Pokémon Champions is about to get a lot more portable. The Pokémon Company International has confirmed that its dedicated competitive battling game launches on iOS and Android on June 17, 2026, bringing the Switch hit’s strategy-first battles to phones and tablets — and pre-registration is open right now on the App Store and Google Play.
Unlike the mainline games, Champions strips away the overworld and the catching to focus on one thing: battling. It is built for players who live for team-building, type match-ups and the mind games of high-level play, and it has been doing exactly that on Nintendo Switch since its April 8 debut. The mobile release simply opens the doors to a much larger audience.
Full cross-play and cross-save with Switch
This is not a cut-down spin-off. The mobile version supports full cross-platform play and cross-save with the Switch release, so battles can happen across Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, iOS and Android all at once. Link your Nintendo Account and your progress travels with you, letting you start a ranked set on the couch and pick it back up on your phone. An internet connection is required to play.
A free Mega Raichu X and Y for logging in
To mark the launch, The Pokémon Company is running a login campaign. Players who sign in between June 17 and September 1, 2026 can claim Raichu along with the items Raichunite X and Raichunite Y from their in-game mailbox — redeemable on both Switch and mobile. Those unlock two flavors of Mega Raichu: Mega Raichu X, an Electric-type whose Electric Surge ability blankets the field in Electric Terrain on entry (boosting grounded Electric moves and blocking sleep), and Mega Raichu Y, whose No Guard ability makes every move it uses or takes connect with perfect accuracy.
A fresh competitive season at launch
The timing is deliberate. Pokémon Champions’ mobile arrival lands on the same day that Regulation Set M-B and Ranked Battles Season M-3 go live, resetting the competitive metagame just as a wave of new players jumps in. For anyone who has been waiting for a clean on-ramp into the game’s ladder, June 17 is about as good as it gets.
Pokémon Champions is free-to-start, so the barrier to trying it is essentially zero. Pre-register now and it will be ready to download the moment it goes live.
