Z Mega Evolutions and Legendary Pokémon teased for Pokémon Champions

During the closing ceremony for the 2026 Pokémon World Championships, a trailer for the next Pokémon Champions ruleset was teased. Regulation Set M-C runs from 9 September at 02:00 UTC to 2 December 2026 at 01:59 UTC, and is currently confirmed to be adding 26 Pokémon and at least 3 Mega Evolutions to the game.

Most notably, the three Z Mega Evolutions introduced in Pokémon Legends: Z-A are finally making their way to Pokémon Champions with this update. The Dark- and Ghost-type Mega Absol Z gains Sharpness as its ability, boosting the damage of slicing moves like Shadow Claw and Night Slash by 50%, complimenting its already remarkable Attack stat. Mega Garchomp Z gains Levitate, making it immune to Ground-type attacks as well as hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rocks. Finally, Mega Lucario Z gains a new ability called Aura Guard which halves damage taken from all attacks that make contact, greatly helping to support its mediocre defensive stats.

A now-deleted post from The Nintendo of America account on X (formerly Twitter) seems to confirm that a total of 26 Pokémon are set to be added to the game. Two of those Pokémon include the Ice- and Dragon-type Baxcalibur as well as the Grass-type Rillaboom—one of the most consistently powerful Pokémon in the Video Game Championships (VGC). Pokémon available in the current Regulation Set M-B will also be eligible for use in Regulation Set M-C.

Full details for this new ruleset are said to be "announced at a later date." With the introduction of Rillaboom, it's likely that its fellow Galarian Starter Pokémon, Cinderace and Inteleon, will make their way into the game as well. Baxcalibur was given a Mega Evolution in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, so its introduction to Pokémon Champions could introduce its Mega Evolution too. The only other non-Legendary Mega Evolutions that are not yet confirmed to be making their way to Pokémon Champions are Mega Golisopod, Mega Tatsugiri, and Mega Salamence—the latter of the three being a two-time World Champion!

The first official VGC event to use Regulation Set M-C will be the 2027 Baltimore Regionals, held from 19–20 September. The 2027 Global Challenge I also seems to be the first Online Competition to use this ruleset, beginning from 24 September.

The trailer concludes with a shot of Mega Heatran approaching the Battle Arena, teasing the introduction of Mega Heatran and Legendary Pokémon as a whole. Neither of these are confirmed for Regulation Set M-C, so this could possibly be a teaser for a future ruleset.

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