If there's one big goal for Pokemon Champions, it's accessibility. The upcoming free-to-play PvP game is set to simplify Pokemon's high-level turn-based battling more than ever before, lowering the barrier to entry and inviting more players to try their hand at the Video Game Championships (VGC), something producer Masaaki Hoshino knows hasn't been easy in the past.
Speaking via interpreter during a group interview attended by GamesRadar+, Hoshino says that despite Pokemon battles being a key part of the series for 30 years now, "I really wanted to make these Pokemon battles, this element of the Pokemon series, something that sticks around forever, that we have going into the future." He acknowledges that not everyone has "really got into the PvP part – playing against other players – and with this product, our hope is to expand that accessibility, to make it something that anyone can jump in and enjoy."
If it ain't broke
It's not about changing Game Freak's winning formula, mind you. Although The Pokemon Company delved into real-time combat for the first time in a mainline title last year with Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Pokemon Champions is maintaining the traditional turn-based format that fans know and love, which has "been unchanged since they first developed it at Game Freak back in 1996." In fact, Hoshino notes that Shigeki Morimoto, who was "one of the original battle designers," is "working on this game as well" – the team has been "working heavily" with him to help with the balance of the game.
He explains: "From the very beginning, we didn't want to go and change that core battle system. We thought that was very important, especially to the current players who enjoy the battle system. So we wanted to keep the same core battle system."
However, he knows that system – once you start looking to compete at a higher level – hasn't been the most straightforward. "At the same time, up until now, in order to participate in those battles at a high level, you needed to do a lot of work, for example, all this different training that takes quite a bit of time, and that can feel like a bit of a hurdle for certain players," Hoshino admits, clearly referring to elements like Effort Value (EV) training. "So with this game, we've made that element much easier. It's a lot easier for anyone to get into that higher-level gameplay."
Aside from simplifying the complexities of Pokemon's high-level battling, Champions is also notably set to become the official VGC hub going forward, with competitors in tournaments like the World Championships to use the game instead of the mainline titles like Scarlet and Violet. This is a big deal, as this is the first time in series history that competitive battling has been given its own separate space to operate – some have already speculated that this could even open the door to the devs being more experimental with the other games, since the VGC can now be managed and balanced independently from them.
"It's a lot easier for anyone to get into that higher-level gameplay."
Masaaki Hoshino, Pokemon Champions game producer
"Turning it into its own thing like you mentioned, really taking it from the main series games that we've used in the Championships up until now was definitely one of the goals we wanted to do," Hoshino tells me.
"Part of that is that we've done other games, like, for example, the Legends series," Hoshino says, pointing to Legends Z-A and Arceus. "In Legends: Z-A, there's Mega Evolved Pokemon that you can't play elsewhere, and other Pokemon you can only play in the Arceus game. And I think that a lot of players out there would love to use those Pokemon in the traditional turn-based games, so, part of our goal with this is to really be able to take all those elements and allow players to enjoy that traditional turn-based battling going forward into the future."
Hoshino is a self-proclaimed fan of Pokemon Stadium and its sequel, noting that "I really enjoyed those games as a player, from the old days, and of course took that experience – my time playing those games – and definitely used it as a reference when making this game." With that said, Pokemon Champions is already set to be very different to the likes of Stadium for two simple reasons – the fact that it's been updated with modern Pokemon and gimmick mechanics that didn't exist back then, like Mega Evolution and Terastalization, but also because it can be continually upgraded to include even more content going forward.
The producer notes that "we're taking elements from all of these past Pokemon games, the different battle elements, and putting them all into this one exciting new product," and there's perhaps no better example of that than the aforementioned gimmicks. Previously, these sorts of mechanics have largely been tied to specific generations of games, never to return in the future (Mega Evolution being an outlier), but it appears that they're all present and accounted for here, as Hoshino notes that Champions' Omni Ring item "lets you access all of the different features" like "Z-Moves, Mega Evolution, Dynamax, all of these different things." As for whether we're going to see all of those gimmicks be able to play out at the same time going forward, though, even the devs aren't sure.
"This is something we're still kind of working on and experimenting with, so we don't have a clear answer at the moment," Hoshino says, asked if different gimmicks can be combined. "It's really going to come down to, once we do combine these things in one environment, how does that actually play out, and can we create a balanced environment?"
The producer acknowledges that, at the very least, we know Z-Moves and Mega Evolution can work in tandem – they already did in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, and Ultra Moon – but as for the other combinations, "we'll just have to experiment and see how we can make it work in a balanced way."
And, again, the live-service nature of Pokemon Champions means it's not going to remain stagnant – Hoshino and the team are looking well into the future with the title. "It's not just going to be a game we put out and, you know, it doesn't change. It's going to continue to evolve," he reiterates. "We're going to be able to support the new Pokemon that come out. So it's going to be a product that continues to evolve, but it is going to be the single title that everyone plays for the Championships."
Speaking of new Pokemon, given how the National Pokedex has changed in the main series games – with the great "Dexit" first seen in Sword and Shield making it impossible to catch every single 'mon in existence in the more modern games – I'm curious how Champions plans to handle this when it comes to its own available lineup of creatures. "I don't have any specific concrete plans that I can share right now," Hoshino tells me, asked if the goal is to make every Pokemon available in Champions – be it at launch or over time. "But of course, we want to include as many Pokemon as possible in the game. That's our goal.
"And at the same time, though, I think you were talking about accessibility and making it a game that can be easily enjoyed by a wide audience. Our current plan is to have these different blocks," he continues, referring to the Regulation Sets that determine the rules of what Pokemon can be used at different points during the various competitive seasons. "Our plan right now is to have that kind of change over time, so the meta game or the Pokemon that are available at any given time to be used may be different as time goes on."
"Of course, we want to include as many Pokemon as possible in the game. That's our goal."
Masaaki Hoshino, Pokemon Champions game producer
Hoshino adds that this methodology might also prevent the game from getting too complicated as the years pass and more and more Pokemon are created, too: "If we had all of those available to be played, I think it would just become such a complicated situation. So I think the idea that we have right now is only a limited selection available, but shifting over time."
Looking ahead to launch, game balance is obviously top of mind for the team, as Hoshino says that "we're going to [pay] very close attention to how players are playing it, what the meta is like, and, you know, which Pokemon are strong, and maybe make balance adjustments accordingly for the next season – the next Regulation Set." That's seemingly going to be extra important considering that "there are some changes that are going to be specific to Pokemon Champions from the main series games."
And again, Champions is planned to continue long after its Switch launch on April 8. In fact, Hoshino already muses about a future where the total number of Pokemon is 10 times larger than it already is.
"We're planning to keep Pokemon Champions going far into the future – basically forever, as long as the Pokemon series is continuing," he says. "And who knows? Far in the future we'll have 2,000, 3,000, maybe 10,000 Pokemon."
For now, be sure to check out the ranking of the best Pokemon games.
