Pokémon Presents - Pokémon Day 2025 - Pokemon ZA Info & Pokemon Champions Announced

[AquaticPanic]

tera orb icon below mega, and i can see the stripe of the dynamax to the side of z-move. of course that was expected, but good confirmation. The way that the band works could give an implication that you can only use one gimmick in the team? with the whole switching what the arrow points, but that's a stretch

I feel like it could also just be for simplicity's sake. Just taking a look at how Ash was in the anime when he had everything available

They probably didn't want to keep the Champions player design cluttered by needing to include all of that just for it to "make sense" on why the player can use the gimmicks (not to mention add whatever accessory comes with future gimmicks)

Its easier to just say "yeah this one ring can do everything" bc then you just need to include the ring rather than Mega Stone + Z-Bracelet + Max Band + Tera Orb + whatever Gen 10 has in store

 

[Bakugames]

I feel like it could also just be for simplicity's sake. Just taking a look at how Ash was in the anime when he had everything available

oh no i agree, I just mean that the fact the arrow only points to one icon, instead of being a more neutral design, could indicate what gimmick you locked in on your fight. it is a stretch because they can always make it rotate when you click another, i just like trying to intuit object design

 

[Yung Dramps]

Man this game's meta is going to be so unique and fascinating

 

[Karxrida]

We also have confirmation that the battle mechanics will change between format rules for Champions. This implies the mechanics will be on a rotation


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Curious how the rotation will be handled because the first thing they showed off was Megas vs. Tera. Plus what Bakugames said about potentially being locked into a single gimmick regardless of which ones are legal. Especially interesting since Megas and Z-Moves were both legal during Gen 7.

 

[Bakugames]

Curious how the rotation will be handled because the first thing they showed off was Megas vs. Tera. Plus what @Bakugames said about potentially being locked into a single gimmick regardless of which ones are legal. Especially interesting since Megas and Z-Moves were both legal during Gen 7.

part of it is definitely me Hoping that its a gimmick lock game, because I think thats a lot more interesting than just letting everything fly and would allow for 3+ gimmick formats without looking insane. i also want to see tierlists on the best gimmick to use and why its dynamax

 

[R_N]

Curious how the rotation will be handled because the first thing they showed off was Megas vs. Tera. Plus what Bakugames said about potentially being locked into a single gimmick regardless of which ones are legal. Especially interesting since Megas and Z-Moves were both legal during Gen 7.

I'm guessing it'll depend on what they want Worlds to have and I assume what Gen 10 does/doesn't have. I also assume there'll be seasons between worlds-centric where they jsut go "and this month you can use X and Y but A & B" and so on.

For Worlds 2026 specifically, I think it'll land on Mega + Tera after a season of messing with Megas, a season of Tera being back and then a season with both leading to Worlds. Since those will be the most relevant pair and effectively be SV++ meaning there's likely less of a "learning curve" to account for the new Pokemon (well, old Pokemon) and megas. Then after worlds they probably let you mess with the other mechanics, but the wake of Gen 10 will likely have a more "basic" rulesset with whatever is available in that gaame both in terms of Pokemon and in terms of mechanics (I still think it'll have mega & tera, but we'll see!)



Anyway I think there probably won't be a "one super option per battle" mostly because I find it very hard to imagine anyone willingly uses Z Moves when they have any of the other 3 options available. "one time use nuke button" or "one time use boost button" kind of pales in comparison to what nuclear options Mega or Tera bring to the table or the sheer versatility of Max Moves (which are also nuke-adjacent in power anyway!).

 

[Bakugames]

honestly my main concern is if theyll ever let poor dynamax out of its cage. It was never designed with other gimmicks in mind and unlike tera, which has an entirely different function, it just seems like a lot of the time youd rather get the insane nuke power and hp boost of dynamax over a one turn thing with z moves or some megas that arent as insane to be stronger than dmax

 

[Karxrida]

Anyway I think there probably won't be a "one super option per battle" mostly because I find it very hard to imagine anyone willingly uses Z Moves when they have any of the other 3 options available. "one time use nuke button" or "one time use boost button" kind of pales in comparison to what nuclear options Mega or Tera bring to the table or the sheer versatility of Max Moves (which are also nuke-adjacent in power anyway!).

