I am undefeated in Pokemon Champions. Let me just bask in the glory of that sentence for a moment before we get into this. The soon-to-be dedicated hub for Pokemon's traditional turn-based PvP has a lot riding on it, and heading into my hands-on preview session, I was determined to start my new competitive journey off strong. So, would I say that my 2-0 victory went to my head? Of course not. Well, maybe a little. But, more importantly, I left the session excited about what this new battle-focused game means for the future of Pokemon's competitive landscape.
Pokemon's Video Game Championships (VGC) scene is one of the most interesting parts of the entire franchise, but it's easily one of the most complicated, too. I was around 12 years old the first time I attempted to become a serious Wi-Fi battler on Pokemon Black and White, but little did I know what an undertaking it'd be to even begin. It wasn't just about building a well-rounded team like in the single-player RPG campaigns – suddenly, I was dealing with all sorts of new mechanics, like Effort Values (EVs) to boost stats, and Individual Values (IVs) that could fundamentally decide whether a Pokemon was even capable of meeting their maximum potential in the first place.
