Latest news with #PokemonChampions
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former Pokemon World Champion says new game is about to turn the competitive scene upside-down, with changes so big he "can't even fathom" them
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A former Pokemon world champion says that the series' new competitive title, Pokemon Champions, could have a massive impact on the competition circuit. Yesterday, during Pokemon Presents 2025, Nintendo and Game Freak had a game announcement to go along with its chunky Pokemon Legends: Z-A reveal. Pokemon Champions is a competitive-focused strategy game that strips out all of the narrative and presumably quite a lot of the creature catching and rearing mechanics that have been a mainstay of the series for nearly three decades. Pokemon Champions is all about competition, which is probably why one of the best players in the world thinks it's likely to make a big splash. Wolfe Glick is a competitive Pokemon player, best known for winning the official 2016 world championship. Most recently, he claimed the Pokemon Europe International Championships with the return of his infamous strategy, but he's been a major player in the competitive scene for many years now. In a tweet after the reveal of Pokemon Champions, he suggested the new game "could change competitive Pokemon in ways I can't even fathom." Glick doesn't expand on that hypothesis, but I have a couple of guesses as to why he thinks it's such a big deal. For one thing, eagle-eyed players will have noticed that both Mega Evolution and Terastalization - battle gimmicks from two different generations that have never really shared a stage before. How exactly the pair will link to each other in Champions remains to be seen, but if they're allowed to interact with each other, it could be a massive change. The other major reason is that Champions' links with Pokemon Go and previous games could be an interesting workaround to a controversial competitive rule. The Pokemon Company has been cracking down on Pokemon who haven't been trained up by those using them in some recent tournaments, but the ability to shift mons back and forth between multiple games could mean that that particular issue becomes a thing of the past. Somewhat separately, I'm interested to know whether this is Nintendo taking aim at unofficial battle engines. The likes of Pokemon Showdown - simplified, web-based games that strip fights down to little more than stat checks - have existed for a long time, but this does feel like The Pokemon Company attempting to find some way to work around them and provide something straight to its community for a little extra cash. Either way, with the amount of theorycrafting that happens in those online spaces, let alone the other factors at play, Glick is likely correct - Champions does seem like it's about to tear up Pokemon's competitive scene. We're gearing up for new entries in our list of the best Pokemon games.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pokemon Champions Bridges Battling Between Nintendo Switch and Mobile Phones
We've got our first look at a long-awaited new multiplayer Pokemon battle game -- and you don't have to choose between a console or a phone to play it. First revealed in a notorious leak from late 2024, the new battler has been in development for a while. Now Pokemon Champions is finally official with a reveal on Pokemon Day. The trailer for the new game pays respect to the franchise's legacy by showing off how much easier multiplayer battling has become over the years. There's no need to plug together your Gameboys with a link cable anymore -- just connect to the Wi-Fi and you're in the money. Generation one Pokemon clashed with generation nine Pokemon in an epic battle arena. Nobody was surprised to see Charizard, but the presence of Dondozo, Hisuian Samurott and Aegislash suggest a very wide range of Pokemon will be present in Pokemon Champions. Here's everything we know about the new Pokemon battler's reveal. Read more: Top 25 Best Pokemon Games of All Time, Ranked The Pokemon franchise has pincered two particular gaming markets to great success. The pocket monsters got their start on Nintendo consoles, where they've always been super popular. Games like Sword and Shield, Scarlet and Violet, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus have cultivated a fanbase of Pokemon fans on the Nintendo Switch. Over the past decade, though, The Pokemon Company has made a significant investment in the mobile space. Pokemon Go reignited Pokemania in 2016, and games like Pokemon Masters, Pokemon Cafe ReMix and Pokemon TCG Pocket have succeeded on iOS and Android. Pokemon Champions is the culmination of this strategy. Focusing on multiplayer Pokemon battles, the game is accessible to Switch, iOS and Android players, allowing these disparate fanbases to butt heads in cross-platform battles. The trailer for Pokemon Champions confirms the return of Mega Pokemon from generation six and Terastallization from generation nine. No Dynamaxed or Gigantamaxed Pokemon participated in the battle, and no Z-Moves were shown off. Even still, Pokemon Champions will likely include the trademark battle mechanics of all of the recent mainline Pokemon generations, allowing players to pick and choose what strategies they want to use as they build battle-ready teams. Pokemon Home integration supports this idea: Players with hundreds of Pokemon with different mechanics attached will finally have a hub they can transfer these creatures into and unlock their full potential. It remains to be seen how Pokemon Champions will balance the implementation of such a diverse array of battling mechanics, but one thing is for certain: This will be the most chaotic Pokemon battler ever released.
