Inside ‘Pokémon Champions’: Masaaki Hoshino on the Future of Pokémon Battles

30 years after Pokémon Red and Blue, battles have evolved from playground competitions to a fully-fledged circuit, with its championship finals set to take place at San Francisco’s Chase Center this year.

Battling has been at the franchise’s core since its inception. With Pokémon Champions, the focus narrows entirely on competitive play. Announced last year, Pokémon Champions is a turn-based experience designed for both newcomers and veteran trainers.

With accessibility in mind, key systems have been streamlined — obtaining Pokémon, team building, matchmaking, and more. In addition to simplifying historically complex systems, the game will be available on Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, and mobile devices.

In anticipation of its launch next month, The Pokémon Company International invited us to its HQ in Bellevue, WA, to play a directed demo of the game. The brief hands-on experience began with three tutorials that introduced key components of Pokémon battles. Following this, we were prompted to recruit four new Pokémon to build a team with, customizing their stats. Then, it was time to battle.

As someone who has previously competed in tournaments, the experience felt familiar yet refreshed. Building a team is easier than ever, and the entire flow was intuitive. Even the less experienced players in the room had no trouble getting the hang of things.

Following the demo experience, we spoke with Masaaki Hoshino, the game producer and development director of Pokémon Champions, about revisiting legacy battle mechanics, integrating Pokémon from future games like Pokémon Winds and Waves, and more.

The following interview was conducted via a translator during a media roundtable.

Why was now the right time to introduce a battle-focused title like Pokémon Champions?

Masaaki Hoshino: Pokémon Champions was created because we want to keep Pokémon battles around forever. I enjoy them myself and want everyone else to enjoy them, too. From my experience with Pokémon Unite, supporting a wider audience by bringing battling to Nintendo Switch and mobile felt like the right move.

Also, since Pokémon Legends: Z-A has a different battle system, we know many people want to use the new Mega Evolutions in a traditional setting. Moving forward, regardless of any battle systems introduced in future games, we want to ensure turn-based battles are available.

Mega Evolution is a key component of Pokémon Champions battles. How will other battle mechanics throughout the series make their way into the game? Could we see multiple of them present in one battle?

We’re starting with Mega Evolution, but we’re also preparing to reintroduce previous battle mechanics. Future mechanics will also likely make it into Pokémon Champions. This concept of featuring cross-generational battle mechanics is a key point of the title.

“Pokémon Champions was created because we want to keep Pokémon battles around forever.”

How has the team approached balancing the game for all audiences?

With Ranked Battles, it’s about matchmaking as fair as possible. As for the Pokémon themselves, there are many parameters involved, which can be quite daunting for new trainers. We’ve streamlined some of these elements while maintaining their identity. For example, Effort Values (EVs) have been simplified from 252 points to 64, making them approachable for someone new while remaining familiar to a veteran. (Editor’s Note: This removes quirks present in the original 252-point system.)

Have Individual Values (IVs) been removed from a Pokémon’s stats? If so, why?

IVs are an element we removed to make team building more approachable. [Shigeki Morimoto] of Game Freak, the original designer of Pokémon battles, and I went back and forth discussing what stats are necessary. After a heated discussion, we reached the conclusion that IVs, while important, could be removed without compromising the core identity of a Pokémon battle.

With Pokémon Champions becoming the official title for the competitive circuit, competitive players have plenty to look forward to. However, for the more casual Pokémon trainer, will there be any fun-oriented rulesets or game modes introduced?

In addition to Ranked Battles, we also have Casual and Private Battles. Auto-team creation is another feature aimed at beginners, offering a simplified approach to team building.

“We [concluded] that IVs, while important, could be removed without compromising the core identity of a Pokémon battle.”

Will certain Pokémon or items be more difficult to obtain in Pokémon Champions than others? Such as Legendary Pokémon or Mega Stones.

For Legendary Pokémon, it’s still a secret. In terms of rare items, Mega Stones are available via the in-game store. You can purchase them with the VP that you earn from playing battles. There will also be events where you can get some items.

I’ve noticed that the Pokémon shown off so far have been the fully-evolved versions of a Pokémon. Will not-fully-evolved Pokémon be usable?

At launch, only final evolutions will be available. This is another topic that Morimoto-san and I debated at length. After we introduce a lot of the final evolutions, we might consider earlier evolutions as well. For now, this approach is more accessible for new players.

With future Pokémon titles like Pokémon Winds and Waves coming up, are they being built with Pokémon Champions in mind? Will there be a delay before players can access new Pokémon in Pokémon Champions?

I don’t have full visibility into the development of Pokémon Winds and Waves, so I can’t comment on the philosophy behind it. As for when newly-introduced Pokémon will appear in Pokémon Champions, it’s still being figured out at the moment.

Translator: Hoshino-san shared a final comment.

Pokémon Champions is a live ops game, so the game’s community is very important. Feedback is key, and that’s why I wanted to join this media preview. We plan to gather user feedback and continue to improve the game over time. I hope that you all enjoy Pokémon Champions and share your thoughts.

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Pokémon Champions will launch on Nintendo Switch systems as a free-to-start game on April 8, with a mobile version releasing later this year.