Pokémon Champions launches next month, first for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and then later for mobile devices. Focusing on battling and making trainers want to be the best like no one ever was, Pokémon Champions is a free-to-play experience. However, as with all free-to-play titles, there's a bit of a catch, and you can spend money if you wish.
The microtransactions in Pokémon Champions don't look too egregious, as they've been outlined by YouTuber PanFro Games (caught by Rasen on Twitter/X). The Starter Pack, which costs $9.99 and comes with an increased box size from 30 to 80, an exclusive battle song, 50 training tickets and 30 quick tickets, can be bought anytime, so whenever you feel like getting a little upgrade, you can.
<social>https://x.com/rasenburst/status/2037795825699393868</social>
Then there's the expected premium battle pass, which costs $6.99 and comes with the usual extra rewards you can't claim from the free, regular battle pass. For $49.99, you get a 12 month membership, which gives you even more box spaces to store Pokémon, more battle teams to be used at one time, exclusive missions, and exclusive songs.
<social>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s17ze2S7AHk</social>
None of this has been officially revealed by Nintendo yet, but PanFro did play the game at PAX East and so while we might be inclined to take this with a pinch of salt, it does sound like it'll be legit when the game launches.