“Pokémon Champions,” the newest installment in the Pokémon franchise, is a free-to-play game released on April 8 for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. First announced in Feb. 2025, the game garnered over a year’s worth of hype from casual and competitive Pokémon fans alike.
Unlike mainline Pokémon games, “Pokémon Champions” focuses primarily on the battling aspect of the series. The new game supports both Doubles and Singles battling formats. The gameplay loop relies on daily rewards and a battle pass that incentivize players to come back each day. As such, a player’s team isn’t going to be perfect as soon as they finish the tutorial. The way teambuilding works in “Pokémon Champions” is very similar to gacha mechanics in many mobile games. It’s no surprise that the game is slated to release on mobile later this year.
Every day, the player is given a free pull of 10 random Pokémon that have random stat spreads, moves and abilities. The player selects one Pokémon from this lineup. The player can pull more Pokémon throughout the day, this time at the cost of in-game currencies that can be earned through play.
The player must spend Victory Points, or VP, to change a Pokémon’s attributes, such as its stats or moves. This process is relatively low-cost and encourages the player to experiment with different strategies and attributes.
The player can earn VP and Quick Coupons through just about any aspect of the game. The player earns VP regardless of the outcome of a battle, but winning that battle will reward the player with extra VP. Both VP and Quick Coupons can also be rewarded to players who complete in-game missions that refresh monthly, weekly or daily.
Thankfully, the game is not stingy about rewarding the player, as both VP and Quick Coupons can be earned in large quantities without having to grind for them. One of the easiest ways to earn currency is by leveling up “Pokémon Champions’” seasonal battle pass.
While “Pokémon Champions” is free-to-play, players who purchase the premium battle pass unlock extra rewards earned through leveling up. Many fans were worried that the game would be pay-to-win due to its premium battle pass.
Thankfully, the extra rewards that premium members receive are almost entirely cosmetic, and the rewards that aren’t, such as certain battle items, can easily be obtained through daily play or the Points Shop. While it’s not ideal, it isn’t nearly as bad as many feared. Time will only tell if the game continues to be accessible for players who haven’t purchased the premium pass.
“Pokémon Champions’” metagame is also very different from what experienced competitive players were used to. The game launched without crucial items used in competitive play, such as the choice band and the choice specs items. The game’s roster of available Pokémon is also surprisingly small, with only 186 of the 1,025 existing Pokémon currently in-game.
More items and Pokémon are almost guaranteed to be added in the future, but it was a bit disappointing that the game launched with such a sparse set of tools for the player to use. This was mostly likely done to ease new players into competitive battling.
Barring these restrictions, battling in “Pokémon Champions” is very fun regardless of your skill level, especially with the reintroduction of Mega Evolution as a mechanic.
Matchmaking is snappy and the online functionality is better than most Nintendo games. Even as a new player, it is quite easy to progress your Battle Rank, which consists of six tiers: Beginner, Poké Ball, Great Ball, Ultra Ball, Master Ball and Champion.
The moves that Pokémon can perform are well-animated, and the cutscenes and graphics of the game itself are serviceable for a Pokémon spinoff. As with every Pokémon game, the music is stellar.
With time and few more Battle Seasons, “Pokémon Champions” is sure to shape up into a truly great successor of past Pokémon battle simulators. The launch was a little rough for those experienced with competitive Pokémon, but most restrictions were done with newbies in mind, which isn’t a bad thing if it means that more people will get into competitive battling. The game is surely to see some big changes as Season Two of the game launches in May.
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