Pokémon Champions takes over as VGC home, reveals new Mega Evolution Abilities for Legends: ZA’s Starter trio

Pokémon trainers around the world got a new trailer for the upcoming Pokémon Champions game today, and it's one that fans of the series' competitive scene will definitely be interested in. The Pokémon Company showed off the upcoming game in a new trailer today, as well as a product page on the Pokémon website. Pokémon Champions is purely for battling, so if you’re looking for an adventure in another mainline series game, you’ll have to sit tight until Winds and Waves in 2027. Though this is big news for casual fans of Pokémon battles, it's even bigger for those who like to compete. Alongside the trailer for Pokémon Champions, the Pokémon Company also announced that VGC will move to Pokémon Champions as the standard platform for all competitive matches when the game launches on April 8. The first official tournament held on the new platform will be the Indianapolis Pokémon Regional Championships, which runs from May 29 to 31. In Pokémon Champions, players can obtain Pokémon through two different means: either through Pokémon Home or by recruiting them in-game. Pokémon Home allows players to transfer in creatures from a variety of games, like Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Go. Recruiting, though, allows players to choose one Pokémon per day from a randomly generated group. Recruited Pokémon can only be used in Champions and only for a limited time.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOfW-qdsvpU&t=34s Once you have your Pokémon in the game, preparing for battle will look very similar to previous games. You’ll have a PC where you can select six Pokémon for battle. Then, after choosing your team, you’ll get a look at which six your opponent brought to the field. Depending on the format, you can then select a certain number of Pokémon from your six to actually battle with. In the Single Battle format, as its name might suggest, Pokémon face off against one opponent at a time. As the main format for competitive games, Double Battles are also in Champions, where you battle in a 2v2 format with four Pokémon in total on each player’s team. There are also various online battling options, with both a ranked and casual mode. In ranked, you’ll face off against “evenly matched trainers,” but in casual, wins or losses aren’t recorded. The Pokémon Company also showed off new abilities for the Mega Evolutions of Meganium, Feraligatr, and Emboar:Mega Meganium – Mega Sol: User’s moves act as if they were in Harsh Sunlight, meaning moves like Solar Beam are instantly charged up.Mega Feraligatr – Mold Breaker: A Pokémon with Mold Breaker ignores all damage-mitigating effects, like Levitate or Sturdy.Mega Emboar – Dragonize: Turns Normal-type moves into Dragon-type moves and boosts the power of the attack by 20 percent. Pokémon Champions releases on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 8, so start preparing your teams now. The post Pokémon Champions takes over as VGC home, reveals new Mega Evolution Abilities for Legends: ZA’s Starter trio appeared first on Destructoid.

Mar 25, 2026 - 00:14

Pokémon Champions takes over as VGC home, reveals new Mega Evolution Abilities for Legends: ZA’s Starter trio

Pokémon trainers around the world got a new trailer for the upcoming Pokémon Champions game today, and it's one that fans of the series' competitive scene will definitely be interested in.

The Pokémon Company showed off the upcoming game in a new trailer today, as well as a product page on the Pokémon website. Pokémon Champions is purely for battling, so if you’re looking for an adventure in another mainline series game, you’ll have to sit tight until Winds and Waves in 2027.

Though this is big news for casual fans of Pokémon battles, it's even bigger for those who like to compete. Alongside the trailer for Pokémon Champions, the Pokémon Company also announced that VGC will move to Pokémon Champions as the standard platform for all competitive matches when the game launches on April 8. The first official tournament held on the new platform will be the Indianapolis Pokémon Regional Championships, which runs from May 29 to 31.

In Pokémon Champions, players can obtain Pokémon through two different means: either through Pokémon Home or by recruiting them in-game. Pokémon Home allows players to transfer in creatures from a variety of games, like Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Go. Recruiting, though, allows players to choose one Pokémon per day from a randomly generated group. Recruited Pokémon can only be used in Champions and only for a limited time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOfW-qdsvpU&t=34s Once you have your Pokémon in the game, preparing for battle will look very similar to previous games. You’ll have a PC where you can select six Pokémon for battle. Then, after choosing your team, you’ll get a look at which six your opponent brought to the field. Depending on the format, you can then select a certain number of Pokémon from your six to actually battle with.

In the Single Battle format, as its name might suggest, Pokémon face off against one opponent at a time. As the main format for competitive games, Double Battles are also in Champions, where you battle in a 2v2 format with four Pokémon in total on each player’s team. There are also various online battling options, with both a ranked and casual mode. In ranked, you’ll face off against “evenly matched trainers,” but in casual, wins or losses aren’t recorded.

The Pokémon Company also showed off new abilities for the Mega Evolutions of Meganium, Feraligatr, and Emboar:

Mega Meganium – Mega Sol: User’s moves act as if they were in Harsh Sunlight, meaning moves like Solar Beam are instantly charged up.
Mega Feraligatr – Mold Breaker: A Pokémon with Mold Breaker ignores all damage-mitigating effects, like Levitate or Sturdy.
Mega Emboar – Dragonize: Turns Normal-type moves into Dragon-type moves and boosts the power of the attack by 20 percent.

Pokémon Champions releases on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 8, so start preparing your teams now.

The post Pokémon Champions takes over as VGC home, reveals new Mega Evolution Abilities for Legends: ZA’s Starter trio appeared first on Destructoid.

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