A new attempt that cuts out the ‘boring parts’ of competitive play

It was confirmed through a recent hands-on preview that Pokémon Company's new game 'Pokemon Champions' was designed to dramatically lower the entry barrier to competitive play.

According to industry reports, Pokémon Champions is built around VGC (Video Game Championship)-style structured turn-based battles, but rather than replicating the existing main RPG experience or simply repeating existing competitive play, it takes an entirely new approach.

The end of training labor

The most notable change is that ‘chores’ have been removed from the pre-match preparation process. Players can freely change the possessions, effort value (EV) distribution, personality, and skill composition of all Pokémon to be put into battle using only in-game goods. In the existing series, the trouble of having to repeat end-game content to obtain ‘crown stoppers’ or nutritional supplements has disappeared.

Additionally, a system was introduced to 'rent' Pokémon using the same in-game currency. This is analyzed as an attempt to provide practical accessibility to new users who have not been able to follow the cycle of breeding-rearing-transfer, while also acknowledging the efforts of veteran users who have collected perfect specimens for many years.

Pokemon Home linking is done through a ‘temporary transfer’ method.

Producer Masaaki Hoshino explained in an interview how it works with Pokémon Home. According to him, this is closer to a ‘temporary transfer’ rather than a traditional ‘transfer’.

"When you send a Pokémon from Home to Champions, it gets the same stats, skills, and traits. If you change it in Champions, then send it back, and then load it again later, the changes will remain."

However, there was a caveat that some skills may not be transferred because they do not exist in Champions. However, key elements such as stats, characteristics, and competitiveness are maintained, and the important thing is that it is designed so that veteran users do not have an automatic advantage over new users.

Seasonal Pokemon Rotation Notice

Producer Hoshino stated that not all Pokémon will be available at launch.

“One day there may be thousands of species of Pokémon, but having them all available in one environment at the same time could become too complicated.”

This method of rotating available Pokémon per season is similar to how the current VGC format operates. The initial roster may be limited, but it seems like a reasonable choice if Champions aims to be both a gateway to competitive play and an integrated platform for passionate fans.

Visuals and unknown territory

In terms of graphics, Champions shows a similar level to the latest main series. Although it is not eye-popping, it is evaluated as having secured enough readability necessary for competitive play.

On the other hand, the size of the story and campaign content, and the exact size of the roster at the time of release, have not yet been revealed.