When it was initially announced, Pokemon Champions was seen as a game designed exclusively for Pokemon’s competitive players, but that’s not necessarily true. Several aspects of the game are actually more geared towards welcoming new players, such as the item limitations and the ability to recruit almost every Pokemon in the game without the need for a Pokemon Home transfer.
That said, whether you’re extremely familiar with Pokemon’s turn-based battles or this is all new to you, there are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind in relation to Pokemon Champions specifically. Several aspects have been changed, moves have been adjusted, and the currency system will play a vital role in finalizing your team the way you’d like.
7
Transfer Pokemon From Pokemon Home
You Won’t Find Any Pokemon Better Than The Ones You Caught Yourself
First and foremost, while you don’t have to do this to play the game, it is highly recommended. The majority of players will be transferring Pokemon from a variety of games that they’ve trained, designed move sets for, and fully customized to carry out their specific strategies.
This is not the kind of thing you want to go up against with a newly recruited Pokemon that still has all the default moves it came with, especially when recruit pulls are ten random Pokemon. So, even if they still have some aspects that need to be adjusted, you should make an effort to transfer some of your champion Pokemon from other games.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A compatibility was finally added to Pokemon Home, so if you used any of the new Megas in that game, now would be the time to transfer them over. Plus, this gives you a chance to use Pokemon you may not have touched since your original playthrough of Scarlet and Violet or older mainline games.
Additionally, Mega Eternal Flower Floette is considered part of the meta for Pokemon Champions at the moment and must be transferred in from Pokemon Legends: Z-A to use. So, if you finished Z-A and managed to get this Pokemon and its Mega Stone, that might be one to consider sending over.
Pokemon Champions: Mystery Gift Code Guide
Find every working Pokemon Champions code and discover how to claim free Pokemon.
6
Reaching Champion Rank For Free Is Possible, But It Will Require Patience
It May Not Be Pay-To-Win, But It Is Pay-For-Advantage
While Pokemon Champions does preface that you can enjoy the game in full without spending any money, and that’s not necessarily a lie, it’s not giving you the full extent of the truth either. No, Pokemon Champions isn’t pay-to-win on the surface, as all the items and Pokemon provided in the Premium Battle Pass can be unlocked through other means.
However, what isn’t as plainly obvious about the game is that while you can earn all those things in Pokemon Champions without spending money, it will take you significantly longer to unlock Pokemon and items than someone who has bought the Battle Pass or transferred Pokemon from Pokemon Home, which requires you to have bought other Pokemon games.
Plus, there is at least one case that we know of where you can’t obtain a Pokemon through any other means besides transferring from Pokemon Home. Mega Eternal Flower Floette, part of Pokemon Champions’ meta, requires a transfer from Pokemon Legends: Z-A and is exclusive to that game, so if you don’t have it, then you’re simply out of luck.
Despite not being pay-to-win, there is a clear advantage given to those who have purchased and played other Pokemon games, most of which cost around seventy dollars, or those willing to pay for the Battle Pass.
Now, even without those advantages, things will become more balanced as you accrue more Pokemon from Roster Ranch and train them, but you will have to work a little harder and get more creative early on to reach higher ranks if you’re opposed to spending any money at all.
5
Trial Every Pokemon, Even If You Plan To Recruit Permanently
Testing Things Out Before You Commit Has Zero Consequences
When you get your free pull from Roster Ranch, you’ll have the option to trial or permanently recruit one Pokemon from the ten they present you with. Renting them for seven days as a Trial Pokemon is free, but permanently recruiting them costs 2,500 VP or one Teammate Ticket.
Even if none of the Pokemon appeal to you, use the free opportunity to try out a Pokemon you normally wouldn’t. There are no consequences, and that Pokemon could even become a new favorite.
That said, the option to permanently recruit isn’t limited to when you initially claim your Pokemon. At any point during the seven-day trial, you’ll have the option to recruit that Pokemon from your box permanently, which is why you should accept every Pokemon from Roster Ranch as a trial Pokemon.
For one thing, this keeps you from having to spend VP up front, and you have time to earn more if you can’t afford it yet. But the primary reason for this decision is that you don’t actually know how well a Pokemon is going to perform until you have a chance to look over its stats and try them out.
You may have an abundance of VP now and see no point in waiting, but it’s used for several things in the game and will disappear quickly. So, if you waste it on Pokemon you end up not using, then you’ll have a harder time winning matches, which in turn means you’ll have a harder time recouping the VP you spent.
Now, you can’t train a Pokemon while it’s still considered a Trial Pokemon, so you won’t be able to change moves or anything yet, but you’ll still be able to go over all the different aspects of this Pokemon and test it out in some casual matches with its default stats to get a feel for it.
There’s always a chance you’ll find you don’t like a specific Pokemon like you thought you would, at least for this game, so you don’t want to have already wasted the VP on it and regret it. If you find that you do like that Pokemon and believe it would be a great addition to your team, especially once trained, then you can decide to spend your VP on it.
4
A Casual Battle Does Not Mean An Easier Battle
Ranked Battles Even The Playing Field, And Can Be A Better Place For Beginners
There are three different Battle Modes in Pokemon Champions: Ranked, Casual, and Private. Private matches are obviously matches organized between friends, but the other two are online matches with players all over the world.
Now, looking at the two remaining options, you’re probably thinking Ranked is where the pros play, and Casual is a place to enjoy a less intense match, but you’d be wrong. At least partially. Ranked is, in fact, where pros play to rank up and receive rewards for their efforts, but Ranked also has a system in place to protect new players.
