Pokemon Champions Lets Players Alter Pokemon Stats, Here’s How It Works

After Pokemon Champions was originally revealed, The Pokemon Company has been fairly quiet about its new competitive game. But during today’s July Pokemon Presents, fans got a deeper look at Pokemon Champions. Along with new gameplay footage, The Pokemon Company revealed a 2026 release window for the battle-centric title coming to Nintendo Switch and mobile. And we now have a better sense of how obtaining and training Pokemon will work in the game, including changing up Pokemon stats.

Pokemon Champions will let trainers transfer their beloved Pokemon from Pokemon Home. So, you can bring over all your favorite partners for battle in Champions. But if you don’t have a library stacked with favorites from prior main series games or Pokemon Go, don’t worry. Players can test out and recruit new Pokemon directly within the game, meaning you don’t need Pokemon Home or prior Pokemon teams to play the new game.

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There will be three different battle modes to enter once you’ve set up your Pokemon team. Pokemon Champions features a ranked battle mode where you face off against other trainers, casual battles where you can practice without the pressure, and private battles to take on friends and family in a personal game room.

Along with recruiting or transferring Pokemon for these different types of battles, the game will let you improve Pokemon stats via training. This new system is meant to be “more flexible and convenient than ever,” letting you customize your Pokemon’s moves and stats via a brand-new training system. This will look a little different than what Pokemon fans are used to.

How Pokemon Recruitment & Training Work in Pokemon Champions

If you aren’t transferring from Pokemon Home, you can recruit Pokemon in two ways. The first is a Trial Recruitment period that lets trainers test out new Pokemon additions for a limited time. That way, you can see how they will fit into your existing battle strategies.

If you like that Pokemon’s style, you can add them to your roster more permanently. Doing this will cost Victory Points (VP), an in-game currency. This currency will be gained via Ranked Battles and other “various methods,” according to The Pokemon Company.

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Those Victory Points are also the key to training Pokemon. You can spend these in-game points to alter Pokemon stats and abilities, giving trainers more flexibility on how their Pokemon teams grow and change. You can add points to individual stats like HP, Attack, Defense, etc, to change up your Pokemon’s power. You can also change up a Pokemon’s moveset and even adjust their Stat Alignment, which looks to be similar to Natures from prior games.

Pokemon Champions will release in 2026 for Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android devices. The exact date is still unknown, but at least we know for sure we’re getting this latest Pokemon game next year.

Are you excited to see more about Pokemon Champions? Will you be bringing your existing team into the game or recruiting a fresh lineup? Let us know in the comments below!