Pokemon Champions launches to mixed reception, GBAtemp tournaments set to start up again next month
After being announced more than a year ago, Pokemon Champions was set to be the definitive Pokemon battling experience. With the goal to have competitive play on a single platform that could itself grow and develop over time, along with an assortment of quality of life features to make the game as easy as it could be to get into, fans were excited to jump into the game today. For many though, that excitement has already faded.
I'll cut straight to it: Pokemon Champions is an incomplete game. By design it was always going to be an incomplete game at launch, don't get me wrong. It was already known that we wouldn't have every Pokemon out of the gate or every generational gimmick. I think most people just expected more than what we got. Let me break it down for you. At the time of writing we're looking at a grand total of 187 Pokemon, with 59 Mega Evolutions mixed in there. This might not sound like a lot, but in reality I feel like the Pokemon selection is one of the better aspects of the game. Sticking to only fully evolved species for now (and Pikachu, it wouldn't be a Pokemon game without Pikachu), there's plenty to work with for those wanting to build the best, or even a team that counters the best. The Mega Evolutions on offer are similarly not the worst in terms of variety, though I do understand disappointment in not seeing more of the new Mega Evolutions from Legends ZA. Many of these still don't even have known abilities after all.
Where the game really falls short is in its item variety, and it's really hard to find justification for this. An incredible number of competitive staples are absent with no real reason or rhyme to it, resulting in an item pool that isn't all that far removed from what it looked like back in Pokemon Emerald. Seriously. There's no Heavy-Duty Boots, no Life Orb, no Loaded Dice, no Rocky Helmet, no Air Balloon, no Weakness Policy. We're even missing the Choice Band, Choice Specs, and Assault Vest. For those who maybe don't follow competitive Pokemon, it's genuinely difficult to understate just how common some of these items are. Looking at the top teams for the World Championships Masters Division last year, there isn't a single one that has more than half of their items in the game at the moment. For a good chunk of them, five out of six aren't available. It's a choke point for team building in a way that really shouldn't exist.
All of this gets a bow on top with how few options there are for battling, the whole reason the game exists. There is no way to do a 6v6 battle. There is no way to do any kind of battle other than those being used on the ranked ladder, even when setting up private matches. This means that for the Singles format you're limited to 3v3, and in the Doubles format you're limited to 4v4.
They're simple, but I do quite like the achievements.
As somebody who was really looking forward to this game, I am disappointed. There are some good ideas at play here. There's a mini achievement system where you get badges and titles for winning battles with every one of the available species. Training Pokemon has never been easier, and from what I've played so far, the recruitment system is simple and opens the game up to people who might not have every prior entry to the series. The game's currency also doesn't feel as tight as I was expecting, with there being a solid assortment of daily and weekly challenges to top you up, even if you don't decide to opt for the premium perks.
There's potential here for a great game, and I do feel like we'll get it in time if The Pokemon Company really do want this to be the one stop shop for competitive battling. Even with the issues I have with the game, I want to make the most of things. I had planned to get GBAtemp tournaments up and running again with Champions, and I'll follow through with that. Our first tournament of 2026 will get going next month, and be focused on the somewhat less popular 3v3 Singles format. The month delay should give people enough time to settle into the game and get a team they're happy with. We'll stick with the official "Regulation Set M-A" ruleset, though future events might see some more creative restrictions. Keep an eye on the front page in May for the sign ups.
These are the rules we'll be using for our first tournament, so get creative!
If you're interested in tournaments going forwards, both in Pokemon and other titles, feel free to hop into the new GBAtemp Tournaments group. We've got a subforum specifically for Pokemon Champions chatter, so join in on the complaining and team building.
GBAtemp Tournaments Group
