Pokemon Champions' development director wants to keep Pokemon battles around "forever."
This may seem like a weird thing to say given nearly every mainline game since 1996 has featured turn-based Pokemon battles. However, if last year's Pokemon Legends: Z-A is any indication, developer Game Freak isn't afraid to experiment with Pokemon's combat. In a surprising twist, Legends: Z-A ditched turn-based battles in favor of real-time combat. For many, this change breathed new life into Pokemon's combat, but it did leave others curious about the future of Pokemon battling. If Pokemon Champions is a success, then that future should be clear: Pokemon Champions will be the de facto way to compete in traditional Pokemon battles.
After nearly an hour of hands-on time with Pokemon Champions, development director and game producer Masaaki Hoshino sat down with a room of journalists over Zoom to talk about Game Freak's upcoming battle simulator. Set to release in April on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 in addition to mobile devices at a later date, Pokemon Champions aims to bring the depth of turn-based Pokemon battles to a free-to-play, live service model. As Hoshino puts it: "Regardless of what battle [mechanics] are introduced in the future[…] we wanted to make turn-based battles [always] available."
Based on my limited hands-on time with Champions, it's hard to say if it will be the end-all-be-all of turn-based Pokemon battles, but what I can say is that Champions is something the Pokemon community has sorely needed for a long time. It shatters the barrier of entry for competitive Pokemon while keeping most of the depth intact, and it provides clear tutorials that onboard players into the more technical aspects of battling. Perhaps the best thing about it, though, is that you can obtain, train, and battle with a new Pokemon in minutes.
For decades, this process has been gated behind dozens of hours of playtime and esoteric stat values--and in some cases, the most powerful competitive Pokemon can only be obtained by paying for DLC expansions. Pokemon Champions streamlines all of that. After obtaining a Pokemon either from Roster Ranch or Pokemon Home, you can divvy up their additional stat points, change their nature and ability, and swap out moves with ease. In order to commit these changes and train a Pokemon, you need to use Victory Points, an in-game currency that can be obtained by battling and completing challenges. Importantly, VP cannot be purchased with real money.
VP is primarily used to recruit Pokemon from Roster Ranch. This is how you obtain new Pokemon in Pokemon Champions. When selected, you can recruit or rent one Pokemon from a randomized pool of 10. You can acquire one Pokemon every 22 hours without spending VP, but additional pulls will cost you. Alternatively, you can import compatible Pokemon from Pokemon Home, but any Home Pokemon trained in Champions will revert back to their old stats once they return to Home.
This may seem like a strange quirk, but Pokemon Champions handles a Pokemon's stat spread differently than a traditional Pokemon game; most notably, it simplifies Effort Values. EVs, as they are commonly referred to, are additional stat points a Pokemon can accrue through training. In Scarlet and Violet, a Pokemon can have 510 EVs, and every four EVs equates to one stat point. Instead, Champions simply lets you allocate 66 stat points to any stat. Not to get too into the math of it all, but 66 cannot be evenly divided into 510; thus, Pokemon trained in Champions perform a little differently than they would in Scarlet and Violet and cannot be used in other games.
Additionally, Pokemon Champions removes Individual Values entirely. IVs, as they are commonly called, are randomized stats that Pokemon are born with. While they play a minuscule role in a typical play through, they can have a noticeable effect in competitive play. According to Hoshino, it wasn't until after a "heated discussion with [Shigeki] Morimoto," one of Pokemon's original designers, that the team decided to cut IVs in order to make the experience more approachable. My gut says this was the correct decision given how difficult finding a Pokemon with the right IVs can be, but I'll be curious to see how the wider community responds to this and how the meta will adapt.
Potentially more controversial, Champions only features fully evolved Pokemon. This may not seem like a big deal considering fully evolved Pokemon are generally better, but the held item Eviolite can power-up unevolved Pokemon, making some viable. For example, Murkrow holding an Eviolite can be an excellent support 'Mon while Chansey is a veritable brick wall. When asked, Hoshino said, "Yes, only final evolutions will be introduced at launch [...but] at some point they might consider earlier evolutions."
