TOKYO, April 9, 2026, 23:09 JST
- Pokémon Champions hit the Switch and Switch 2 on April 8, debuting as a free-to-start battler. Mobile users will have to wait until 2026 for their versions.
- Players flagged a glitch tied to Pokémon HOME transfers, also voicing frustration over the shallow launch-day roster, format restrictions, and item limits.
- It’s a tough spot for Nintendo and The Pokémon Company, with Champions slated to take over as the official Pokémon VGC event platform starting in May.
Nintendo and The Pokémon Company dropped Pokémon Champions on Wednesday. Not long after, reports started piling up about a transfer glitch with Pokémon HOME. Competitive players weren’t thrilled either—complaints rolled in about missing formats, a limited selection of playable Pokémon, and other restrictions right out of the gate.
The shaky debut is significant: Champions isn’t just a secondary effort. According to The Pokémon Company, this is the software that will anchor official Video Game Championships, or VGC. The plan is to kick off with the Indianapolis Regional Championships, which run from May 29-31, before scaling up to the World Championships scheduled for Aug. 28-30.
Champions launches as a free-to-start PvP battler for both Switch and the upcoming Switch 2, while iOS and Android releases are slated for later in 2026. According to the official site, players get access to ranked, casual, and private battles, with both single and double battle modes available. Mega Evolution is included, and select Pokémon can be brought in from earlier games via Pokémon HOME, the franchise’s storage app.
Before launch, producer Masaaki Hoshino described the game as a way to lower the barrier to high-level play. Speaking to GamesRadar, he said the team’s aim was “a lot easier” access to top competition. Champions, he added, was designed for long-term growth, with the roster of playable characters set to evolve as time goes on. GamesRadar+
That put extra weight on those launch-day reports of transfer glitches. According to the official site, Pokémon moved in via HOME should be eligible to leave again. But GameSpot and Kotaku cited cases where transfers hit error 9007. Pokémon stuck this way show up in HOME, but can’t move into Champions, go back to past titles, or be traded—at least, not according to posts from competitive player Justin Carris and others.
Issues piled up past just the bug. According to GamesRadar, Champions arrived missing 6-on-6 single battles and offered only about 185 usable Pokémon, plus around 30 regular held items—not counting berries or Mega Stones. Joe Merrick, the Serebii database operator, described the switch from Pokopia to Champions as “whiplash.”
Questions are swirling around the game’s approach to monetization. According to the official site, Champions is set to offer several paid options: a seasonal battle pass, premium battle pass, a starter pack, plus a membership tier unlocking expanded box storage, additional battle team slots, special missions, and exclusive battle songs. Price tags haven’t been posted yet.
Nintendo shares settled at 8,531 yen on Thursday, slipping roughly 2% for the session, market data showed. Back in March, Pokopia moved over 2.2 million units in just four days. Jefferies’ Atul Goyal called the title a “critical software catalyst” for Switch 2 uptake, but Kantan Games’ Serkan Toto argued another blockbuster was needed to “ignite sales.”
Now, the main question comes down to timing. Champions steps into the heart of organized play in just weeks, but a fragile transfer setup or a limited launch rule set could turn off dedicated players right as the transition kicks off—even though Hoshino maintains the game is designed to “continue to evolve.”
