Two weeks ago, The Pokemon Company announced that it will be bringing Pokemon Champions, the battle-focused platform for the monster-taming franchise, to mobile. As promised, the title is now available on Android and iOS, alongside a new update for the game on the Nintendo Switch. Not only are the games cross-platform compatible, there’s also cross-progression, so be sure to link your accounts if you’ve already been playing on the Switch.
The addition comes alongside a new season for ranked battles, which brings with itself a new battle pass and a new update for the console version of the game. This, in turn, brings more Pokemon into the game, including the Mega Stones for the newly added creatures capable of Mega Evolving. There are also items newly added to the battling platform, and while The Pokemon Company did not disclose them, Serebii.net lists 15 of them, including the competitive staple Life Orb, plus common support items like Light Clay and Iron Ball.
As mentioned previously, those who log into the game between now and 1 September, (2 September for us thanks to time zones) will get a Raichu and its two new Mega Stones for free. For the hardcore among the competitively inclined (which you probably are if you’re playing this game), the current season and battle pass runs until 7 July (or 8 July for us).
In case you missed it, Pokemon Champions was launched earlier in the year as the official platform for battles. This is a pretty massive departure from the way it was previously done, where the latest mainline entry into the franchise served as the official platform instead. That being said, the more cynical among us would see that it’s another monetisation channel, as the truly competitive will pay for recurring benefits like more box space for more Pokemon, the premium battle pass for faster access to some creatures and items, and more battle team loadouts.
