Pokémon Champions: The new home of competitive Pokémon

When Pokémon Champions was announced during last year's Pokémon Day, longtime competitive fans were thrilled. Was this the official battle simulator we had all been waiting for? Fast-forward to release day, however, and the hype felt like a betrayal. Plagued by game-altering bugs, a restricted roster, and the baffling omission of the fan-favourite 6v6 format, the game was instantly branded 'dead on arrival' by the internet.

Fast-forward about three months, and with its mobile release, Champions has broken into the mainstream. While some complaints remain, older fans now embrace it for what it is, and newer fans are discovering competitive Pokémon thanks to the game's ease of access. Nonetheless, Champions is still far from perfect.

Features

Free to download on the Switch, Switch 2, and mobile devices, Champions is easy to pick up. After a short tutorial, you are thrown straight into battles, which is really all this game has to offer. No region, no towns to visit. You can do only three things: recruit Pokémon, train them, and battle.

Only two formats are available: Singles (3v3) and Doubles (4v4). In either format, you can play ranked or unranked matches with strangers, private battles with friends, or official events. In Pokémon Champions, you come for the battles, and you get exactly that: the battles.

Initial backlash

Nobody expected anything but battles from a game marketed as the official battle simulator. The real disappointment on launch day was just how limited those battles actually were, offering only 3v3 Singles and 4v4 Doubles, with no option for the beloved 6v6 Singles that many casual and veteran fans consider the purest test of skill. When you toss in a restricted pool of available Pokémon and the removal of several key competitive items, it is easy to see why longtime players felt alienated from day one.

Since 4v4 Doubles serves as the official tournament format, Champions has naturally become the designated software for physical competitions. This leaves veterans with the sinking realisation that a 6v6 mode may never materialise. It’s a genuine downer, but most players begrudgingly made their peace with that reality soon after launch. It may not replace the fan-made, unofficial simulator Pokémon Showdown, but players have learned to embrace Champions for what it is: a streamlined, officially sanctioned battle game that is here to stay.

What works

It is hard to review Champions without reviewing competitive Pokémon as a whole. No matter which mainline game you are playing, competitive Pokémon is an exhilarating experience. From building teams and choosing the right moves and items to ensuring synergy and predicting your opponent's moves, Pokémon battles are an addictive rabbit hole for players of all ages. Whether you are making a team of your six favourites or strictly following the meta, there are a multitude of ways to enjoy a battle. Online communities also let you share sets, strategies, and guidelines, adding to the overall enjoyment.

Champions is indeed fun, but that is only because competitive Pokémon itself is fun. What Champions does differently is remove the main barrier to entry: the team-raising aspect. You get fully evolved, level-50 Pokémon right from the start. With no breeding or catching required, Pokémon are either rentable in-game or imported via Pokémon Home. 'Training' them for stat points or moves costs an in-game currency called Victory Points (VP), which brings me to my next point.

What doesn't quite work

Everything in Champions costs VP or items that substitute for it. This currency might feel generous at first, but careless gameplay might suggest otherwise. After the tutorial, the only way to earn VP is by playing: completing daily or weekly missions, clearing special achievements, or winning ranked matches, with victories granting around 300 VP.

To recruit a new Pokémon permanently from a randomly generated roster (where rerolls cost even more VP), you need 2,500 VP. A new move costs 250 VP, while changing a nature or ability costs 500 VP each. Stat points cost 5 VP per point, meaning that fully optimising one Pokémon costs 330 VP. That is a lot of VP to spend on just one team member.

As such, the game is best enjoyed if you use Pokémon you already own in mainline games by connecting via Pokémon Home. However, if you have never used Home or are playing Champions from scratch, you will most likely have to play regularly just to get decent, optimised Pokémon. Champions is by no means a truly 'free' simulator; it requires grinding and careful VP management, which somewhat raises the barrier of entry for complete novices looking to get into competitive Pokémon.

Here to stay

Despite the limited selection and VP restrictions that might limit accessibility for newer players, Champions, especially after its mobile release, has broken through the casual barrier and generated massive hype among new fans worldwide. The first monthly competition since the mobile launch saw over 1,310,000 players, and the first-ever Global Challenge on the Switch alone had over 719,000 entries.

There have also been a number of official Video Game Championship (VGC) events underway over the past two months, with attendance climbing to 1,013 physical players in the Masters Division of late May's Indianapolis Regionals. If the developers maintain their support, regularly update the formats, and add new Pokémon, then this game will truly live up to its status as the go-to competitive Pokémon game for new and old fans alike, and should be the ultimate gateway for fans everywhere to try out competitive Pokémon.