This article was updated by Andrea Tram on 1 April 2026 with community findings highlighting another change in attack effectiveness. It was first published on March 31.
Pokémon champions will use the term “extremely effective” to describe attacks that hit four times the Pokémon's weakness to specific types. This change in terminology for Pokemon Champions was done to distinguish some moves from “super-effective” hits Pokemon the series has been in use since its first generation.
abbreviation Pokemon Champions is an upgraded Pokémon battle simulator that will launch worldwide on Nintendo Switch consoles on Wednesday, August 8. Pokemon Champions will launch on iOS and Android devices later in 2026. Like its predecessors, which include Pokemon Stadium and Pokémon Battle Revolution, Pokemon champions is focused on multiplayer. However, Pokemon Champions will allow the use of all battle tricks such as Mega Evolution and Terastalization as trainers see fit. Although it is a minor title, Pokemon Champions will be the exclusive home of the Pokemon Video Game Championships (VGC) competition format after the game's release.
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Pokemon Champions adds new type effectiveness terminology
Although the launch of the console on April 8 Pokemon Champions not far, some fans have already noticed a small but noticeable change, which will be a first for her Pokemon series. On Pokemon subreddit, a Pokemon a fan named Benhurso shared a picture of Heracross taking an injury from Pidgeot. While “super effective” is used to indicate that an attack has exposed a Pokémon's weakness, “extra effective” is used in Pokemon Champions to indicate when two weaknesses are hit. As a dual-type Bug and Fighting Pokémon, Heracross has a quadruple weakness to Flying-type moves. So any Flying type attack from a Pokemon like Pidgeot will deal extremely effective damage to the Single Horn Pokemon. IN Pokemon series, Weakness and Resistance attack calculations are multiplied. Since super effective moves deal double damage, extremely effective moves deal quadruple damage, almost guaranteeing a knockout against most Pokemon, including Heracross.
Pokemon Champions fans on Twitter/X reported another change that went unnoticed with how effective the attack is. Based on the strength of the attack, determined by the attacker's stats, the defender's stats, and the base pull power, animations will play that push the defender more and more, depending on how high or low the total damage is.
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Updated terminology Pokemon Champions it will also apply to Pokémon type resistance. Along with the weaknesses were the type resistances and Pokemon series stable since the first generation. The term “not very effective” has long been used to describe an attack that only deals half damage to the target, such as a Rock-type Pokemon being hit by a Normal or Fire-type attack. However, some users reported based on some practical insights Pokemon Championsthat the term “mostly ineffective” will be used to describe attacks that deal only a quarter of their standard damage. For example, if a dual-type Rock and Steel Pokemon like Aggron were hit with a Normal-type move, the attack would be mostly ineffective and barely deal any damage to Aggron. Since the terms “not very effective” and “super effective” have been used for so long to describe any attack that deals low or high damage, the addition of “mostly ineffective” and “super effective” is a first Pokemon franchise.
Pokemon Champions shake up the competitive scene
However, Pokemon Champions will bring more than just some new terminology to the competition format. Pokemon Champions you'll see an adjusted Power Point (PP) cost for most moves with a 20 PP limit for attacks and moves that would typically have more than in the main Pokemon games. However, some Pokemon's basic moves like Protect have been changed by PP. Although Protect usually has a minimum of 10 PP in the main Pokemon titles like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Champions reduced Protect usage to 8 PP.
Although these changes may require an adjustment period, Pokemon trainers looking for more strategic battles shouldn't be in short supply Pokemon Champions. Given that Pokemon Champions will be an official game of the VGC format moving forward, it remains to be seen which rival Pokémon teams will dominate the metagame once the spin-off title arrives.
