Pokemon Champions players will have to pay for mega stones and battle lanes

Although the headlines were focused on the Gen 10 reveal, Friday's Annual Presents also confirmed that Pokemom Champions will launch on Nintendo Switch this April, with a mobile version to follow later this year. The finer details of what players will and won't have to pay for in the free-to-play game haven't been shared, and it's becoming a little clearer why that might be.

Champions will truly be a free-to-play game. However, details have been trickling out through reveals and leaks, suggesting that if you're planning to stick with the free version of Pokémon Champions, it doesn't look like you'll have many options. For starters, as Nintendo Everything reports, you'll only be able to store up to 30 Pokémon unless you pay to expand your storage to 80.

You won't have much room for Pokemon in Champions unless you're willing to pay for it

It appears that the additional storage will be tied to the Starter Pack and that if you purchase this pack you will be able to store 50 additional Pokemon. If you want to save more than 80, then you'll have to spend even more by paying for the Pokemon Champions subscription. While storage has been a premium commodity in other games, including Pokemon Go, having so little available for free will almost certainly be an unpopular decision.

Storage isn't the only thing that will reportedly be locked behind various paywalls. The subscription — which will likely require monthly payments, though pricing details haven't been released — also increases the number of teams you can build, gives you access to premium missions (another similarity to Pokemon Go), and unlocks more music. You're not sure the last one will be that popular, either, after the reaction to Metroid Prime 4 after Nintendo locked away part of its soundtrack for expensive amiibo.

Starter Pack, Subscription and Battle Pass

Somehow that's still not all. In addition to the starter pack and subscription, it also looks like the champions will have a paid battle pass with even more things locked in for players who plan to play for free. These other things include Mega Stones and a reduction in the amount of grinding you have to do to unlock certain Pokemon, which makes it sound a little close to pay-to-win.

It seems likely that the battle pass will be part of the subscription, but as well as pricing details, this cannot yet be confirmed.

We won't know how terrible some of the payment options are in Pokémon Champions until it arrives on Nintendo Switch this April. It doesn't bode well that early indications suggest that a lot of content will be locked behind various paywalls. Charging Pokemon Friends for additional levels didn't go well at all. In fact, it was so poorly received that even though it's barely been six months, I bet you're struggling to remember what Pokemon Friends actually is.