In Ranked matches, you’re always going to be paired up with trainers that are around the same rank as you, to keep things fun and balanced, but that’s never going to be a guarantee in Casual matches.
At the moment, Casual Battles are also restricted to the same rules and Pokemon as Ranked Battles, so you won’t have to worry about running into banned Pokemon in Casual matches yet, because there aren’t any in the game. However, that could change as more Pokemon are added and would likely make casual matches very toxic, as is unfortunately the case in other Pokemon games.
Since there is no rank system for a Casual match, you will be paired up with the first player it finds, which could be a brand-new player or someone who’s already reached Champion Rank in Ranked battles. There’s just no way to know until the match starts, which can be fun, but not if you’re hoping for an easy match to test out some Trial Pokemon.
While you won’t have to worry about the outcome of casual matches affecting your rank, you’re also far more likely to end up in frustrating matchups, whether that be because your opponent has no idea what they’re doing or because they’re a top player running a ranked meta in casual matches. So, if you’re struggling in Casual matches, don’t assume the same will be true for Ranked.
3
Don’t Forget To Train Your Pokemon
Customizing Stats And Move Sets Is What Makes Your Team Yours
Whether your team consists of Pokemon that were recruited from Roster Ranch or transferred in from Pokemon Home, you’re going to want to head straight to the training room in Pokemon Champions. Here, you’ll be able to go over all of your Pokemon’s stats, as well as their move set, nature, and ability.
For recruited Pokemon, this is essential because these Pokemon will otherwise be a complete surprise to you when you use them in battles. Even if you don’t intend to change most things about the Pokemon, although it’s highly recommended you do, you absolutely should not use it without setting up its moves yourself, unless they’re a trial Pokemon and the game prohibits you from doing so.
While this is most important for newly recruited Pokemon, this is still something you should get in the habit of doing with all Pokemon, even those transferred from Pokemon Home. Not all Pokemon will transfer perfectly, and some moves may even be unavailable once transferred, so it’s important to give all Pokemon a once-over before use, even if you don’t end up changing anything.
2
Don’t Waste All Your VP On Cosmetics, At Least Not Yet
Spend Your VP On The Things That Will Actually Help You Earn More
VP, or Victory Points, are the primary currency of Pokemon Champions and are used to purchase just about everything in the game. They allow you to speed up Roster Ranch wait times, permanently recruit Pokemon, train them, buy held items, and even purchase cosmetics.
That said, if you take another look at that list, then you probably realize that while a majority of those things help you win matches, there’s one that doesn’t, but will still probably be the most tempting. Now, I’m not going to pretend that I don’t immediately blow all my in-game funds on cosmetics the first chance I get, in pretty much any game, but that doesn’t mean it’s a smart decision.
Speaking from a place of complete hypocrisy, cosmetics should not be where you blow all your VP, at least not until you have a solid team. Pokemon Champions does a solid job of setting you up with some initial VP, which is meant to help you prepare a team for battles, which in turn will earn you more VP.
Don’t forget to complete missions and claim your rewards. This can also be a good way to earn some extra VP.
Of course, if you spend all those Victory Points on cosmetics and not on anything related to the things you need to play the game, then you’re going to put yourself in a bit of a rough spot. Winning matches will end up netting you more VP in the long run, especially if you rank high at the end of the season, so think of spending it on your Pokemon as more of an investment.
It may not be as fun a way to spend your VP, but do you really want to end up with a trainer that’s fully customized from head to toe with unique poses and animations, who can’t get out of Poke Ball rank because they wasted all their VP on cosmetics? Save it for later when you’re rolling in VP because you have an incredible team behind you.
1
Familiarize Yourself With Important Changes
Pokemon Champions Made Changes That Impact Every Pokemon
Last, and probably most important, is that you need to familiarize yourself with the changes that Pokemon Champions makes to Pokemon you frequently use, as well as changes to status effects.
While there are too many changes to list out for all the Pokemon in Pokemon Champions, and you don’t necessarily need to know all of them, you should verify that your team strategies still function the way you expect them to.
As far as more generalized changes to be aware of, here are some regarding popular moves and status effects:
- Sleep now has a more predictable wake-up pattern. If you’re put to sleep, you’ll have a one in three chance to wake up on the next turn, but if you don’t, you’re guaranteed to wake up on the turn after that.
- Paralysis is now half as likely as it was in Scarlet and Violet to fully paralyze your Pokemon.
- Freeze now has a guaranteed thaw on turn three. Additionally, the chance of thawing before that has increased from 20 percent to 25 percent.
- While there aren’t many, some moves have received a type change. For example, Snap Trap is now a Steel move and not a Grass move.
- Dire Claw now has a 30 percent chance of inflicting a status condition (10 percent per status), instead of the usual 50 percent chance.
- Moonblast now has a 10 percent chance to reduce the target’s Special Attack, instead of a 30 percent chance.
There are, of course, tons of other minor tweaks and changes throughout the game, but these are just some of the ones you’ll run into more frequently. So, just take a moment to double-check your Pokemon and moves. Nobody likes surprises, especially in a Ranked Battle!
Here’s Every Ability For The New Mega Evolutions In Pokemon Champions
Pokemon Champions has given a bunch of new Mega Evolutions new abilities, and we’ve got a helpful list of what they are and what they do.
