2026 Grand Challenge III announced for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet — Online competition to run from 7-9 November 2025

The third Online Competition in the 2026 Championship Series has been announced. The sign-up period for the 2026 Grand Challenge III runs from 30 October 2025 at 00:00 UTC to 6 November 2025 at 23:59 UTC, and the event itself runs throughout the weekend of 7 November at 00:00 UTC to 9 November 2025 at 23:59 UTC. The results and winning teams from the 2026 Grand Challenge III, known colloquially as the 2026 Grand Challenge 3, will be found here on Bulbagarden once the event has concluded.

Despite there being no official ranked ladder for this format, the 2026 Grand Challenge III uses the Regulation Set H ruleset, banning the use of all Legendary, Mythical, and Paradox Pokémon. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Ranked Season 36 begins on 1 November 2025 and instead uses the adjacent Regulation Set J ruleset. Many players have criticised this decision, as it means there's currently no official way to practice for any online event in Regulation H.

For a reminder of the results from previous Online Competitions, check out Bulbagarden's coverage for the 2026 Grand Challenge I and Grand Challenge II. Davide Fazio won the former event by reaching a rating of 1847.123 with a balanced team of heavy-hitters, including Gholdengo and Bloodmoon Ursaluna; and the latter event was won by a trainer known as Ustm Ns with a rating of 1825.721 and a team featuring less common picks in Pokémon like Garchomp and Gallade.

The 2026 Grand Challenge III is only available for players who reside in "Championship Point-earning regions," including the 'USA & Canada', 'Europe', 'Latin America', 'Oceania', and 'Middle East & South Africa' rating zones. As such, players who rank high at the end of this event will receive Championship Points, a rating that allows the top players in each region to qualify for the 2026 World Championships. CP rewards are based on your placement in your respective rating zone; if you place 8th globally but 1st in the 'US & Canada' rating zone, for example, you receive CP based on your latter rating.

For more information on how to qualify for the Pokémon World Championships in the 2026 Championship Series, visit Pokémon's official Championship Series website.

Entries are limited to one per user per game version per Nintendo Switch system, and no entries will be accepted once the competition period has started. All players who participate, by completing at least 3 battles, receive a participation prize of 100,000 League Points, a Gold Bottle Cap, and an Ability Patch. Trainers will be limited to 15 matches per day, but any unused matches will be carried over to the Trainer's limits for the next day of the competition.

To register for the competition, follow these steps:

1. Launch your Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game.
2. Open the X menu.
3. Select Poké Portal.
4. Select Battle Stadium.
5. Select Online Competitions.
6. Under Official Competitions, select Search for a Competition.

To check rankings after the competition is over, follow these steps:

1. Launch your Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game.
2. Open the X menu.
3. Select Poké Portal.
4. Select Battle Stadium.
5. Select Online Competitions.
6. Select Previous Results.