Speaking of Max Moves, I wonder how often they'll allow Dynamax considering it was (apparently) very unpopular even with VGC players. Or if we'll see nerfs to the mechanic at all (e.g. Fake Out and weight-based moves work on Dynamaxed Pokémon now).

 

[Yung Dramps]

I could see them doing a "every super mechanic legal at once" format but as a purposeful clusterfuck for funsies thing. Allow Restricted legendaries and mythicals too for total chaos

 

[DrPumpkinz]

Speaking of Max Moves, I wonder how often they'll allow Dynamax considering it was (apparently) very unpopular even with VGC players. Or if we'll see nerfs to the mechanic at all (e.g. Fake Out and weight-based moves work on Dynamaxed Pokémon now).

Nah Dynamax seemed pretty popular in VGC as far as I know. It was actually seen as a good mechanic instead of the absurdly busted one it was in smogon singles.

 

[Karxrida]

Nah Dynamax seemed pretty popular in VGC as far as I know. It was actually seen as a good mechanic instead of the absurdly busted one it was in smogon singles.

I occasionally watch a VGC-focused YouTube channel called Moxie Boosted and the dude has made it clear multiple times that Dynamax wasn't a super beloved format, especially during the second half of Gen 8. (Wolfy G. is very much an outlier for liking it fwiw.)

Regardless, it's controversial enough that I doubt it will come back completely unscathed. Either by being rarer in the rotation or with nerfs applied.

 

[DreamPrince]

I occasionally watch a VGC-focused YouTube channel called Moxie Boosted and the dude has made it clear multiple times that Dynamax wasn't a super beloved format, especially during the second half of Gen 8. (Wolfy G. is very much an outlier for liking it fwiw.)

Regardless, it's controversial enough that I doubt it will come back completely unscathed. Either by being rarer in the rotation or with nerfs applied.

And to add to this, a fanmade format called Spikemouth cup became popular due to not having Dynamax and was playable on PS! .

It’s good to see that Z-Moves are returning, here’s hoping to Z-Move + Mega Format to replicate Gen 7.

On another note, I wonder if there will be room for special ladders like Inverse, 1v1 and top 12 banned like they did in previous gens? Since Champions is multiplayer focused, this would be a great opportunity to bring those formats back.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Regardless, it's controversial enough that I doubt it will come back completely unscathed.

Do you recall what the exact problem(s) was/were?

If the problem is the Max Moves specifically, maybe they could limit it. Like, after D/G-Maxing, your Pokemon's Moves don't change, they just receive a slight Power boost & don't use PP. Then during one of your 3 turns, you can instead do a Max Move but only of one of your Pokemon's Type.

I think that would limit it enough and also give Z-Moves some space as it wouldn't be limited by the user's Type. Heck, maybe also give the Elemental Z-Moves the same secondary effects as the Elemental Z-Moves (and give the unique Z-Moves a special secondary effect, or have them share one with a G-Max Move).

... Hm, like, I know they wouldn't make new Mega or GMax for Champions as that would involve making a new design, but would new Z-Moves be out of the question?

 

[R_N]

... Hm, like, I know they wouldn't make new Mega or GMax for Champions as that would involve making a new design, but would new Z-Moves be out of the question?

I assume anything new like that would still be specific to the "real" games, even if it's something "lesser" like a new species-specific Z-move

 

[doipy hooves]

Multiplayer Z-A trailer notes:
HP stats seem to match 31 HP IVs/0 EVs for all mons involved as usual, including Dragonite/Mega Dragonite (unchanged).

Legends Z-A Substitute seems to set a Substitute on the field as a decoy. Later on it takes a hit from Gyarados and falls over. I guess the auto targeting can be more of a distraction there compared to just Protecting.

Simisear also shows off Nasty Plot which was originally an egg move for it.

Talonflame here has Steel Wing/Agility/Flare Blitz/Brave Bird.

