The Pokémon Company has apologized for bugs and issues in the newly launched Pokémon Champions battle simulator on Nintendo Switch. The developer listed several fixes in an upcoming patch and announced a brief maintenance period. Players reported problems including incorrect descriptions, animation glitches, and transfer issues.
Pokémon Champions, a new competitive battle simulator, launched on Switch to mixed reception due to bugs and missing content. The Pokémon Company issued a statement apologizing for the inconveniences, as translated by fansite Serebii. The developer, referred to as The Pokemon Works in some reports, detailed specific issues in a blog post, including an incorrect in-game description for Leech Seed that undersells its damage at 1/16 of maximum HP instead of the correct 1/8, and errors in Pokémon genders in the tutorial and recruitable teams, such as a female Gallade which is not possible in the series. Other bugs involve unintended Mega Evolution animation orders when both sides transform simultaneously, Lightning Rod failing under Encore conditions, and a battle menu glitch preventing move selection after hovering over Mega Evolution—fixable by toggling the surrender window. A Pokémon Home transfer bug causing limbo states has already been resolved, though communication errors during expeditions were noted. The game will go offline at 6 p.m. Eastern for two hours to deploy fixes. The company pledged to investigate further issues amid player complaints about performance, absent Pokémon like Pawmot and Mega Raichu X, and visual glitches on Switch 2.