Pokemon Champions Makes an Interesting Change to Super Effective Attacks

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In the game Pokemon Champions, attacks that are particularly strong against a Pokemon—hitting a critical weakness—will be called “extremely effective.” This is a new way to describe these powerful moves, differentiating them from simply “super effective” attacks, which have been used throughout the Pokemon series since the beginning.

Launching first on Nintendo Switch on April 8th, Pokemon Champions is a new Pokemon battle simulator that will also be available on iOS and Android devices in 2026. Similar to games like Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Battle Revolution, it emphasizes battling other players. A key difference is that Pokemon Champions will allow players to use all battle features – including Mega Evolution and Terastallization – however they choose. Importantly, even though it’s a spin-off game, Pokemon Champions will become the official home for the competitive Pokemon Video Game Championships (VGC) once it’s released.

Pokemon Champions Adds New Type Effectiveness Terminology

Fans are noticing a new feature in the upcoming Pokemon Champions game, launching on April 8th. For the first time in the Pokemon series, attacks will be categorized as “extremely effective” in addition to “super effective.” This new designation appears when an attack exploits two of a Pokemon’s weaknesses. A recent post on the Pokemon subreddit showed a Heracross, a Bug and Fighting-type Pokemon, receiving an “extremely effective” hit from a Pidgeot. Because Heracross is doubly weak to Flying-type attacks, the damage is multiplied, dealing four times the normal damage – essentially guaranteeing a knockout for most Pokemon, including Heracross. Traditionally, Pokemon games calculate damage from weaknesses by multiplying the attack power, and this new level of effectiveness dramatically increases the impact of exploiting multiple weaknesses.

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The latest Pokémon game, Champions, is also changing how type resistances are described. For years, Pokémon games have used the phrase “not very effective” to indicate an attack does only half damage – like when a Normal or Fire-type attack hits a Rock-type Pokémon. However, previews of Champions suggest a new term, “mostly ineffective,” will be used when an attack does even less damage – only a quarter of the usual amount. For example, a Rock and Steel-type Pokémon like Aggron would take very little damage from a Normal-type attack, which would be described as “mostly ineffective.” While “not very effective” and “super effective” have always described attacks that do less or more damage, adding “mostly ineffective” and “extremely effective” is a new feature for the Pokémon series.

Pokemon Champions Will Shake Up The Competitive Scene

Okay, so Pokemon Champions isn’t just changing up some names – it’s actually shaking up how battles work! They’re tweaking how much energy moves cost, or PP, and capping most attacks at 20 PP, which is lower than in the regular games. Honestly, it’s a big deal because some moves we rely on a lot are getting hit with these changes. Take Protect, for example. Usually, I get at least 10 uses out of it in games like Scarlet and Violet, but in Champions they’ve limited it to just 8 PP. That’s going to change how I play for sure!

While it might take some getting used to, competitive Pokémon players will find plenty of strategic depth in Pokémon Champions. Now that Pokémon Champions is the official game for the Video Game Championships (VGC), it’s exciting to see which powerful teams will emerge as the best once the game is released.

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2026-03-31 22:37