New to Pokemon Champions? This Eden of Gaming guide covers what the game is, how the battle format works, how to bring your Pokemon over through Pokemon HOME, and the first steps to take before you touch ranked.
What Pokemon Champions is
Champions is a free-to-play competitive Pokemon battler from The Pokemon Company. It is the official platform for the 2026 Ranked season, the Championship Series, and the World Championships. It is out now on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 (April 8, 2026) and launches on iOS and Android on June 17, 2026, with full crossplay between platforms.
Getting started
- Link a Nintendo Account. Your account unifies your Switch and mobile saves and is what enables crossplay, so set this up first.
- Connect Pokemon HOME. Champions integrates with Pokemon HOME so you can transfer eligible Pokemon from past mainline games and from Pokemon GO.
- Play on whatever you have. Switch, Switch 2, or mobile all share the same competitive pool, so you are never locked out of a platform.
The battle format
- Rule
- Battle style
- Detail
- Double Battles. Two of your Pokemon are on the field at once.
- Rule
- Team size
- Detail
- Bring six, pick four at team preview.
- Rule
- Levels
- Detail
- All Pokemon are auto-set to level 50.
- Rule
- Clock
- Detail
- Roughly a 20 minute match timer.
- Rule
- Mega Evolution
- Detail
- Returns. You may use one Mega Evolution per battle.
Team building basics
- Fully evolved only at launch. Pre-evolutions and Eviolite users are not legal right now, so build with final forms.
- No duplicates. You cannot run two of the same species, and you cannot run two of the same held item.
- Pick one Mega. Since only one Mega is allowed per battle, choose it around your win condition rather than trying to fit several.
- Think in pairs. Doubles is about how your two active Pokemon support each other, for example an Intimidate pivot next to a damage dealer.
Bringing Pokemon over with HOME
You do not have to start from nothing. Through Pokemon HOME you can move certain Pokemon from past games and from Pokemon GO into Champions. Check which of your existing Pokemon are eligible before you spend time building a team from scratch.
First 24 hours checklist
- Link your Nintendo Account and confirm crossplay is on.
- Connect Pokemon HOME and review which Pokemon you can transfer.
- Build one legal team of six fully evolved Pokemon with a single Mega.
- Run casual or practice matches to learn the doubles flow before laddering.
- Read the EOG.GG Advanced Guide once you are comfortable with the basics.