Review – Pokémon Champions – Gamerview

arrived almost as a spiritual successor to Pokémon Stadium. The battle proposal is the big highlight: it abandons almost everything that traditionally defines the franchise to focus on one thing, the fights between the strongest Pokémon.

Unlike the main titles, which introduce new regions like , Champions is not interested in journeys, narrative or discovery. It mercilessly eliminates these layers and puts the player directly into battles, with the promise of becoming one of the official combat games in future events. Furthermore, the game attracts attention because it is free and it is precisely here that your biggest doubt arises: to what extent does this accessibility conflict with competitive integrity?

Pokémon, I choose you

Despite not bringing anything new in terms of narrative or mechanics, the proposal is interesting because it works as an open invitation to experiment with the competitive game. Because it is online, it is a living title, which tends to evolve over time, incorporating new features and mechanics from other games in the franchise.

In practice, Pokémon Champions translates into a very straightforward structure: PvP battles as the absolute focus, teams assembled with a certain freedom and ranked, casual and private modes. There is even integration with Pokémon HOME to bring some of your best partners, but not everyone is invited to participate in this game.

There is currently a limited collection of creatures, with just over 200 Pokémon available for battle. When trying to make transfers via HOME, restrictions on who can or cannot participate become evident. Furthermore, for now, the game only has the Mega Evolution mechanic, although it is easy to imagine the arrival of others, such as Dynamax or Gigantamax, in the future.

Another way to recruit Pokémon is within the game itself. There is a kind of “farm”, where the options change daily. You can invite them temporarily for free or acquire them permanently using victory points, which are rewards obtained by winning matches, completing missions or, of course, through purchases. And it is precisely here that Pokémon Champions reveals its most delicate tension: at the same time as it tries to facilitate access to the competitive game, it also introduces systems that could unbalance this proposal in the long term.

Assembling your dream teams isn’t a long process, as it’s not necessary to evolve your Pokémon. Still, the game requires strategic knowledge to train attributes and equip items that make a real difference in fights.

Unfortunately, the game does not have texts in Portuguese, which can make it difficult to understand some of the different customization options and menus, especially for those just starting out.

Winning the belt in Pokémon Champions

Needless to say, the battles are completely online. At most, you will find tutorials against the CPU which, by the way, are welcome, providing important tips and strategies for beginners. Furthermore, completing them also yields good rewards.

Moving on to more serious battles, in ranked mode you climb the rankings as you win matches and can participate in events that offer unique rewards, such as badges, points and customization items. All of this helps to highlight players within the community and anyone who is a fan will certainly want to earn their space here.

In casual mode, you can battle without worrying about the ranking. This format works well for testing strategies, team compositions, and items, and continues to yield useful rewards for overall progress. It’s worth remembering that all modes allow battles with one or two Pokémon on the field, which adds tactical variation.

Choosing your way of battling

It is also possible to create private rooms to face friends and, if your team stands out, share your formations in a kind of catalog. Likewise, you can explore compositions recommended by other players, although it is never possible to predict exactly what you will find in battles.

For now, Pokémon Champions is available for Switch 1 and 2, with plans to also reach smartphones, both for free. This helps to expand the player base and helps reinforce the proposal of being a more accessible competitive system.

Outside of combat, there are some additional options, such as training to adjust attributes (with associated costs), a panel of progressive missions and seasonal challenges. There are also achievements for both all Pokémon and the trainer. In the end, there is no shortage of ways to obtain rewards and invest in customizations, music, creatures or improvement items.

Despite all this, there is still a feeling that something is missing. Maybe it’s the habit of finding minigames or side activities in the series’ games, or even the absence of more robust offline modes. If you expect to find this type of content in Pokémon Champions, at least for now, it’s best to adjust your expectations.

As it is a living game and considering the size of the franchise, it is easy to imagine that it will become more robust over time. Just look at the evolution of Pokémon GO over the years. Still, this requires effort on both sides: from the players, patience in the face of current limitations. From developers, pay attention to feedback and consistency in updates.

Honestly, the game is beautiful and has the potential to establish itself as a good Pokémon battle experience. During my experience for this review, I had no difficulty finding matches in any mode, and everything worked well on the Switch 2, with the exception of the waiting times between turns, which depend more on the pace of other players than the game itself.

A journey that is just beginning

It might be interesting to include more variety of arenas in casual and training modes, as is already the case with the music selection. The presence of minigames or even an offline mode with leaders to face would also make a difference, something that could greatly enrich the experience, just like the confrontations against Team Rocket in Pokémon GO.

The future of Pokémon Champions is still up in the air, but one thing is certain: the game has already been confirmed as an official title in the 2026 Pokémon World Championships. This indicates that it should receive continued support and special attention over time.

Pokémon Champions wants to take us to the top, giving us the chance to stand out within this vast community of trainers. Understanding your systems, predicting movements and performing better than your opponent is the path to the spotlight. At the same time, the game asks for patience, because it is already clear that much of what it promises will still come little by little, following seasons and events.

But the question that haunts the entire experience remains: to what extent can a game that seeks to democratize the competitive environment keep that competitive environment fair for everyone? While this response is not consolidated, it remains to follow, maintain consistency in training and, little by little, climb the rankings.