The fourth Online Competition in the 2026 Championship Series has been announced. The sign-up period for the 2026 Grand Challenge IV runs from 1 January 2026 at 00:00 UTC to 8 January 2026 at 23:59 UTC, and the event itself runs throughout the weekend of 9 January 2026 at 00:00 UTC to 11 January 2026 at 23:59 UTC. The results and winning teams from the 2026 Grand Challenge IV, known colloquially as the 2026 Grand Challenge 4, 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 IV uses the Regulation Set F ruleset, allowing the use of all Legendary and Paradox Pokémon, with the exception of powerful Restricted Special Pokémon such as Koraidon and Miraidon. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Ranked Season 38 begins on 5 January 2026 and instead uses the adjacent Regulation Set I ruleset.
For a reminder of the results from previous Online Competitions, check out Bulbagarden's coverage from the 2026 Grand Challenge I, Grand Challenge II, and Grand Challenge III.
The 2026 Grand Challenge IV 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 (CP), 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 the latter placement.
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:
- Launch your Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game.
- Open the X menu.
- Select Poké Portal.
- Select Battle Stadium.
- Select Online Competitions.
- Under Official Competitions, select Search for a Competition.
- Launch your Pokémon Scarlet or Pokémon Violet game.
- Open the X menu.
- Select Poké Portal.
- Select Battle Stadium.
- Select Online Competitions.
- Select Previous Results.
