This article was updated on April 1, 2026 by Andrea Trama, with community findings highlighting another change in attack effectiveness. It was first published on March 31.
Pokémon champions will use the term “highly effective” to describe attacks that kill a Pokémon quadrupling its weakness to specific types. Change this vocabulary for Pokemon Champions Some of the tricks were just to make it stand out from the “super effective” hits Pokemon The series has been used since its first generation.
in short, Pokemon Champions is a modern Pokemon battle simulator that will launch worldwide on Nintendo Switch consoles on Wednesday, April 8. Pokemon Champions It will launch later in 2026 on iOS and Android devices. Like its predecessors, which include Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Battle Revolution, Pokemon Champions focused on multiplayer gameplay. but, Pokemon Champions All combat gimmicks like Mega Evolution and Terrastalization will be allowed to be used by trainers as they see fit. Despite being a spin-off title, Pokemon Champions The Pokemon Video Game Championship (VGC) will be the exclusive home of the competitive format after the game's release.
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Pokemon Champions adds a new type of effectiveness vocabulary
However, the console launched on April 8 Pokemon Champions Not far away, some fans have already noticed a small but noticeable change that will be the first sign Pokemon series. in Pokemon subreddit, a Pokemon A fan named BenHurso shared a photo of damage from a Heracross Pidgeot. The term “super effective” is used to indicate that the attack exposes the Pokémon's weakness, but the term “extremely effective” will be used. Pokemon Champions To indicate when two vulnerabilities hit. As a bug and fighting dual-type Pokemon, Heracross has a quadruple weakness to flying-type moves. Therefore, any flying-type attack from a Pokemon like Pidgeot will deal extremely effective damage to the Single Horn Pokemon. in Pokemon Attack calculations for range, weakness, and resistance are multiplicative. Considering that super effective moves deal double damage, extremely effective moves will deal quadruple damage, ensuring a knockout against most Pokemon, including Heracross.
Pokemon Champions fans on Twitter/X reported another change that didn't concern how effective the attack was. Based on the strength of the attack, determined by the attacker's stats, the defender's stats and the base power of the move, animations will be played that push the defender more and more, depending on how high or low the total damage is.
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Updated Glossary of Pokemon Champions Will also apply to Pokémon type resistances. Along with the weaknesses, there have been resistances of sorts Pokemon Stable series from the first generation. The term “not very effective” has long been used to describe an attack that does only half damage to the target, such as a Rock-type Pokémon being killed by a Normal-type or Fire-type attack. However, some users said, based on some hands-on previews Pokemon ChampionsThat the term “mostly ineffective” would be used to describe attacks that deal only a quarter of their standard damage. For example, if a Rock and Steel dual-type Pokémon like Agron is hit with a Normal-type move, the attack will often be ineffective and Agron won't deal any damage. While the terms “not very effective” and “very effective” have long been used to describe any attack that deals low or high damage, respectively, “mostly effective” and “highly effective” are the first to be added. Pokemon suffrage
Pokemon Champions will shake up the competitive scene
but, Pokemon Champions Just brings some new vocabulary to the competitive format. Pokemon Champions Many moves will see their Power Point (PP) costs adjusted, with a cap of 20 PP on attacks and moves that are usually higher than that in mainline Pokemon games. However, some staple Pokémon moves like Protect have been affected by the PP change. Although Protect usually has a minimum of 10 PP in mainline Pokemon titles Pokemon Scarlet and Purple, Pokemon Champions Protect usage reduced to 8 PP.
Although these changes may require an adjustment period, Pokemon Trainers looking for more strategic battles will find no shortage of them Pokemon Champions. Given that Pokemon Champions Going forward VGC will be an official game of the format, it remains to be seen which competitive Pokemon teams will rule the metagame once the spin-off title arrives.