Pokémon Champions - releasing April 8, 2026

I swear to god didn't Bandai Namco announce they were collaborating with ILCA on a new Ace Combat game a year ago or so?

Between Sand Land and One Piece Odyssey being just ok and their Pokemon titles I would seriously be worried about that one if I were an Ace Combat fan. Their transition from a support studio to full-time seems to be going not optimally
 
For the damage point, Entrainment doesn’t do damage either. It’s a 2-move combination but split between mons.
Same turn, not on the same mon. With Belly Drum, one side has to use 2 turns to get to actually use the new attack boosts. With Entrainment + Sheer Cold, you’re attacking in the same turn reguardless.
 
I swear to god didn't Bandai Namco announce they were collaborating with ILCA on a new Ace Combat game a year ago or so?

Between Sand Land and One Piece Odyssey being just ok and their Pokemon titles I would seriously be worried about that one if I were an Ace Combat fan. Their transition from a support studio to full-time seems to be going not optimally
They probably have multiple teams and different goals for those games, further influenced by whoever is shelling out the cash.




That said the Pokemon ILCA team sure is.....something alright. I find the battle gltiches here bizarre because BDSP for all its problem was like...fine, battle wise? We don't even have the other mechanics in this game yet, there's fewer Pokemon, fewer moves...
 
Things like the Blastoise shenenigans earlier look to me more like desyncs than actual bugs honestly.

I mean, it depends on what caused this desync, because it looks really weird. I have a very stupid guess as to what happened (desynced because of Shell Smash, re-synced once Haze removed the stat changes), but we'd need to see if the bug is even replicable first.
 
I'm still confused by the Z-Haze behaviour - what happened there? Is that just how Haze works now?

Anyways so far I haven't really run into any bugs & have been coasting by running teams I stole from other players / some of my own shit on both singles / doubles and the game is quite fun. Most battles run fairly smoothly & I'd say the graphics look fine for this game - though the framerate is a bit weird. IDK what's going on in the main menu or cutscenes, but it really feels like the game is running underwater there - since the framerate doesn't look low in the normal stuttery way yknow.

Biggest issue thus far are the horrible nerfs that so many honest Pokemon underwent - Arch losing Body Press for literally no reason, Gliscor being jobless without Toxic Orb, Gengar and Dragonite losing Encore (with Dragonite also losing Dual Wingbeat and Loaded Dice Scale Shot). Sure some buffs like Poltergeist Aegislash and Roost Scizor cancel it out, but its not enough IMO.
 
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I'm still confused by the Z-Haze behaviour - what happened there? Is that just how Haze works now?

Anyways so far I haven't really run into any bugs & have been coasting by running teams I stole from other players / some of my own shit on both singles / doubles and the game is quite fun. Most battles run fairly smoothly & I'd say the graphics look fine for this game - though the framerate is a bit weird. IDK what's going on in the main menu or cutscenes, but it really feels like the game is running underwater there - since the framerate doesn't look low in the normal stuttery way yknow.

Biggest issue thus far are the horrible nerfs that so many honest Pokemon underwent - Arch losing Body Press for literally no reason, Gliscor being jobless without Toxic Orb, Gengar and Dragonite losing Encore (with Dragonite also losing Dual Wingbeat and Loaded Dice Scale Shot). Sure some buffs like Poltergeist Aegislash and Roost Scizor cancel it out, but its not enough IMO.
Honestly removing Body Press on Arch is kind of deserved.
Arch having both Electro Shot and Body Press + Stamina was a bit too much. You either hit it, making Body Press stronger and making Arch tankier, or you avoided hitting it, which case Electro Shot would boost its SpA while having effectively a 3rd STAB Electric move.
 
I can kinda see the balance choice for Arch.

While it was never "op" in VGC it created way too many lose/lose scenarios in the regulations where it was relevant, where if you hit it (expecially with common spread moves like icywind or snarl) it became stronger, but if you didnt it also does due to electro shot. Being a "threat to account or lose to" is fine but that kind of scenario are pretty frustrating to deal with.
 
Same turn, not on the same mon. With Belly Drum, one side has to use 2 turns to get to actually use the new attack boosts. With Entrainment + Sheer Cold, you’re attacking in the same turn reguardless.
Yeah, it lets you do it in one turn but you are still investing two moves, just with two different mons on the same turn. I do agree that there’s a difference in potency due to tempo there; So the much more apt comparison point is Anger Point with an auto-crit move.

I’m of the view that the ceiling of Anger Point was just so much higher than Entrainment OHKO moves are. Like that one gimmick SV Reg A team that used Timid Flower Trick Meow alongside Salac Krookodile with Power Trip + Rock Slide and/or EQ. There were times when that team could win in two whole turns by getting double KOs with Rock Slide / Earthquake. Plus there was also Costar Flamigo to get a second +6 Atm mon. Although it’s still not a guarentee KO unlike OHKO moves, being able to get more than one KO per turn compensates for it in my view.

I think these are somewhat comparable power level gimmicks, so I’m fine witn No Guard Entrainment being around. It’s not super relvant, but it does give M-Hawlucha a funny niche, especially given that HJK is much more a singles move than a doubles one, so it needed a little more to do with No Guard.
 