Furfrou has Crunch (new)/Double-Edge/Hyper Voice/Snarl. Apparently Hipervoz is specifically a Latin American Spanish move name.

We actually see Furfrou get hit by a stray attack from full, probably Gogoat's Bulldoze as Mega Ampharos is damaged at the same time.

28 damage seems to be about expected from a Bulldoze being used in a double battle for a spread damage reduction (and no Fur Coat), assuming 0 EVs and neutral natures. Bulldoze doesn't seem to have a C+ icon either in this case. A speed debuff doesn't seem to be mentioned either, but in the demo footage we've seen String Shot inflict a speed debuff as expected.

0 Atk Gogoat Bulldoze vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Furfrou: 26-31 (17.3 - 20.6%) -- possible 5HKO

There seems to be a limit on how many times you can switch Pokemon (1 more time) perhaps per round or life, shown after switching to Salamence.

Here we see Gogoat using Bulldoze against a Mega Salamence (ineffectually) and Pangoro, while Pangoro hits Mega Salamence with Ice Punch to take it into the yellow, again about expected damage from uninvested stats (or as much as can be approximated). Immediately after it seems like Salamence went for Protect, but too late to block Ice Punch, and then it died to Dragonite's Draco Meteor anyway. Maybe if Harmony timed their Protect better, they could have tied the game for 2 KOs instead of letting Dragonite go from 0 to 3 at the last second, but I guess that wouldn't make for as exciting of a trailer.

0 Atk Pangoro Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salamence-Mega: 112-132 (65.8 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Website Dragonite has Hurricane/Draco Meteor/Hyper Beam/Extreme Speed. This seems to be paralleling the same scene in the trailer though the gender and KO counts don't align.

Despite Trailer Dragonite apparently unleashing a raging Draco Meteor, it's not shown with a SpA debuff icon where it would have been shown as seen in the demo gameplay either, though perhaps the debuff just wore off in a short time somehow or it's just a trailer oddity.

 

[Yung Dramps]

I had suspected this since the first proper LZA trailer but Kangaskhan has definitely gotten a remodel. Sharper face sculpt and her pouch visibly sags from the baby's weight

 

[Sugarbear]

Personally I want Mega Evolution and Terastylisation to come back. Not fussed about Z moves (would try to build an Extreme Evoboost Eevee team), and unless it got some major tweaks I don’t want Dynamax back.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Multiplayer Z-A trailer notes:
HP stats seem to match 31 HP IVs/0 EVs for all mons involved as usual, including Dragonite/Mega Dragonite (unchanged).

View attachment 764902View attachment 764916
Legends Z-A Substitute seems to set a Substitute on the field as a decoy. Later on it takes a hit from Gyarados and falls over. I guess the auto targeting can be more of a distraction there compared to just Protecting.

Simisear also shows off Nasty Plot which was originally an egg move for it.
View attachment 764930

View attachment 764905
Talonflame here has Steel Wing/Agility/Flare Blitz/Brave Bird.

View attachment 764917
Furfrou has Crunch (new)/Double-Edge/Hyper Voice/Snarl. Apparently Hipervoz is specifically a Latin American Spanish move name.

We actually see Furfrou get hit by a stray attack from full, probably Gogoat's Bulldoze as Mega Ampharos is damaged at the same time.
View attachment 764932
View attachment 764931

28 damage seems to be about expected from a Bulldoze being used in a double battle for a spread damage reduction (and no Fur Coat), assuming 0 EVs and neutral natures. Bulldoze doesn't seem to have a C+ icon either in this case. A speed debuff doesn't seem to be mentioned either, but in the demo footage we've seen String Shot inflict a speed debuff as expected.

0 Atk Gogoat Bulldoze vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Furfrou: 26-31 (17.3 - 20.6%) -- possible 5HKO

View attachment 764935
There seems to be a limit on how many times you can switch Pokemon (1 more time) perhaps per round or life, shown after switching to Salamence.


