Pokemon’s video game competitive scene has an onboarding problem.
It’s had one since the birth of the Pokemon Video Game Championship (VGC for short) in 2008 due to hidden mechanics, tedious grinding, and some devious RNG. Now, almost two decades later, The Pokemon Company has the opportunity to make competitive Pokemon the most approachable it’s ever been. Thanks to Pokemon Champions, a battle simulator akin to Pokemon Stadium coming to Switch and mobile, players will be able to quickly and efficiently train and battle Pokemon. Not only that, but at the Pokemon World Championship last weekend The Pokemon Company announced that it will be the official way to compete in 2026’s Worlds.
This is huge.
