Pokémon Champions

A turn-based strategy game separating competitive battling from the main series.

Pokémon Champions is a turn-based strategy game and a spin-off of the main Pokémon series, focused entirely on multiplayer battles. It was developed by The Pokémon Works—a joint venture between The Pokémon Company and ILCA—and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS. The game was announced during a Pokémon Presents livestream on February 27, 2025, alongside the gameplay reveal of Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It launched on Nintendo Switch on April 8, 2026, with mobile versions following on June 17.

Gameplay resembles the Pokémon Stadium series, with turn-based battles and support for Mega Evolution, with plans to add other mechanics like Terastallization later. It connects to Pokémon Home, allowing players to use Pokémon from Scarlet and Violet and other Switch titles, and supports cross-platform play between mobile devices and the Switch. The game replaced the latest mainline title at official Play! Pokémon events, including the World Championships, starting with the Malaysia Master Ball League (May 9–10) and the Indianapolis Regional Championships (May 29–31). While mainline Pokémon games are role-playing games also used for competitive tournaments, Champions separates competitive battling as its core experience. It offers ranked battles, casual battles, and an online tournament mode. Players recruit Pokémon using Victory Points (VP), earned through battling.

According to Metacritic, the game received mixed or average reviews. On OpenCritic, 45% of critics recommended it. Kallie Plagge of The Verge described it as not newcomer-friendly yet frustrating for experienced players, and noted it was plagued with bugs. Lowell Bell of Nintendo Life called it simultaneously the most accessible and flawed competitive Pokémon has ever been. IGN’s Scott White criticized the lack of content beyond online battling, calling the 186 available species paltry, but still called Champions a solid foundation. Game Informer’s Charles Harte also noted the lack of content but was happy that, as a free-to-play game, infinitely playable multiplayer was enough. He found the simplicity helpful for newcomers but warned that VP could be an obstacle.