The latest Pokémon Champions trailer may have confirmed that a leak in July was actually real all along. If true, The Pokémon Company may use daily play limits for the battle simulator’s campaign mode.
Pokémon Champions May Be Partially Pay to Play, According to Leak
Back in July, a major Pokémon Champions leak surfaced online that claimed to reveal many details about the title. At the time, no one knew whether to take it seriously. Because let’s be real, there is a new Pokémon leak every week, with “trust me, bro” sources of credibility. However, eagle-eyed fans realized that many details in the leak were actually correct following the Pokémon Champions update at the Pokémon World Championships tournament.
For starters, the leak correctly detailed the game’s Victory Points (VP) currency, as well as its 2026 release date. With its numerous additional features, it has made many consider the leak credible. If it’s true, then it means we have a lot of information about the competitive battle title, including how it will handle its campaign.
According to the July leak, Pokémon Champions will have a daily limit on how many times you can attempt the single-player mode.
“There will be a Campaign Mode with various kinds of challenges against NPCs and Gym Leaders, and apparently, you will need to play it to unlock certain Held Items and usable Pokémon. Only five attempts per day for Campaign Mode, you can buy more attempts using one of the two currencies.”
Although it should be pointed out, you can earn VP currency by winning battles. So in theory, you have the option to buy attempts for free if you earn enough.
Everything Reportedly Leaked About Champions
Assuming the leak is in fact real, there is a lot of information to go over. Some of the things that stand out to me are the claim that the game will have around 350 Pokémon at launch. Another wild thing in the leak is a supposed “Nuzlocke” challenge, where you can’t use your Pokémon again after it gets knocked out.
For your convenience, here is a list of everything supposedly leaked about Pokémon Champions:
- 350 Pokémon at launch. More to be added each new season.
- This will be a free digital download on Switch 1 & 2 (this was confirmed).
- The release date is January 23, 2026. (Semi-confirmed).
- Pokémon Home is compatible at launch.
- Ranked Mode will have seasons that last 2 to 3 months with regulation rules.
- Both Ranked and Casual Modes are available, plus a new Battle Frontier-like mode with various challenges.
- Rental Teams are available, but only in casual mode.
- There will be special modes, like Level 50 and Level 100. Some will have gimmick challenges like Dynamax-only challenges or type-specific battles.
- One challenge will be like a Nuzlocke. If a Pokémon gains, it can’t be used again until you beat a certain tier. You can’t heal your Pokémon until you’ve won 10 consecutive battles, etc.
- Rewards include clothes for your trainer, stadiums, held items, and Pokémon clothes.
- You’ll earn in-game currency by playing Ranked, Casual, or Battle Frontier matches.
- You’ll also earn “Victory Points” (VP) for every win. Currency and VP are different. (Confirmed)
- VP can be spent on healing items, and general held-times. While currency can be spent on stadium skins, clothes, and exclusive held-items.
- You can also buy currency with real money.
Game Will Have Two Versions
Of course, we should take all of this with a major grain of salt. While it’s compelling that the leak got many things right, it doesn’t guarantee everything in the rumor is real. If it is accurate, though, then I’ll be curious to see how The Pokémon Company handles the daily Campaign limits. If VP is easy to obtain, or the cost of the currency to buy attempts isn’t too high, then it won’t be so bad. But if you need to use real money to do more attempts, that is kind of frustrating.
Another interesting aspect to consider is that the Pokémon Company confirmed that there will be two versions of the game. Specifically, there will be a free-to-play and “paid” version of Pokémon Champions. So I wonder if the paid version will not have some of these limits and restrictions on it.
Or is the premium version just a battle pass and bonus cosmetic unlocks? I guess we’ll just have to wait to find out. Based on the leak, we should be getting Pokémon Champions at the very start of 2026. So the wait won’t be very long!
The post Pokémon Champions Might Have a Pay to Play Element, Leak Claims appeared first on VICE.
