Pokémon: Champions has officially introduced a seasonal Battle Pass system, offering players a new way to earn Pokémon, Mega Stones, outfits, and more. The system is split into free and premium tiers, with the premium version priced at $9.99.
According to Polygon, players must participate in specific ranked matches and competitive events to earn Battle Pass XP. Your performance directly dictates how quickly you level up: at the “Poké Ball” rank, a single win nets you roughly 100 XP—enough to gain a full level—while a loss yields only about 25 XP. Notably, casual matches do not contribute any XP toward your progress.
Rewards and Value Analysis
The pass features 50 tiers, with the first 30 containing core items like Pokémon and Mega Stones. Polygon notes that the exclusive value of the premium pass is actually quite limited. While premium players get early access to Emboar and Feraligatr, along with their respective Mega Stones, these items can eventually be obtained through the game’s gacha recruitment system, Pokémon Home transfers, or by spending VP at the Frontier Shop.
Currently, the only truly exclusive items in the premium pass are cosmetic, such as Trainer icons and outfits. For players looking to boost their Pokémon’s stats, the premium pass does include some training tickets, but these can also be earned through daily missions.
Polygon concludes that unless you are desperate to avoid the randomness of the recruitment system or want to save your VP instead of spending it on evolution and training resources, the free pass should be more than enough for most players. Ultimately, the system is designed to incentivize players to invest significant time into high-stakes competitive play to climb the ranks.