Pokémon Champions Launches Next Month With Paid Upgrade Pack to 'Support Early Progression'

Pokémon Champions Launches Next Month With Paid Upgrade Pack to 'Support Early Progression' Southeast Asia Home Amazon Deals Pro-tips by Codashop PC PS4 Xbox One Nintendo Mobile Entertainment EsportsMoreSearch Home More About IGN SEAContactAdvertisePressUser AgreementPrivacy PolicyCookie PolicyRSSIGN Southeast Asia is operated under license by Media Prima Digital Sdn Bhd (199901014126) Change Region United States United Kingdom Australia Africa Adria Serbian/Croatian Adria Slovenian Benelux / Dutch Brazil China / 中国 Czechia / Slovakia France Germany Greece / Ελλάδα Hungary India Israel Italy / Italia Japan / 日本 Korea / 한국 Latin America Middle East – English Middle East – الأوسطالشرق Nordic Poland Portugal Southeast Asia Spain / España Turkey / Türkiye world.ign.com Register / Login Register / Login Login Register Pokemon Champions Pokémon Champions Launches Next Month With Paid Upgrade Pack to 'Support Early Progression' Power-up punch. This post might contain affiliation links. If you buy something through this post, the publisher may get a share of the sale. By Tom Phillips  Updated: March 25, 2026, 12:34 a.m. Related reads:MapleStorySEA Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Massive Summer Updates The Pokémon Company has announced a Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 release date for its upcoming free-to-play battler Pokémon Champions, alongside a paid starter pack which provides “useful in-game items.”More like thisOpen Back Headphones: A Sound Experience Like No OtherLike the Stadium games of old, Pokémon Champions is a turn-based battle game that allows you to import Pokémon you’ve caught elsewhere and command them in battles. It will launch on April 8 for Switch consoles, with a smartphone release still planned for later this year.Within Champions, you can bring in any creature you’ve previously uploaded to the Pokémon Home cloud service from recent Switch games such as Scarlet/Violet and the Legends titles, as well as from Pokémon Go. Alternatively, you can gather a limited selection of creatures in-game — though you’ll have to hand over in-game currency to make them permanently yours.Alongside being a vehicle to promote Pokémon Home (and give further life to your beloved creatures from past games), Pokémon Champions is being positioned as the franchise’s new flagship PVP video game platform for the future. While various other Pokémon games may come and go, Champions will be the series’ main competitive console game going forwards, beginning in just a few months’ time with officially sanctioned championship events starting in May onwards. This includes regional heats in Indianapolis, through to the North America International in June and the Pokémon World Championships in August.At launch, a paid-for Starter Pack will allow you to store more Pokémon (an additional 50) and receive a smattering of extra in-game Teammate and Training Tickets. You’ll also get to unlock the Trainer Battle song from Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee. Exactly how the game will be monetized in future, Nintendo has yet to properly detail.Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social Related reads:Pokémon Presents February 2026: Everything Announced This post might contain affiliation links. If you buy something through this post, the publisher may get a share of the sale. Pokemon Champions Buy on Amazon In This Article