View attachment 764937View attachment 764938View attachment 764940
Here we see Gogoat using Bulldoze against a Mega Salamence (ineffectually) and Pangoro, while Pangoro hits Mega Salamence with Ice Punch to take it into the yellow, again about expected damage from uninvested stats (or as much as can be approximated). Immediately after it seems like Salamence went for Protect, but too late to block Ice Punch, and then it died to Dragonite's Draco Meteor anyway. Maybe if Harmony timed their Protect better, they could have tied the game for 2 KOs instead of letting Dragonite go from 0 to 3 at the last second, but I guess that wouldn't make for as exciting of a trailer.

0 Atk Pangoro Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salamence-Mega: 112-132 (65.8 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

View attachment 764922
Website Dragonite has Hurricane/Draco Meteor/Hyper Beam/Extreme Speed. This seems to be paralleling the same scene in the trailer though the gender and KO counts don't align.

Despite Trailer Dragonite apparently unleashing a raging Draco Meteor, it's not shown with a SpA debuff icon where it would have been shown as seen in the demo gameplay either, though perhaps the debuff just wore off in a short time somehow or it's just a trailer oddity.

View attachment 764923View attachment 764924

This could mean nothing but Mega Dragonite having a special moveset here + using Draco Meteor and Air Slash in the Champions trailer could point to it being a special attacker which would be very fun and a good way to differentiate from its base form and Mega Salamence while taking advantage of Gen 1 Movepool Magic

 

[reaverz]

It seems that Champions will in fact be the game used for Worlds moving forward, which sort of implies that Gen 10 won't have a true Ranked battle mode. I'm sure it will still have online battles like the Let's Go games and BDSP do, but probably nothing that ties into VGC. I'm a little surprised by this to be honest- I figured that Champions would be used for Worlds 2026, but also thought the Gen 10 games would be used for Worlds 2027.

I suppose this means that HOME compatibility for Gen 10 will need to be added by January 2027 at the latest, in order for the new Pokémon to be usable in Champions during VGC events. Might we begin to see HOME compatibility for new generation games within a month of their release? I personally think there's a decent chance, now that Champions has been cemented as the VGC game.

It's nice to see Z-moves and Dynamax being soft-confirmed by the Omni ring's description and key art. If I had to guess, I'd say that the main reason those two super-mechanics are being implemented after Mega and (probably) Tera is that unlike the former two, Z-moves and Max Moves require GameFreak to design effects and stats for moves introduced after the mechanic's generation. For example, Z-Life Dew needs an effect whipped up for it, and Ice Spinner needs to have a base power when used as Max Hailstorm.

Speaking of Max Hailstorm, I'm guessing it will be changed into "Max Snowstorm" for Champions, which would actually be a pretty significant buff for Dynamaxed Ice-type Pokémon.

 

[Esserise]

I still wonder if it's actually F2P at all. That's kind of been the running assumption*, because surely of course it would be right, but I do not believe it's been said anywhere.

Looks like we got confirmation of Champions being free-to-start in today’s press release.

“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.”

 

[Coronis]

I wonder if a "Tera Preview" would be connected to the "Item Preview" or separated into its own option. Like I imagine most would either like to know both Items & Tera or go in blind, can't imagine there being a lot who would want one but not the other. Though, in theory, knowing only one could keep some level of surprise that could set and/or turn a battle.

Also I'm wondering if a Pokemon that's holding a Mega Stone/Z-Crystal would be able to Tera & Dynamax/Gigantamax or, like with Mega Rayquaza holding a Z-Crystal not being able to Mega Evolve, they'd want to restrict a Pokemon's option in battle to one super mechanic. Though to also do that they'd have to find a way to make it so a Pokemon could only have the option to Tera or Dmax/Gmax (maybe you'd need to preset a Pokemon with a "Tera/Dmax/Gmax Factor").

I always assumed each Pokemon would only be able to use a single gimmick at once… anything else feels completely off and OP

 

[doipy hooves]

Looks like we got confirmation of Champions being free-to-start in today’s press release.

“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.”