Could these limitations dilute the competitive side of Pokemon? It's hard to say right now. Getting rid of IVs will undoubtedly have an effect on Trick Room teams, a strategy built around having the slowest Pokemon on the field. It will also make Foul Play, an attack that uses an opponent's attack stat against it, more powerful. If anything, I think the lack of unevolved Pokemon could have a bigger effect. There's a lot of fun strategies with Eviolite that won't be available. Players will find other Pokemon to fill those roles, but there's something satisfying about making a seemingly terrible Pokemon a legitimate threat on the field.
With all this in mind, it was time to build a team.
I had carte blanche to create a team from scratch. Thanks to Roster Ranch, I recruited a Hyrdrapple, Starmie, Talonflame, and Tinkaton, and threw in a Whimsicott and Basculegion to round out my crew. All-in-all, it took me about 15 minutes to build out a somewhat competent Tailwind team. Either Whimsicott or Talonflame would set up Tailwind, a move that increases the speed of Pokemon on your side of the field, enabling my heavy hitters to hit hard and fast. Tinkaton offered Fake-Out support, a move that flinches its target, and Basculegion was there to hit like a truck with Wave Crash.
For context, had I created this team in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I would have had to seek out and catch all six of those Pokemon, grind out the best IVs for each one, potentially change their natures and abilities to better ones (which can only be done with expensive in-game items), purchase at least 300 bottles of vitamins to lock in their EVs, and swap out moves using TMs and other methods. Assuming I built the perfect team from the get-go, which is a big if, this could take hours. Pokemon Champions slashes all of this and gets you into battles within minutes. There's also an auto-team builder if you want to jump into battles right away, but I didn't test this during my session.
After equipping my Pokemon with battle items (which also would have taken time and resources to obtain in Scarlet/Violet), I took on Kinda Funny's Blessing Adeoye Jr. in a single and double battle. Hydrapple, thanks to his high Special Attack and Defense, ended up being the MVP. With a little support from Talonflame, the Grass- and Dragon-type was hitting first and for lethal damage. My opponent put up a good fight, but I've spent at least a thousand hours across multiple games building competitive teams and battling with them. Blessing hasn't. Everyone knows how to battle, but the skill ceiling is nearly non-existent, and Hoshino knows this. "It's really about fair [matchmaking] as much as possible," he tells us. My opponent and I battled due to circumstance rather than a matchmaking system, but I suspect new players will quickly lose interest if they are thrown into the deep end right at the gate.
The battles themselves play out like typical, turn-based Pokemon battles. Attack animations have a bit more flair than they did in Scarlet and Violet and the battle menus look cleaner, but don't expect an overhaul here. This feels like a missed opportunity. Considering Pokemon Champions is supposed to highlight the white-knuckle battles, the presentation should match the depth. Instead, it appears many animations and assets from Scarlet and Violet have been repurposed. This isn't a deal breaker by any means, but a little more oomph could have gone a long way.
There are some nice quality-of-life touches, though. For example, moves will now denote if they are 2x- or 4x-effective, and an opposing Pokemon's HP bar has a percentage tracker. Each trainer is equipped with an Omni Ring which, in theory, should give players access to all of Pokemon's battle gimmicks such as Gigantamax and Terastalization. However, Mega Evolution appears to be the only battle mechanic available at launch. Even so, getting to return to mechanics like Z-Moves without having to wait years for remakes is a smart addition.
One big question that remains: How will the monetization work? One thing we do know is that there will be a starter pack that includes increased box space, extra battle tracks, 30 Teammate Tickets, and 50 Training Tickets which can be used instead of VP. As of writing, we don’t know how much this starter pack will cost in North America. There is a battle pass--or something similar to one--that could be seen in the main menu, too, but it was inactive for this preview.
There's a lot of speculation on how Champions will be monetized, but until we know exactly how the pricing works, it's tough to make any concrete judgments. Given that Pokemon Champions is free to play, though, hopefully players willing to throw money at it won't have an advantage. We'll have to until the game launches on April 8, 2026.
Will Pokemon Champions keep turn-based battles alive forever? Forever is a long time, but unshackling the mainline series from its competitive scene is an excellent start. With a live-service model, this opens the door to responsive balance patches as the meta evolves, rotating gimmicks and rulesets to keep things fresh, and a seasonal approach that regularly gives something for players to chase. Champions is also coming at a time where fervor for the competitive scene is at an all-time high, and rock-smashing these barriers could introduce competitive Pokemon to an enormous audience. Only time will tell if Pokemon Champions is here to stay, but Game Freak seems to be on the right track with this one.