Kinda random but is there any way to reach out to developers and mention shit or is it purely devs just seeing twitter/japanese forums/talking with VGC players in person?

Like anyway to get an interviewer to ask where the fuck 6v6 private settings is and if we can expect it in the future? lol

Or is it just email nintendo support and pray its not a bot?

(I know the answer is probably a flat no but worth a shot incase contacting them and giving feedback enmass is a viable strategy)
 
https://news.pokemon-home.com/ja/page/758.html
A few but not all bugs have been officially acknowledged on the Japanese side.
(I can't see what they said because I have twitter blocked by anti-tracking stuff on my browser and hate twitter enough to never unblock it. If it's different than what Serebii says, please correct me. Also, just wondering, am I the only one with this self inflicted problem?)

Immediate edit: Huh... I can see what it says right after I quote it. Still can't read it though because it's Japanese.

Leech Seed is erroneously listed as taking damage up to 1/16 of maximum HP when it takes 1/8 of maximum HP.
Does that wording mean Leech Seed isn't getting nerfed by the bug fix? :D

I'm not happy that they even considered nerfing my favorite move, but I'd forgive the balance team if they decided not to nerf it after testing.
 
(I can't see what they said because I have twitter blocked by anti-tracking stuff on my browser and hate twitter enough to never unblock it. If it's different than what Serebii says, please correct me. Also, just wondering, am I the only one with this self inflicted problem?)

Immediate edit: Huh... I can see what it says right after I quote it. Still can't read it though because it's Japanese.


Does that wording mean Leech Seed isn't getting nerfed by the bug fix? :D

I'm not happy that they even considered nerfing my favorite move, but I'd forgive the balance team if they decided not to nerf it after testing.
I've seen people say Leech Seed still does the same damage, so yeah I don't think it was actually nerfed.
 
(I can't see what they said because I have twitter blocked by anti-tracking stuff on my browser and hate twitter enough to never unblock it. If it's different than what Serebii says, please correct me. Also, just wondering, am I the only one with this self inflicted problem?)

Immediate edit: Huh... I can see what it says right after I quote it. Still can't read it though because it's Japanese.


Does that wording mean Leech Seed isn't getting nerfed by the bug fix? :D

I'm not happy that they even considered nerfing my favorite move, but I'd forgive the balance team if they decided not to nerf it after testing.
Yes, they say the issue is that the 1/16 description is incorrect and the current behaviour in battle is correct.

The twitter link isn't really that important unless you want to see replies, the actual content is in the official pokemon webpage.
Serebii says mostly the same thing but with less detail, but I prefer to link primary sources whenever possible because of things like vague official statements about release time being "around noon" getting telephone gamed into an exact hour that ended up being off, which I did also assume at first but clarified soon after.

1775718540415.png
 
(I can't see what they said because I have twitter blocked by anti-tracking stuff on my browser and hate twitter enough to never unblock it. If it's different than what Serebii says, please correct me. Also, just wondering, am I the only one with this self inflicted problem?)

Immediate edit: Huh... I can see what it says right after I quote it. Still can't read it though because it's Japanese.


Does that wording mean Leech Seed isn't getting nerfed by the bug fix? :D

I'm not happy that they even considered nerfing my favorite move, but I'd forgive the balance team if they decided not to nerf it after testing.
Yeah the bug fix for Leech Seed seems to be to just fix the description.

No idea if they actually did consider nerfing Leech Seed at one point and changed their mind or it was just an input mistake.
 

(I can't see what they said because I have twitter blocked by anti-tracking stuff on my browser and hate twitter enough to never unblock it. If it's different than what Serebii says, please correct me. Also, just wondering, am I the only one with this self inflicted problem?)

Immediate edit: Huh... I can see what it says right after I quote it. Still can't read it though because it's Japanese.


Does that wording mean Leech Seed isn't getting nerfed by the bug fix? :D

I'm not happy that they even considered nerfing my favorite move, but I'd forgive the balance team if they decided not to nerf it after testing.

The list of upcoming changes translated into English w/ Google Translate:




Bugs that have been identified and are being fixed are currently under development.​

- The description of the "Leech Seed" state is incorrect.

Incorrect: Takes damage equal to 1/16 of maximum HP

Correct: Takes damage equal to 1/8 of maximum HP

However, the calculation is correct during battle.



- Under certain conditions, when both Pokémon Mega Evolve simultaneously, the order may be unintended.



- The gender of some Pokémon in the tutorial is incorrect.


- The gender of some Pokémon in the released coordinated teams is incorrect.



- When in Encore state, the ability "Lightning Rod" may not activate correctly.



- When viewing move details during battle, if you hover the cursor over "Mega Evolution" and press the B button, you cannot select the move.

*If this phenomenon occurs, you can avoid the inability to select the move by opening and closing the surrender window with the "-" button.



The above bugs are scheduled to be fixed in future data updates or maintenance.
 
Finally got around to booting this up.

Menuing feels sluggish and the resolution and framerate definitely need help. At least the loads are fast. Hopefully the Switch 2 version gets fixed soon – the game will probably look nice once it starts running properly.
 
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