Today Marks the End of an Era for Pokemon Games

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Today, April 1st, marks the start of the final ranked battle season in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Season 41 will be the end of new seasonal competitive updates in Scarlet & Violet, which has been running as the go-to ranked main series game since its launch in 2022. For now, ranked battles in the spin-off game Pokemon Legends: Z-A will continue, at least through the end of Season 9 on or around April 23rd. But with the upcoming launch of Pokemon Champions, we could be looking at an even bigger ending than usual with the final season in Scarlet and Violet.

With Pokemon Champions on the Way, Winds and Waves Could Leave Ranked Battles Behind

Image courtesy of The Pokemon Company

If nothing else, today marks the end of an era for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. As it enters its last ranked battle season, the game is likely going to see fewer updates and head towards the end of life as the main Pokemon game. With Pokemon Winds and Waves on the way, that definitely makes sense. But we could also be looking at the last main series Pokemon game to feature ranked and competitive play as we know it.

Pokemon Champions arrives for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 on April 8th, with its mobile version to follow. And the game is set to become the go-to standard for competitive play. Moving forward, Pokemon VGC tournaments will be held in Pokemon Champions, not the main series games. That’s a pretty big shift in its own right, since main series games have been the standard for competitive play since the official VGC began. But it could impact the future of ranked battles in main series games, as well.

Compared to the VGC, ranked battles within main series games are relatively new. After all, consistent online competitive play wasn’t always as easy as it is now. But since Pokemon Sword and Shield, players have been able to face off against others in ranked competitive battles in main series games. With official competition leaving main series games behind, however, there’s no guarantee that Pokemon Winds and Waves will bring back ranked battles.

Image courtesy of The Pokemon Company

We still have relatively few details about Winds and Waves, which is due out for the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in 2027. So while the Pokemon Company hasn’t confirmed the game won’t have a seasonal ranked battle system, they also haven’t confirmed that it will. That means today could be not just the end of new seasonal ranked battles in Scarlet and Violet, but in Pokemon main series games in general.

The current Season 41 of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will run from April 1st until the game’s end of service. You can check out the final ruleset and permitted Pokemon over at Serebii. There will be no further monthly updates or rewards.

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