Pokémon Champions & VGC Regulations

VGC stands for Video Game Championship: it's the format for competitive Pokémon battles, used in Pokémon Champions and real life events. It follow a certain subset of rules that we'll describe in this guide.

General ruleset

• The list of Pokémon allowed in a team depends on the current generation of Pokémon and their availability, as well as the current regulation set ongoing.
• Only one Pokémon of the same species can be used in a team.
• Pokémon used are automatically adjusted to level 50 when in battle.

Rules specific to Double battles

• The official VGC format (Video Game Championship).
• Double battles: Each player send 2 Pokémon on their field at the beginning of the battle. The format of combat is 2 vs 2 until no Pokémon remains on one player's side (last remaining Pokémon fights alone against one or two Pokémon)
• Each player brings a full team of six Pokémon before the battle. Each player can see the Pokémon in the opponent's team when they're matched. They have 90 seconds (1 minute 30) to pick four Pokémon out of six: these four Pokémon will be sent in battles, the first two picked will be sent first in battle.

Rules specific to Single battles

• Single battles: Each player send 1 Pokémon on their field at the beginning of the battle. The format of combat is 1 vs s 1 until no Pokémon remains on one player's side.
• Each player brings a full team of six Pokémon before the battle. Each player can see the Pokémon in the opponent's team when they're matched. They have 90 seconds (1 minute 30) to pick three Pokémon out of six: these three Pokémon will be sent in battles, the first picked will be sent first in battle.

Regulation sets

Regulation sets define which Pokémon, items, abilities and learnsets are available to play, usually based on the Pokémon available in the official Pokémon game at the time and the Pokémon banlist. They usually last for 3 to 4 months. The regulations sets in 2026 are the following ones:

- Regulation Set F returning (also called F2) was active between December 1 2025 and March 31 2026.

- Regulation Set I returning (also called I2) is active from April 1 2026 to May 28 2026

- Regulation Set M-A was first used at the Indianapolis Pokémon Regional Championships, held in May 29-31, 2026: the first event that will use Pokémon Champions as its exclusive competitive platform. The format will last until June 17, 2026.

- Regulation Set M-B will be active from June 17, 2026. With the Raichu campaign, we can presume that this regulation will last until September 2, 2026.

- Other regulation sets will be used going forward: some minor ones after a rank reset & placement tallying, some major ones introducing Pokémon or even game mechanics such as Terastallization.

Seasons

History of seasons in Pokémon Champions:

2026

Regulation M-A (April 8 in Pokémon Champions - June 16)

• Season M-1: April 8 - May 12
• Season M-2: May 13 - June 16

Regulation M-B (June 17 - ?)

• Season M-3: June 17 - ?