Pokémon Champions Hitting Switch on April 8

The Pokémon Company announced that Pokémon Champions, its “free-to-start” competitive battle game, will release on Nintendo Switch on April 8, 2026. It will be playable on Nintendo Switch 2 systems with a free update enabling enhanced visual performance on the console to be available at launch. The game is also planned to release for iOS and Android later in 2026.

Players will be able to purchase the Pokémon Champions + Starter Pack bundle, which grants 50 more Pokémon in players’ storage box, the “Battle! (Trainer Battle)” song from Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!, 30 Teammate Tickets, and 50 Training Tickets. A Premium Battle Pass and Membership will also be available for players to purchase in the game.

Pokémon Champions focuses on competing online against other players in turn-based, one-on-one Single Battles or two-on-two Double Battles like those in the mainline Pokémon series. Players can transfer Pokémon they have obtained from the Pokémon RPG series and the Pokémon GO app through the Pokémon HOME app into the game. They can also recruit one random Pokémon per day, which become available for one week and are only usable in Pokémon Champions, or use Victory Points (VP) to recruit multiple Pokémon or recruit Pokémon permanently. It will be used as the primary platform for the Pokémon Video Game Championships.