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The spin-off isn’t a traditional Pokémon RPG. Instead, it’s a free-to-play battle simulator that lets you import Pokémon from other games and create teams to take into online battles. Ideally, this will expand into an all-encompassing, generation-spanning tool for competitive players, allowing everyone from the greenest trainee to the most seasoned veteran to customize rulesets, playstyles, and teams to their liking. But Champions will have a few notable restrictions at launch. It will only feature fully evolved versions of each monster, so if you have a strategy or team that uses pre-evolved

There are two ways to build your team in Champions. The first is by using the game’s recruitment tools. This allows you to pick between a rotating group of Pokémon each day using Victory Points, which are earned in ranked battles. You can recruit monsters for a seven-day trial period, or pay VP to recruit them permanently. There will be ways to speed up the rotating roster, such as using in-game items called Quick Coupons, which are unlocked through missions. Once you’ve recruited a Pokémon, you can alter their stat distribution to your liking and swap out their attacks using VP or an item cal

The free version of Pokémon Champions has the same 30-Pokémon storage limit as Home, but if you want to buy into a Premium Membership, you’ll get additional storage in your box, be able to create more teams, and unlock membership-exclusive missions and music.  A cheaper Starter Pack will also be available for a one-time purchase of $7, which will add 50 storage slots and give you 30 Teammate Tickets and 50 Training Tickets.  Champions will also include Battle Passes, with both a free and paid premium track available. Some items, such as Mega Stones and some cosmetics, will be locked behind the

Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have been saying Pokémon Champions launches tomorrow, April 8, but because it’s getting a worldwide release the timing isn’t quite exact. Some territories will actually get the game a few hours early just because of time zones. If you’re here in America, Champions will launch at 11 p.m. Eastern Time, 8 p.m. Pacific.