Pokémon Champions announced during Pokémon Presents

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Today at the Pokémon Presents event, a brand new kind of Pokémon game titled “Pokémon Champions” was announced, along with fresh details on “Pokémon Legends: Z-A”. This upcoming game, which doesn’t have a confirmed release date yet, is centered around battles and will allow players to engage across mobile devices and the Nintendo Switch console. Although there are many aspects of “Pokémon Champions” that remain unknown, let’s dive into what has been disclosed so far.

Pokémon Champions announced, a new mobile and Switch game focused on battles

One fascinating tidbit concerning the upcoming “Pokémon Champions” is that while Game Freak, the primary developer of most core “Pokémon” games, plays a role in the planning process, the actual development will be entrusted to another studio known as The Pokémon Works. This is unusual since Game Freak typically retains development responsibilities for Switch-based games. This arrangement might suggest that the game’s focus could primarily revolve around battling, rather than incorporating extensive other features.

During the unveiling, we didn’t see a lot of actual gameplay, but there were brief glimpses of a fight taking place in an unprecedented stadium. Two combatants went head-to-head; one super-evolved their Charizard, while the other transformed their Dondozo through Terastallization. This might not seem extraordinary, given the context, but it’s quite rare to witness two major mechanics like this clash in a single battle. Mega Pokémon have been absent since Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but we haven’t seen Dynamax or Terastallization together until now. It seems that Pokémon Champions might be the game to bring these three mechanics together for the first time ever, promising a fresh battling experience unlike any we’ve had before.

Users can link Pokémon Champions with Pokémon Home, a contemporary cloud-based service enabling users to transfer their preferred Pokémon across different games. This means that gamers can engage in battles using their beloved Pokémon from various titles.

Beyond the knowledge that the upcoming game, Pokémon Champions, will primarily revolve around battles, its specific workings remain unclear. The official Pokémon website teases, “Prepare for cross-platform battles with your favorite Pokémon on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, offering multiple modes to suit various gaming experiences.” Currently, further details are scarce, but the statement implies that Pokémon Champions may encompass diverse battle formats, ranging from double battles to single ones. Additionally, it might provide different ranked ladders for beginners and advanced players.

Being a dedicated enthusiast of the Pokémon series, especially appreciating its intricate and depth-rich battle system, I am eager for Pokémon Champions to simplify combat experiences. Although recent Pokémon games have been progressing towards making advanced battling more approachable, it remains too time-consuming, laborious, and knowledge-intensive for the typical player to grasp effortlessly. If Pokémon Champions provides users with straightforward means of modifying moves, editing detailed stats like EVs and IVs, utilizing various held items, and creating and saving teams, it could serve as an excellent entry point for novice players into the competitive sphere. While it’s understandable if The Pokémon Company doesn’t want modifications like these to be transferable back to games via Home, I am solely concerned with Pokémon Champions becoming the premier destination for Pokémon battles.

At the moment, we’ll need to stay patient and find out additional details on Pokémon Champions at some undetermined time in the future. Fingers crossed it happens before Legends: Z-A, but it might be a bit unfortunate if Mega Evolution is reintroduced in this game just before Z-A comes along. Nonetheless, I can’t wait to discover more about what this upcoming title has in store for us!

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2025-02-27 19:32