Pokemon Champions is the next big Pokemon game on the horizon that might be able to distract everyone from Pokopia, if that's even possible. The title that could change competitive Pokemon gaming forever is coming sooner than you think, as Nintendo has confirmed that Pokemon Champions will launch on April 8, 2026.
As Nintendo is prone to do, it dropped the Pokemon Champions release date confirmation out of nowhere on a random Tuesday afternoon. The new Pokemon game, which will let trainers engage in battles similar to Pokemon Stadium games, will be available on the Switch – and therefore the Switch 2 – in a little over two weeks on April 8, with the mobile version launching later this year.
Along with the release date dropping out on social media, Nintendo has also shared its deepest look yet at Pokemon Champions with a new six-minute video showcasing gameplay and detailing some of its features. Best of all, while there won't technically be a Switch 2 version of the game, Pokemon Champions will receive an update on launch day that will boost its visuals when played on current-gen Nintendo consoles.
As per tradition in the Pokemon world, trainers will be tasked with assembling a team of six Pokemon to battle champions. These Pokémon can be obtained in one of two ways – either by transferring matching Pokémon to Champions and importing them into Pokémon Home from other games, or by recruiting a new Pokémon in-game each day which will then be available to battle in-game for the next week.
Pokemon Champions will be a free-to-start game, which understandably has some people worried. It seems that, if you're only interested in playing casually, you won't face many obstacles playing Champions for Free. However, if you want extra storage for your Pokemon, access to the game's Battle Pass, and a subscription to Champions, you'll have to pay.
As mentioned above, there will eventually be a time when you don't need to own Nintendo hardware to play Pokemon Champions. Pokemon Battle is also coming to mobile, just not when it launches on Switch. There's still no firm release date for the mobile version, but The Pokemon Company has promised it will be here before the end of 2026.
- issued
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April, 2026
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
- Multiplayer
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Online multiplayer
