With The Pokémon Champions Dust Settled, Fans Are Finding Things They Love

Pokémon Champions may have gotten a rough start, but now that it’s been out for a little while, fans are starting to see the positives. The Pokémon Company’s free-to-play battle arena game attracted lots of criticism in its early days, with players decrying its small Pokédex, its restrictions on transferring, and its many, many bugs.

Early fixes have already begun to roll out, but even though there’s still work to be done, players are starting to come around on a few aspects of Champions. It’s far from perfect, but it may be on its way to something better, and there are still diamonds hidden amid its rough edges.

Pokémon Champions Has Potential

Even If It Has A Long Way To Go

Yesterday, X (formerly Twitter) user CentroLeaks shared a rare positive opinion about Pokémon Champions: it “casually has one of the best battle themes of the entire series hidden in its files.” The song isn’t available in-game as of yet; per CentroLeaks, it’s set to play during the World Championships.

But you can listen for yourself at the link above: it’s a pretty epic track, carried by synth trills and an electric guitar solo. Whether you believe it’s actually the “best” battle theme in the franchise is definitely up to personal preference. But this one is undeniably suitable for the World Championships, and could bring a bit of character to the struggling game.

But more importantly, it represents what a lot of fans feel is missing from Pokémon Champions: passion. Or, as commenter SnealFGC put it, “Wish they cooked the whole game as hard as they cooked on this track.”

Patches Need To Arrive Quicker

Champions Still Has Major Uses

Still, most players would likely argue that Pokémon Champions has bigger issues that need to be fixed first. A spate of recent bug fixes does appear to have done some good: simple things, like the incorrect description for Leech Seed, incorrect genders, incorrect HP displays, and incorrect activation of certain moves and effects, are already being addressed.

Still, there are bigger issues, including bugs that cause Pokémon to become “trapped” and unusable. Perhaps the biggest issue, though, is Champions‘ lack of content. It’s missing key Pokémon and held items that are incredibly important to certain popular strategies, and these things make it. Battles can still be fun, but hardcore players are disappointed by these limitations.

There’s light at the end of the tunnel, though: some details about Champions‘ second season allegedly leaked online earlier this week. It’s not a comprehensive fix for every issue players have raised with the game, but it does suggest that more content, and hopefully with it, more bug fixes, will be coming soon. Pokémon Champions may have a long way to go, but at least it’s on its way.