Pokemon Stadium-like battling game Pokemon Champions is "free-to start," but a "paid digital version" is coming to Switch 2 and OG Switch too

Finally, a new medium for competitive Pokemon battling is arriving. In 2026, we'll be able to get our hands on Pokemon Champions, the new home of VGC. Interestingly, it'll be "free-to-start" and then a paid version will come out later.

Now, I know what a free-to-play game is, but I've never heard of free-to-start before. The initial announcement for Pokemon Champions mentioned an in-game currency, but also stated it wouldn't be purchasable with real money, so I don't think this is going to turn into a microtransaction-riddled game. Still, free-to-start has puzzled me.

Here's the full quote from Pokemon's PR: "Pokémon Champions is a free-to-start game coming to Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices in 2026. More details on a paid digital version of Pokémon Champions on Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch systems will be shared in the future."

Maybe it'll be free for a while and then paid, like Guntouchables was for the first 24 hours. That got two million people to claim it, so it's clearly an effective strategy. Or, maybe you'll be able to use some of the game's features for free before having to pay a subscription or one-time fee to unlock the full thing.

The more I think about it, the more charging monthly or yearly for it like Nintendo Switch Online seems like the move that would make the most sense for Nintendo, especially if it wants this to be the new way people engage with competitive Pokemon. The company is already doing this sort of thing with the Switch 2's chat button. We'll have to wait until 2026 to find out.

In the meantime, check out the best Pokemon games you can play right now.