The Pokemon Company has announced a new battle-oriented game Pokemon Champions for both mobile and the Nintendo Switch.

Pokemon Champions appears to focus more on quick VGC format battles, making competitive Pokemon play more accessible to casual players.

Given the success of “battle simulators” such as Pokemon Showdown, it’s not surprising that The Pokemon Company would look into making competitive battles easier to access.

Currently, players have to fully raise a Pokemon, train it up, and then sit in queue after loading Pokemon Scarlet or Violet. While details are sparse at present, it appears that Pokemon Champions will streamline that process.

You can check out the trailer for Pokemon Champions and other franchise announcements in the latest Pokemon Direct below.

During the trailer, we get to see that players will be able to go head to head on both mobile and Nintendo Switch with crossplay.

Players will be able to access Pokemon they’ve transferred from Pokemon Home, but again it’s unclear what exactly this will mean for the core gameplay loop. We’re also uncertain how Pokemon Champions is likely to be monetized. Stick with us at Niche Gamer for future developments.

A release date has yet to be announced.