Competitive Pokémon is now available on mobile, but you’ll still need a Switch to reach champion status.

To dive into competitive Pokémon battles, all you need is your phone. However, if you aim to compete at the highest level, like the Pokémon World Championships, a Switch is essential. The reasoning behind this is somewhat unclear.

Pokémon Champions first launched on the Switch and Switch 2 in April, with the mobile version arriving in June. The gameplay experience is nearly identical across both platforms, thanks to cross-platform compatibility. Ultimately, your choice boils down to your preferred device and whether you enjoy tapping on a screen or using a controller. Personally, I often find myself playing Champions on my phone since it’s always within reach and I have unlimited data.

At this year’s World Championships, though, the mobile version of Champions was not permitted in competition. Starting September 1st, some local tournaments will allow mobile play, but regional tournaments and higher will still require a Switch to compete.

During a roundtable discussion at Worlds last week, prior to the September 1st rule update, Champions producer Masaaki Hoshino explained the decision. “The reason why we’re using Switch right now is just because graphics are quite nice on the Switch 2,” he stated through an interpreter. “Also, with mobile, there are so many devices out there; allowing players to bring their own devices can complicate things.”

This explanation seemed less convincing before the rules changed. Tournaments at the regional level and above are streamed on official channels, and the VGC — the competitive video game circuit — was the most viewed of the four games showcased at Worlds this year. Hoshino’s comments, along with the new regulations, suggest that The Pokémon Company considers mobile suitable for smaller tournaments but perhaps not prestigious enough for the major VGC events. This year’s Worlds finals were held at the Chase Center in San Francisco, marking only the second time the finals took place in an arena rather than a hotel ballroom or convention center, with notably high production values and attendance.

Champions does look sharper on the Switch 2 compared to my iPhone 14 Pro, and it makes sense to want to showcase the best version of a flagship game in a series often critiqued for its graphics. While competitors must bring their own devices to tournaments, the official VGC rules handbook does mention that hardware might be provided during streamed matches. Players can generate a “team ID” for their tournament team, and technically anyone can use that ID to create a “replica” of that team on their own account. The handbook specifies that “Team IDs may be used for recordkeeping or team checks, and they may be utilized on hardware provided by the Tournament Organizer for streamed matches.” If visual quality is a concern, there’s already a workaround in place.

But is there a technical reason to restrict mobile play at every competition level? “Given that Champions is available on both mobile and Switch, cross-platform play is the trickiest thing,” Hoshino noted. “All of the battle calculation is done on the server side, which enables cross-platform play, but it was also one of the trickiest aspects of developing Champions.”

In short, not really. The challenges of cross-platform play might explain the differences between the console and mobile versions of Champions, but those issues should be resolved now that both versions are available (aside from regular server maintenance, of course).

Mobile isn’t an issue for other competitive Pokémon titles. The mobile version of Pokémon Unite is allowed in high-level competitions and has functioned well, although only one player in this year’s finals appeared to be using a phone instead of a Switch. Pokémon Go, exclusively on mobile, also streams its competitive matches similarly to VGC. While these examples may not strongly advocate for mobile — Unite is concluding its run in the World Championships, and the Pokémon Go spectator experience has its drawbacks — it’s clear that mobile can work in competitive settings.

Hoshino mentioned that Pokémon Champions has been downloaded around 25 million times across Switch 2 and mobile. Given that this figure exceeds the total Switch 2 install base as of June, it’s likely that several million downloads were on mobile devices. It’s uncertain how many of those players are exclusively mobile users, but with the recent price increase for the Switch 2 and rising tech costs, some potential Champions competitors may own a phone but not have the budget for a Switch.

Building a team and preparing for a tournament is the same whether you’re playing Champions on Switch or mobile. With the exception of Eternal Flower Floette, which can only be obtained through Pokémon Legends: Z-A, you can acquire every Pokémon needed for a team within Champions using the gacha-style “recruit” feature. It’s quicker and easier if you already own some Switch Pokémon games, as you can transfer Pokémon caught in those games into Champions via the cloud storage service Pokémon Home. However, it’s still possible to obtain the Pokémon you need without spending any money on Champions. Training those Pokémon to be battle-ready is also more efficient now; what used to take hours in-game can now be done in just a few minutes.

So, mobile-only players — or those who have only played Champions — aren’t significantly disadvantaged in team building. That said, Eternal Floette was part of the winning team this year, and many competitors have criticized it for being a “pay-to-win” Pokémon. If you don’t have a Switch for any reason, you can absolutely kick off your championship journey on mobile and potentially qualify for Worlds — only to find yourself lacking the necessary hardware to compete there.

Excluding those players from high-level competition seems like a misstep, especially when the stated goal of Pokémon Champions is “to be inclusive and accessible to all players.” This is evident in the game’s design, which makes previously hidden information easy to access and understand. The growing viewership of this year’s World Championships — alongside the thousands of spectators present at the arena — indicates that VGC is expanding. When I attended the Pokémon World Championships in 2016, the last time they were in San Francisco, it was a niche event held in a hotel; now, even the official MLB account is referencing the championship-winning VGC play.

Having followed and played VGC for a long time, I appreciate its depth and the passionate, welcoming community surrounding it. It’s exciting to see it gain popularity and accessibility. It only makes sense to keep tournaments as open as possible, too.