2026 Grand Challenge V announced for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet — Online competition to run from 20–22 February 2026

The fifth Online Competition in the 2026 Championship Series has been announced. The sign-up period for the 2026 Grand Challenge V runs from 12 February 2026 at 00:00 UTC to 19 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC, and the event itself runs throughout the weekend before Pokémon Day 2026 — 20 February 2026 at 00:00 UTC to 22 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC. The results and winning teams from this event 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 V 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 39 began on 1 February 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 V was originally announced to be taking place in May 2026. The schedule for Online Competitions changing could, possibly, relate to Shiny Pokémon being distributed as rewards for taking place in the upcoming Global Challenges that are yet to be announced. This would mirror Shiny Galarian Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres being given away as rewards for participating in Pokémon Sword & Shield's Online Competitions in early 2022.

Grand Challenges are 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:

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.