Pokémon Champions to replace Violet and Scarlet at World Championships 2026

Pokémon Champions is set to replace Pokémon Scarlet and Violet at Pokémon World Championships in 2026.

In a first for the Pokémon World Championship Series, the future formats will use a yet-to-be-released Pokémon Champions game for VGC competitors instead of a mainline title.

Moreover, the next year’s competition will also include the Mega Evolution in official format.

Prior to the new version, the players usually used the most recent “core” Pokémon game like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet or Sword and Shield before that.

Features of upcoming Pokémon Champions

The upcoming highly-anticipated video game is a multiplayer battle-focused game that will release on both mobile and Nintendo Switch.

It also features a simple training system, Pokémon home connectivity, and multiple online modes, making competitive battling more accessible.

The game will also demonstrate “core-style battles” with different tricks from all eras of Pokémon including Mega Evolution and Terastalization.

It is also rumoured that Mega Dragonite which is recently unveiled in Pokémon Legends: Z-A Trailer will also coming to Pokémon Champions

The video game, developed by Game Freak in collaboration with the Pokémon Works, is expected to be released in 2026.

Pokémon World Championships 2026, also known as Worlds, will take place at the Chase Arena in San Francisco. Its VGC events will also witness a number of changes, characterized by new games and formats.