The Pokémon Company just announced the updates about the Nintendo Switch and mobile device (iOS/Android) software title, Pokémon Champions, and the release of its newest software title, Pokémon Friends, available on Nintendo Switch and iOS/Android.
Pokémon Champions: Bringing games to everyone
Coming in 2026, Pokémon Champions will be featuring Pokémon battles like those in previous Pokémon series games. These battles will utilize familiar mechanics such as Pokémon types, Abilities, and moves, enabling the rich and varied battle strategies that players know and love. What's more, Trainers can easily play these battles cross-platform between the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices!
It will also connect with Pokémon HOME, allowing Trainers to team up with certain Pokémon brought over from past Pokémon series games and Pokémon GO.
For a sneak peek, the latest video about Pokémon Champions is available on the official Pokémon YouTube channel. Please check out the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DD7_fBmeP0
Recruit Pokémon to join the team
One of the main features of Pokémon Champions is that Trainers can recruit Pokémon to their teams from within the game. But, before Trainers venture into the world of Pokémon battling, they must try to find a Pokémon to fight alongside them, and there are two ways to recruit a Pokémon.
● Trial Recruitment
Trainers can recruit Pokémon for a trial period. This makes it possible to try using a Pokémon in battle right away and test whether it will suit the Trainer’s strategy! Note: Trial Recruitment can be carried out once per day without using Victory Points (VP).
● Permanent Recruitment
Trainers can use VP to recruit Pokémon to their team permanently. Trainers may choose this option once they find a Pokémon that’s a good match for them!
Train Pokémon to hone their skills
In addition to recruiting, Pokémon Champions includes another important feature called training. This feature allows players to use VP to train their Pokémon with ease.
Trainers can hone their Pokémon’s Attack, Defense, and other stats as they like, and easily alter their Abilities and moves, too. This makes it a cinch to test out all sorts of different battle styles!
Note: Trainers cannot train Pokémon during their trial recruitment period.
Enjoy battling
Three Battle Modes and Two Formats
Trainers can enjoy Pokémon battles in three different battle modes, and these are available in two different formats: Single Battle and Double Battle.
● Ranked Battles
Ranked Battle mode lets the Trainer test his skills against Pokémon Trainers from all over the world. His rank will change depending on the battle results, which means he can enjoy intense battles against Trainers of a similar skill level. He will also be able to obtain VP after his matches, depending on how they go.
● Casual Battles
This mode lets a Trainer play without worrying too much about wins or losses. He can easily test how his Battle Team performs against Pokémon Trainers from around the world.
● Private Battles
This mode lets a Trainer player select a format and battle against his family, friends, or other people he knows. He can also join the same room as the opponent he’d like to face and have an exciting battle together!
Use Victory Points (VP) to Power Up Your Team
A Trainer will need VP in order to recruit and train Pokémon. VP can be gained from Ranked Battles and other places in Pokémon Champions. He must keep battling and get hold of VP to power his team even more! Note: VP cannot be directly purchased.
Eureka Every Day with Pokémon Friends
In another exciting news, the Pokémon Company has released the Nintendo Switch and iOS/Android software title Pokémon Friends on July 22, 2025.
A game that makes thinking fun!
Pokémon Friends is a game full of enjoyable brain teasers. Its puzzles draw inspiration from the unique world of Pokémon to create distinctive, brain-tickling challenges. The game was developed with the hope that Trainers can solve puzzles and enjoy satisfying "Eureka!" moments with Pokémon.
High-quality, insightful puzzles by Wonderfy
Pokémon Friends contains many puzzles based on those from Think!Think!, an app designed by Wonderfy Inc., to develop critical thinking skills by using intellectually stimulating quizzes and puzzles.
An experimental trial shows that the puzzles in Think! Think! can have a significant effect on math and IQ test scores. They have also been proven to have a positive impact on noncognitive skills, like self-confidence and motivation to learn. Wonderfy Inc. is a studio seasoned in creating educational content.
Pokémon Friends aims for Trainers to enjoy these kinds of high-quality puzzles on a regular basis in game form, where they can cultivate their critical-thinking skills and come to find the act of thinking itself enjoyable.
The effectiveness of the educational app Think! Think! was tested on elementary school students in Cambodia. In the experiment, children who used the app saw a standardized score increase of +6.7 points in mathematics and +7.0 points in IQ. The students' noncognitive skills, like motivation to learn and confidence, were also positively affected. These effects were consistently seen across all students (regardless of factors such as sex, gender, home environment, etc.), and showed potential to help eliminate the education gap. An external evaluation of this study was carried out by Professor Makiko Nakamuro of Keio University using a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
(Sources: https://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/nts/19e040.html, https://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/nts/20e074.html)
A world of Pokémon plush
By solving puzzles, Trainers can earn many kinds of Pokémon plush as a reward. There are a number of ways to enjoy these tokens of your achievements: decorate rooms with them, build up a collection, and even grow closer to the local townspeople by helping them out with plush-based quests.
Pokémon Friends started from the desire to utilize beloved Pokémon creatures to help children grow and thrive. It combines Wonderfy’s expertise on how to best draw out children’s intellectual potential with Pokémon’s exciting gameplay.
With Pokémon elevating the playfulness, excitement, and sense of accomplishment gained from solving puzzles, Trainers will naturally cultivate their critical-thinking skills while playing, and come to find thinking itself enjoyable.
●Game Features 1
Puzzle it out and untangle your brain!
Pokémon Friends features more than 1,200 high-quality puzzles that were designed to bring out the fun in critical thinking. From simple solutions to tricky twists and turns, this game has all kinds of puzzles for everyone to enjoy. Trainers can solve them alongside distinctive Pokémon creatures.
Personalize your very own plush room
Solving puzzles earns players yarn, which you can pop into the Plush-O-Matic to make Pokémon plush.
Trainers can use the plush they made to decorate their own rooms. Trainers can also decorate their rooms with furniture and even change the wallpaper to freely customize their look and feel. They can play around with how everything’s arranged to make a plush room tailored to their liking.
There are up to 150 Pokémon plush that can appear in this game if the Trainer has purchased all of the paid DLC.
●Game Features 2
Use plush to expand the circle of friends in Friend Quests!
Think Town, where Pokémon Friends takes place, is packed with all kinds of plush-loving people. Those townspeople will ask for help with special “quests”. Trainers can help them out in these quests by bringing them plush.
Plenty more fun to play every day!
Any day Trainers solve puzzles is marked in the Calendar with a stamp of their choosing. Whenever Trainers make a new plush, it will be registered in the Catalog, so they must try to make all kinds of different plush.
Child Safety Features
Pokémon Friends can be pre-set with a number of times per day a player can untangle puzzles.
If there are concerns about children spending too much time playing, parents or guardians can use this setting to set an appropriate limit before handing the gaming device over to the child. Pokémon Friends also supports five (5) separate save files so that the whole family can enjoy the fun together. Note: The Nintendo Switch version of the game (paid) includes the Basic Pack downloadable content.
For a preview, introductory videos with concept art and gameplay explainer are available on the official YouTube channel. Please check out these links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiEh1nYbPXY
and https://youtu.be/EZLeSDKbZpc
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