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This may seem like a weird thing to say given nearly every mainline game since 1996 has featured turn-based Pokemon battles. However, if last year's Pokemon Legends: Z-A is any indication, developer Game Freak isn't afraid to experiment with Pokemon's combat. In a surprising twist, Legends: Z-A ditched turn-based battles in favor of real-time combat. For many, this change breathed new life into Pokemon's combat, but it did leave others curious about the future of Pokemon battling. If Pokemon Champions is a success, then that future should be clear: Pokemon Champions will be the de facto way to compete in traditional Pokemon battles.
After nearly an hour of hands-on time with Pokemon Champions, development director and game producer Masaaki Hoshino sat down with a room of journalists over Zoom to talk about Game Freak's upcoming battle simulator. Set to release in April on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 in addition to mobile devices at a later date, Pokemon Champions aims to bring the depth of turn-based Pokemon battles to a free-to-play, live service model. As Hoshino puts it: "Regardless of what battle [mechanics] are introduced in the future[…] we wanted to make turn-based battles [always] available."
Based on my limited hands-on time with Champions, it's hard to say if it will be the end-all-be-all of turn-based Pokemon battles, but what I can say is that Champions is something the Pokemon community has sorely needed for a long time. It shatters the barrier of entry for competitive Pokemon while keeping most of the depth intact, and it provides clear tutorials that onboard players into the more technical aspects of battling. Perhaps the best thing about it, though, is that you can obtain, train, and battle with a new Pokemon in minutes.
For decades, this process has been gated behind dozens of hours of playtime and esoteric stat values--and in some cases, the most powerful competitive Pokemon can only be obtained by paying for DLC expansions. Pokemon Champions streamlines all of that. After obtaining a Pokemon either from Roster Ranch or Pokemon Home, you can divvy up their additional stat points, change their nature and ability, and swap out moves with ease. In order to commit these changes and train a Pokemon, you need to use Victory Points, an in-game currency that can be obtained by battling and completing challenges. Importantly, VP cannot be purchased with real money.
VP is primarily used to recruit Pokemon from Roster Ranch. This is how you obtain new Pokemon in Pokemon Champions. When selected, you can recruit or rent one Pokemon from a randomized pool of 10. You can acquire one Pokemon every 22 hours without spending VP, but additional pulls will cost you. Alternatively, you can import compatible Pokemon from Pokemon Home, but any Home Pokemon trained in Champions will revert back to their old stats once they return to Home.
This may seem like a strange quirk, but Pokemon Champions handles a Pokemon's stat spread differently than a traditional Pokemon game; most notably, it simplifies Effort Values. EVs, as they are commonly referred to, are additional stat points a Pokemon can accrue through training. In Scarlet and Violet, a Pokemon can have 510 EVs, and every four EVs equates to one stat point. Instead, Champions simply lets you allocate 66 stat points to any stat. Not to get too into the math of it all, but 66 cannot be evenly divided into 510; thus, Pokemon trained in Champions perform a little differently than they would in Scarlet and Violet and cannot be used in other games.
Additionally, Pokemon Champions removes Individual Values entirely. IVs, as they are commonly called, are randomized stats that Pokemon are born with. While they play a minuscule role in a typical play through, they can have a noticeable effect in competitive play. According to Hoshino, it wasn't until after a "heated discussion with [Shigeki] Morimoto," one of Pokemon's original designers, that the team decided to cut IVs in order to make the experience more approachable. My gut says this was the correct decision given how difficult finding a Pokemon with the right IVs can be, but I'll be curious to see how the wider community responds to this and how the meta will adapt.
Potentially more controversial, Champions only features fully evolved Pokemon. This may not seem like a big deal considering fully evolved Pokemon are generally better, but the held item Eviolite can power-up unevolved Pokemon, making some viable. For example, Murkrow holding an Eviolite can be an excellent support 'Mon while Chansey is a veritable brick wall. When asked, Hoshino said, "Yes, only final evolutions will be introduced at launch [...but] at some point they might consider earlier evolutions."
Could these limitations dilute the competitive side of Pokemon? It's hard to say right now. Getting rid of IVs will undoubtedly have an effect on Trick Room teams, a strategy built around having the slowest Pokemon on the field. It will also make Foul Play, an attack that uses an opponent's attack stat against it, more powerful. If anything, I think the lack of unevolved Pokemon could have a bigger effect. There's a lot of fun strategies with Eviolite that won't be available. Players will find other Pokemon to fill those roles, but there's something satisfying about making a seemingly terrible Pokemon a legitimate threat on the field.