"Players can earn in-game rewards when a battle ends or when their rank increases, with additional rewards granted based on their final rank when the season ends after a set time period. Since rewards vary by season, active participation is necessary to climb the ranks and earn rewards."

Wow. On top of ranked there's actual seasons, resets, and rewards too. I really have to wonder if there's going to be any counterplay to just bringing some 700 BST megas or whatnot (the only thing I could guess is that each team seemed to have exactly one mega), or what rewards could even be worth it. Maybe the currency grind will be tough/and or there could be exclusive cosmetics, aside from titles. I hope there being 26 ranks is at least quick to rank up within each one.

https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-...-a-battle-club-matches-in-pokemon-legends-z-a

Pokemon.com covers mostly the same detail as the website news posts, but there are some points I glossed over.

When a Z-A Battle Club match begins, Trainers will be positioned at different spots in the stage. From there, they send out Pokémon from their team to enter the fray. If your Pokémon faints, you’ll return to your starting point and reenter the battle with all your Pokémon fully recovered. Defeating an opponent’s Pokémon earns you a point, and these points determine your ranking.

Here they explicitly confirm the implication that trainers start off at certain spots (which wasn't on the news post) and you respawn where you started (which was on the news post). This makes me wonder about spawn camping, though it seems like you'll at least get time to choose your next mon to spawn with so ideally you could pick a counter to what's on the field.

In Private Battles, you can input a Link Code to connect with nearby players using local communication or distant players using the internet. You can even select battle rules from several options and battle against up to three other players using the rules you like.

This was also mentioned (slightly reworded) on the website news post, but it seems this game will also have "several options" for battle rules which is interesting. I have to wonder how these different rules will come into play in ranked or singleplayer, and what the casual/non-default options are in that case. Maybe megas/held items/overworld items will be an on/off option, or level clause probably if you want to play with level 100s, and species clause or team size options could be there like usual. Alternate timers could also be an option, though the 3 minute time limit seems like it's being explicitly advertised as part of the ranked/main mode, but maybe there could be a first to X KOs rule instead. Honestly there might not be that much involved for just the private gamemode option, but it's shaping to be much more than Arceus had in mind so I think that's kind of neat.

Also other brief trailer notes:

Simisear seems to clash Focus Blast head on with Ampharos's Thunderbolt at the exact same time, facing each other down during startup. We don't actually see them contact or take damage but it looked cool.

Simisear runs around with a visible orange buff aura animation below it after using Nasty Plot. The same seems to apply to Growth Bellsprout in the demo.

Ampharos whiffs a Thunder on Gyarados in this background segment after the first kill, with multiple angles to help. It seems to charge up on a specific area where the mon was, but takes plenty of startup time so despite being point blank to start, Gyarados just swims away. It does land one later on Simisear, when its target was attacking and not moving.

 

[Esserise]

This was also mentioned (slightly reworded) on the website news post, but it seems this game will also have "several options" for battle rules which is interesting.

I’m pushing the boat out here because I doubt they’d do this even though it’d be fun, but maybe one of the options could be Invert Type Matchups, since Inverse Battles originated in X & Y.

 

[Worldie]

Do you recall what the exact problem(s) was/were?

Max Airstream.

No seriously, 90% of the problem was that move.
Having access to a flying move could single handedly determine if you were eligible or not for Dynamax, since being able to attack AND gain speed boost for both pokemon has unsurprisingly been insane.

Dynamax wasn't exactly "loved" by VGC players as format, but it also was nowhere close to the clusterfuck that the mechanic is in singles, since in doubles you had a lot of new interesting strategies to do both with and against it (massive debuffs like Eerie sound, Yawn, tricking things like Red Card, use low powered spread moves to proc your weakness policy, etc)

 

[Karxrida]

This could mean nothing but Mega Dragonite having a special moveset here + using Draco Meteor and Air Slash in the Champions trailer could point to it being a special attacker which would be very fun and a good way to differentiate from its base form and Mega Salamence while taking advantage of Gen 1 Movepool Magic

It'll probably be a mixed attacker if anything due to Extreme Speed being present + Base 134 Attack before Mega Evolution.