Fans combing through the Pokemon Champions trailer have discovered that the game will include detailed move descriptions with exact percentages, a stark departure from how it has been done in the past. Unlike mainline games in the series, Pokemon Champions focuses exclusively on competitive battling, a distinction that may have influenced Game Freak to make the battling system more intuitive.
Pokemon Champions was revealed in an announcement trailer in February 2025 as a spin-off game to be released on Switch and mobiles. Since then, however, there hasn't been much in terms of details regarding the title. That changed with the Pokemon Presents livestream held on July 22, which featured a brand-new trailer with actual gameplay footage, revealing previously unannounced mechanics that had fans sitting up and taking notice.
If Any Pokemon Game Deserves to Be Free-to-Play, It’s Champions
Game Freak's upcoming Pokemon spin-off, Pokemon Champions, should be free-to-play in order to reach as large an audience as possible on all platforms.
In a recent post on Reddit, user CreeperSlimePig shared that they spotted an unusual detail in the Pokemon Champions trailer. Instead of vague statements, the description for the move Expanding Force included the exact percentage for the damage boost it provides, something that's never been done in an official Pokemon game before. For comparison, the in-game entry for Expanding Force in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet only mentions "the move's power is boosted," an ambiguous statement that does not clarify exactly how much this "boost" is.
Pokemon Champions Will Have Detailed Move Descriptions
|
Pokemon Champions |
When Psychic Terrain is active, this move's power is boosted by 50% and its range extends to all opponents. |
|---|---|
|
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet |
When the ground is Psychic Terrain, this move's power is boosted and it damages all opposing Pokemon. |
Many users in the comment section expressed relief that Game Freak had the foresight to include this much-needed quality-of-life feature, one that is expressly aimed at making competitive Pokemon battling more accessible. While veterans might know the exact effects of every move in the franchise without having to look at the in-game entries, having detailed move descriptions means casual players who want to get into the scene will have an easier learning curve.
Others pointed out that Game Freak seems to be taking cues from Pokemon Showdown, an incredibly popular browser-based fan game that serves as a hub for all competitive battlers in the scene. Showdown strips away all the vague terminology from Pokemon moves, giving players a very clear idea of what a move does, something Champions appears to be emulating.
In fact, this is not the only feature from Showdown that looks to be making its way to the official game. Pokemon Champions’ trailer showed a percentage indicator next to the HP bar, removal of EVs and IVs, and unique text pop-ups for 0.25x, 0.5x, 2x, and 4x effective moves. These are all features that Showdown has, though the execution in Champions appears to be slightly different.
- Developer(s)
- The Pokémon Works, Game Freak
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Pokemon
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action, Fighting
