Games, New
Which Pokémon game to start with in 2026
For most adults starting in 2026 the first game is Scarlet or Violet on Nintendo Switch, because it is the current turn-based main-series game, runs on Switch and Switch 2 and connects to everything else through HOME. Pick Legends: Z-A instead for a story in one city with real-time battles, Sword and Shield or Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl for classic gyms and routes at an older-title budget, and Let's Go for two players on one console. Without a console, Pokémon GO, TCG Pocket and the phone version of Champions are free to start, and the paper card game needs one two-player starter product.
For adults choosing a first Pokémon game in November 2026. Switch, Switch 2 and phone. Drafted 8 Nov 2026.
Choose the game by the kind of play you want
Pokémon games split into five kinds of play, and the same name covers all of them. Story games follow one trainer through a region, catching and battling to a final league or climax; Scarlet and Violet and Legends: Z-A are the current ones. Open-world play means choosing your own order through the map, which Scarlet and Violet offer and Legends: Arceus offers in large zones. Classic structure means eight gyms in a fixed order along routes, as in Sword and Shield, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and FireRed and LeafGreen. Short sessions suit phone apps: GO for walks, Pocket for card packs and quick matches, Champions on a phone for single battles. Couch play means two people at one console or one table.
The console you own narrows the choice to a handful of games
A Nintendo Switch or Switch Lite plays every Switch game in the table; the Lite is handheld only, so it has no television mode for couch play. A Nintendo Switch 2 plays the same Switch games, runs the Switch 2 Edition of Legends: Z-A and will be the only system for Winds and Waves in 2027. A 3DS still plays older cartridges such as Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, Sun, Moon and the DS games, but its eShop stopped selling software on 27 March 2023, so those come as used cartridges. A phone runs GO, Pocket and TCG Live, and Champions has run on iOS and Android, as well as Switch and Switch 2, since 17 June 2026, with cross-platform battles.
Older titles cost less and play as fully as full-price ones
The table uses three budget labels instead of prices. Full price means a current release sold new at the publisher's standard price: Legends: Z-A, and in practice Scarlet and Violet, whose price has stayed close to launch level. Older title means a game that has been out for years and turns up used or discounted: Sword and Shield, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Let's Go and Legends: Arceus. Free app means no charge to install and play, with optional in-app purchases. FireRed and LeafGreen on Switch are a 2026 download sold below full price. Expansions such as The Teal Mask and The Indigo Disk or Mega Dimension are a separate purchase from the base game. An older title is a complete game; the main loss is that its online features may wind down first.
Scarlet and Violet fit most first-time adult players
Scarlet and Violet are the default because they combine the most current rules, an open region you can explore in any order, and three story paths that keep a long game varied. They connect to HOME both ways, so Pokémon caught there can move into later games. Online trading, raids and ranked battles run through the same software. The two versions differ in a handful of species and the legendary on the box; either works, and two people in one household often buy one of each to trade. Players who find an open map aimless can start with Sword and Shield instead, which keep a fixed route between towns.
Two games work better as a second purchase
Champions is built only around battles: team building, ranked matches and the official tournament format, with no region or story to learn the basics in. It suits a player who already knows types and moves, and it rewards a first game played through. Winds and Waves are announced for Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027 with no release day, so they are a plan for next year. Pokémon Unite stopped selling Aeos gems on 27 October 2026 and ends service on 23 March 2027, so it is no longer a starting point. Start with one of the story or classic games, and add these once the basics are familiar.
| What you want | Game | Platform | Budget | Tutorial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Story with current rules | Scarlet or Violet | Switch, Switch 2 | Full price; expansions extra | /games/scarlet-violet/ |
| Story in one city, real-time battles | Legends: Z-A | Switch; Switch 2 Edition | Full price; Mega Dimension extra | /games/legends-za/ |
| Open world | Scarlet or Violet | Switch, Switch 2 | Full price | /games/scarlet-violet/ |
| Open zones, catching first | Legends: Arceus | Switch, Switch 2 | Older title | /games/legends-arceus/ |
| Classic gyms and routes | Sword or Shield | Switch, Switch 2 | Older title; expansions extra | /games/sword-shield/ |
| Classic, a remade original | Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl | Switch, Switch 2 | Older title | /games/brilliant-diamond-shining-pearl/ |
| Classic, the 2004 original | FireRed or LeafGreen | Switch, download only | Download, below full price | /games/firered-leafgreen/ |
| Couch play on one console | Let's Go, Pikachu or Let's Go, Eevee | Switch with two Joy-Con, Switch 2 | Older title | /games/lets-go-pikachu-lets-go-eevee/ |
| Couch play at a table | Paper card game | None | One two-player starter product | /guides/tcg-first-game/ |
| Short sessions outdoors | Pokémon GO | Phone | Free app | none yet |
| Short sessions, cards | TCG Pocket | Phone | Free app | /pocket/ |
| Short team matches | Pokémon Unite | Switch, phone | Free app; service ends 23 March 2027 | none yet |
| Battles only, after a first game | Champions | Switch, Switch 2, iOS, Android | Free to start; optional purchases | /games/champions/ |
5 checks before you act
- Pick the row that matches the play you want
- Confirm the platform column against the console or phone you own
- Decide whether the expansion is part of the purchase
- Open the tutorial link for the game you chose
- Use the first-team guide after the first two gyms
Read next
Sources read for this page
- ReadOfficial Pokémon video game catalogueread 7 Nov 2026
- ReadOfficial press release: Champions launches 8 April on Nintendo Switchread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadOfficial Champions siteread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadOfficial Winds and Waves siteread 7 Nov 2026
- ReadOfficial Legends: Z-A siteread 7 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo support: Pokémon HOME FAQread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadDexVoyage what-changed record, Generation IX (draft)read 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo Support: Wii U & Nintendo 3DS eShop Discontinuation Q&Aread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadWriter's game knowledgeundated
- ReadPokémon press release: Pokémon Champions Available Now on iOS and Android Devicesread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo: Nintendo Switch Game Compatibility with Nintendo Switch 2read 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo: Pokémon FireRed Version and Pokémon LeafGreen Version are now available (27 Feb 2026)read 8 Nov 2026
- ReadPokémon UNITE End of Serviceread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo store: Pokémon Champions for Nintendo Switchread 8 Nov 2026
- ReadNintendo Support: Local or online multiplayer (Let's Go)read 8 Nov 2026