With all this in mind, it was time to build a team.
To be the very best…
I had carte blanche to create a team from scratch. Thanks to Roster Ranch, I recruited a Hyrdrapple, Starmie, Talonflame, and Tinkaton, and threw in a Whimsicott and Basculegion to round out my crew. All-in-all, it took me about 15 minutes to build out a somewhat competent Tailwind team. Either Whimsicott or Talonflame would set up Tailwind, a move that increases the speed of Pokemon on your side of the field, enabling my heavy hitters to hit hard and fast. Tinkaton offered Fake-Out support, a move that flinches its target, and Basculegion was there to hit like a truck with Wave Crash.
For context, had I created this team in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, I would have had to seek out and catch all six of those Pokemon, grind out the best IVs for each one, potentially change their natures and abilities to better ones (which can only be done with expensive in-game items), purchase at least 300 bottles of vitamins to lock in their EVs, and swap out moves using TMs and other methods. Assuming I built the perfect team from the get-go, which is a big if, this could take hours. Pokemon Champions slashes all of this and gets you into battles within minutes. There's also an auto-team builder if you want to jump into battles right away, but I didn't test this during my session.
After equipping my Pokemon with battle items (which also would have taken time and resources to obtain in Scarlet/Violet), I took on Kinda Funny's Blessing Adeoye Jr. in a single and double battle. Hydrapple, thanks to his high Special Attack and Defense, ended up being the MVP. With a little support from Talonflame, the Grass- and Dragon-type was hitting first and for lethal damage. My opponent put up a good fight, but I've spent at least a thousand hours across multiple games building competitive teams and battling with them. Blessing hasn't. Everyone knows how to battle, but the skill ceiling is nearly non-existent, and Hoshino knows this. "It's really about fair [matchmaking] as much as possible," he tells us. My opponent and I battled due to circumstance rather than a matchmaking system, but I suspect new players will quickly lose interest if they are thrown into the deep end right at the gate.
The battles themselves play out like typical, turn-based Pokemon battles. Attack animations have a bit more flair than they did in Scarlet and Violet and the battle menus look cleaner, but don't expect an overhaul here. This feels like a missed opportunity. Considering Pokemon Champions is supposed to highlight the white-knuckle battles, the presentation should match the depth. Instead, it appears many animations and assets from Scarlet and Violet have been repurposed. This isn't a deal breaker by any means, but a little more oomph could have gone a long way.
There are some nice quality-of-life touches, though. For example, moves will now denote if they are 2x- or 4x-effective, and an opposing Pokemon's HP bar has a percentage tracker. Each trainer is equipped with an Omni Ring which, in theory, should give players access to all of Pokemon's battle gimmicks such as Gigantamax and Terastalization. However, Mega Evolution appears to be the only battle mechanic available at launch. Even so, getting to return to mechanics like Z-Moves without having to wait years for remakes is a smart addition.
One big question that remains: How will the monetization work? One thing we do know is that there will be a starter pack that includes increased box space, extra battle tracks, 30 Teammate Tickets, and 50 Training Tickets which can be used instead of VP. As of writing, we don’t know how much this starter pack will cost in North America. There is a battle pass--or something similar to one--that could be seen in the main menu, too, but it was inactive for this preview.
There's a lot of speculation on how Champions will be monetized, but until we know exactly how the pricing works, it's tough to make any concrete judgments. Given that Pokemon Champions is free to play, though, hopefully players willing to throw money at it won't have an advantage. We'll have to until the game launches on April 8, 2026.
Will Pokemon Champions keep turn-based battles alive forever? Forever is a long time, but unshackling the mainline series from its competitive scene is an excellent start. With a live-service model, this opens the door to responsive balance patches as the meta evolves, rotating gimmicks and rulesets to keep things fresh, and a seasonal approach that regularly gives something for players to chase. Champions is also coming at a time where fervor for the competitive scene is at an all-time high, and rock-smashing these barriers could introduce competitive Pokemon to an enormous audience. Only time will tell if Pokemon Champions is here to stay, but Game Freak seems to be on the right track with this one.
Source