By Published Apr 11, 2026, 1:31 PM EDT Lee D’Amato is a writer born, raised, and based in Queens, New York. With collective thousands of hours in games like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Elden Ring, and The Legend of Zelda, he's now writes game features, guides, and reviews for Screen Rant, but has covered a wide range of topics, including ancient history, affordable travel, and overall health. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
fans are up in arms over the buggy release of the long-running series' latest game. as a free-to-play battle arena game for players on Switch and Switch 2, with a mobile release to follow. While the arrival of a new Pokémon game is usually something to be celebrated, players have taken issue with much of what Champions has to offer.
One particularly egregious bug, reported by Centro LEAKS on , cuts the game's resolution in half on the Switch 2 if you start the game while the console is docked and connected to your TV. Luckily, it's an easy fix — all you have to do is remove the console from the dock, then place it back in — but it's a frustrating problem and, many fans say, emblematic of Pokémon Champions' troubled release.
Pokémon Champions Is Having A Rough Launch
Bugs And Gameplay Complaints Are Common
First reactions to Pokémon Champions have been mixed, with many fans encountering bugs and critiquing cerain aspects of the game. Resolution issues aren't even the half of it: some players have reported a bug that when you try to transfer them from Pokémon Home.
These Pokémon were subsequently unavailable in Champions, and couldn't be transferred back to Home or another game, causing them to be effectively lost for the time being. This error appears to have been resolved in an early patch, though.
Others have complained about . It runs natively at 30 frames per second, even on the Switch 2, which was able to run other Pokémon games like Legends: Z-A at 60. It's unclear whether this was an intentional decision to improve stability, or whether a Switch 2 patch could up the frame rate in the future.
And still others have expressed concerns about , which appears to include just 200 usable Pokémon at present. With over 1,000 Pokémon throughout the franchise, the latest release only uses a surprisingly small fraction.
Players have also complained of the limited modes available at launch, the restrictions on transferring Pokémon between Home and Champions, and mechanical changes to the intricacies of battling. There are lots of competing grievances, and everyone experiences Pokémon Champions' issues differently, but luckily, we may not have to deal with them too much longer.
Are Fixes On The Way?
A Patch Is In The Works, Says TPC
The Pokémon Company has acknowledged player issues with Champions, and said in a post on their earlier today that they're working on fixes for certain bugs (spotted and translated by ). A patch is underway, and the following bugs are being addressed:
- Genders of certain Pokémon in the tutorial
- Lightning Rod not working while Encore is active
- Inability to select a move while the Details menu is open and the cursor is on Mega Evolution
- Leech Seed's incorrect description
- Turn order bugs when two Pokémon Mega Evolve at the same time
Of course, there are still many other issues players have reported with Pokémon Champions that aren't listed here. These, too, may be addressed in this or future updates.
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The game will almost certainly get better over time, but certain hangups some players seem to have with it — its low frame rate, its changes to battling mechanics, its inflexibility when transferring Pokémon from Home, even if they're not getting stuck in limbo anymore — deliberate things like these may be here to stay. Really, all we can do is wait and see how Pokémon Champions changes in future updates.
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