Pokemon Champions Announced for Switch and Mobile

The Pokemon Company announced Pokemon Champions, a multi-platform game that’s all about battling pocket monsters. Pokemon fans have immediately started comparing the newly unveiled title to Pokemon Showdown.

Pokemon Showdown is an unofficial web-based battle simulator for Pokemon games. It has fostered a large community since its 2011 beginnings and remains a popular tool for players wanting to experiment with team compositions and strategies to this day.

Related

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Reveals Surprise Starter Pokemon

The Pokemon Company finally reveals Pokemon Legends: Z-A gameplay as well as the game’s starter Pokemon.

Pokemon Showdown‘s future might be in jeopardy now that the iconic franchise is getting what appears to be an official battle simulator, Pokemon Champions, which was announced during the Pokemon Presents 2025 event. Apart from the Nintendo Switch, the newly unveiled game has also been confirmed for Android and iOS devices. The Pokemon Company hasn’t mentioned anything in the way of a release date or even a launch window, merely promising that more availability information will be shared at a later date.

Pokemon Champions Will Feature Pokemon Home Support

In the meantime, the game’s reveal trailer confirmed several key features, including full-fledged Pokemon Home support. Thanks to this inclusion, Pokemon Champions will allow players to import their pocket monsters from a variety of other games, including Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and Pokemon GO. The Switch-exclusive Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu and Eevee titles are also on the list of Pokemon Home-supported games, as are all the 3DS entries in the franchise compatible with Pokemon Bank.

Pokemon Champions Is the First Game From The Pokemon Works

Game Freak is confirmed to be overseeing the development of Pokemon Champions. However, the bulk of the work on the project is being handled by a new studio called The Pokemon Works, which was founded in 2024 and is located in the same Tokyo building as ILCA, the maker of Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Reports of The Pokemon Works developing a multiplayer game have been circulating online for a while now, with that rumor now being proven correct.

While TPC has yet to share concrete information about the game’s business model, the fact that Pokemon Champions is coming to mobile devices suggests that the title will be free-to-play. Its reveal trailer confirms that the game will feature a variety of the series’ battling mechanics, such as Terastallizing and Mega Evolutions, in addition to hinting at cross-platform play. The latter will presumably be implemented via Nintendo Account integration, similar to Pokemon Home. Based on what TPC revealed about the game so far, Pokemon Champions will potentially appeal to everyone from Pokemon Stadium to Pokemon Showdown fans.

Pokemon

Created by

Satoshi Tajiri