- Pokémon Champions will debut as the official VGC game at the 2026 Pokémon World Championships.
- The title will replace Pokémon Scarlet and Violet at the 2026 event in San Francisco.
- The game launches in 2026 across multiple platforms, with cross-platform play and Pokémon HOME support.
The Pokémon World Championships 2025 ended with an exciting reveal for the competitive scene. Starting next year in San Francisco, Pokémon Champions will take center stage as the new official game for the Pokémon Video Game Championships, replacing Pokémon Scarlet and Violet from Worlds 2026.
This announcement also means all major VGC tournaments in 2026, including Worlds itself, will use this new title. This might be a confusing scenario, as the title hasn’t been released, but 2026 will be the year when we will see the game’s launch and debut at the Worlds 2026.
Pokémon Champions is shaping up to be a fresh chapter for Pokémon battles with the Worlds 2026 debut
Pokémon Champions is coming on Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Android, and iOS. It will be free to download, with optional paid features, and will support both cross-platform battles and Pokémon HOME. Trainers will be able to bring in their favourite Pokémon from past games.
The game is built around battles only, offering three main modes: Ranked Battles, Casual Battles, and Private Battles. You can choose between Single or Double formats, depending on your playstyle. Ranked matches reward players with Victory Points (VP), which can be used to permanently recruit new Pokémon or train and customize their stats, moves, and abilities.
There’s also a trial recruitment system, letting you test a Pokémon for free before deciding if you want to keep it. One of the biggest features coming to Champions is the return of Mega Evolution. Trainers will use the Omni Ring, a new Key Stone device, to trigger Mega Evolutions during Ranked Battles. To make things even more exciting, the newly revealed Mega Dragonite will be available at launch in Pokémon Champions.
The new trailer also gives us the needed sneak peeks into what’s coming with the launch next year, as the gameplay elements look fascinating. Confirmed release date is yet to be announced, but the expectations are growing as it is set to become the next big chapter for Pokémon esports.
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