiumgames. One ofPokemon Champions' big draws is the ability to play it online, giving franchise fans the chance to jump intoPokemonbattles whenever they want. The game will also see some of the franchise’s battle gimmicks go head-to-head, with Mega Evolution and terastalization shown in the reveal trailer. There is some hype forPokemon Champions, but there are some drawbacks to the game that have left some fans disappointed.
For example, it’s been confirmed thatPokemon Championswill be a digital-only title. It’s also believed thatPokemon Championswill be a paid experience and not free-to-play as some may have assumed, at least on the Nintendo Switch. This is because,as pointed out by Centro Leaks,Pokemon Championsrequires a Nintendo Switch Online subscription for its online multiplayer modes. Nintendo Switch Online isn’t typically a requirement for free-to-play titles. Of course, it’s possiblePokemon Championswill be both free-to-play and require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription for whatever reason, but that has yet to be clarified. Note that this information only applies to the Nintendo Switch version of the game, and it’s possible the mobile version will have a completely different set-up.
Pokemon Champions Will Be Digital-Only
This isn’t the first disappointing revelation aboutPokemon Championssince the game was announced. Shortly after the reveal, it was confirmed thatPokemon Championswill not have all 1,000+ Pokemon availablefor players to use. It’s unclear what Pokemon games will be left out, but more information on that front should come to light as we get closer to the game’s release date.
A specific release date forPokemon Championshas not been announced at the time of this writing, but the game is expected to launch by the end of the year. When it does launch, it will allow players to transfer their Pokemon from other games through Pokemon Home for battling purposes inPokemon Champions. As far as game modes go, we know thatPokemon Championswill have at least three modes, but it’s possible more will be announced.
