Pokemon Champions Has a Disappointing (But Unsurprising) Limitation

On Pokemon Day last week, Pokemon Champions was officially revealed, which appears to be a successor to the Pokemon Stadium games on Nintendo 64. When it debuts on Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, the game will allow players to compete in PvP battles using Pokemon they’ve obtained from previous games. That’s because Pokemon Champions will be compatible with Pokemon Home, just as the previous Game Boy games worked with Pokemon Stadium. However, in a move that should come as no surprise in the Nintendo Switch era, the game will limit the number of Pokemon that players can access.

“At the time of release, only select Pokemon will be available for use in Pokemon Champions—not all Pokemon available in Pokemon HOME will appear in Pokemon Champions. The Pokemon you can send to Pokemon Champions via Pokemon HOME are limited to Pokemon that appear in Pokemon Champions,” a press release reads.

When Pokemon Sword and Shield were released back in 2019, the games were surrounded by a lot of controversy. For the first time in the history of the mainline games, players would not be able to complete a National Dex featuring all Pokemon from past games. This led to a lot of heated feelings from fans, who felt that developer Game Freak was moving away from the core concept of “catching ’em all.” While Pokemon Sword and Shield used DLC updates to expand the number of Pokemon available over time, neither that generation nor Pokemon Scarlet and Violet would feature a dedicated National Dex, as we had seen in games like Pokemon Sun and Moon.

Since this change, the only way for players to have every Pokemon in one location is through Pokemon Home. Pokemon Champions seemed like the perfect opportunity to make every Pokemon playable at once in the same game, but it seems that’s not going to happen, at least, not from the start. From the sound of it, the game will allow players to use a specific pool of Pokemon from the start, and that number will grow over time. The debut trailer for Pokemon Champions featured Charizard, Dondozo, Aegislash, and Hisuian Samurott, and the game’s key art also shows Pikachu, Lucario, and Gardevoir. We can assume those 7 will all be featured at launch, but the rest are a mystery.

RELATED: Pokemon Go’s Newest Pokemon Cannot be Sent to Pokemon Home

Even if Pokemon Champions doesn’t allow players to use every single Pokemon, it’s possible the game might still allow players to use the vast majority. Over the last 29 years, the franchise has introduced a large number of Pokemon, and every player has one or two that really mean a lot to them. Hopefully fans will be able to bring in most of their favorites, from classics like Blastoise and Jigglypuff, to more recent stars like Rillaboom and Dachsbun. Since the game doesn’t currently have a release date, we might be waiting a while for some answers!

Are you disappointed by this limitation in Pokemon Champions? Do you plan on checking out the game when it’s released? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!