All Pokémon games for the Nintendo Switch

Sofia9 FEBRUARY 2026

Content

What are Pokémon games?
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! & Let's Go, Eevee!
Pokémon Sword & Shield
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet
Pokémon Legends: Z-A
New Pokémon game
Pokémon spin-offs & Nintendo Switch Online games

The Nintendo Switch now has one of the most extensive Pokémon libraries of all Nintendo consoles. With many titles across a wide range of genres, there is always a Pokémon game to suit your play style. This overview brings together all Pokémon games you can play on the console today, as well as a few titles that will be released in the near future.

What are Pokémon games?

A large green Pokémon with a pink flower on its back crouches on a glowing battle arena, while its young trainer stands watch behind.

Pokémon games revolve around Pokémon: unique creatures with special powers. Pokémon come in all shapes and sizes, from small and cute to strong and tough. These games are among the best titles on Nintendo Switch. The Japanese franchise from The Pokémon Company and Nintendo began in 1996 and has grown into a global media universe with merchandise, animation, films, cards and games.

On Nintendo Switch you’ll find the largest and most varied collection of Pokémon games to date. There’s something for everyone, from the so-called main titles where you catch Pokémon and use them in battles, to spin-offs such as cosy games. Thanks to their innocent and colourful nature, these titles also make great games for children. Have a look at the list below to choose your next Pokémon adventure!

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! & Let's Go, Eevee!

In a sunny forest clearing, an Eevee battles a fiery Charmeleon, surrounded by glittering balls of light, while their trainer watches from the background.

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! are the first mainline Pokémon games for the Nintendo Switch and offer a modern take on the classics Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow. They are set in the iconic Kanto region, featuring familiar faces such as Misty, Brock and Team Rocket. You begin your adventure with Pikachu or Eevee, depending on the version you choose, and that starter follows you everywhere on your journey. You can carry your Pikachu or Eevee on your shoulder like a small pet, stroke it, feed it Berries and dress it up in adorable outfits. You can also choose a Pokémon to walk alongside you on your travels, which will occasionally find items for you. Catching Pokémon is done via motion controls, allowing you to throw Poké Balls with your Joy-Con. This is reminiscent of how you throw Poké Balls in the mobile game Pokémon Go. Thanks to the accessible gameplay and a Pokédex limited to the original 151 Pokémon (plus a few bonus monsters), the Let’s Go games are an easy-going entry point into the world of Pokémon for both new and returning players.

Check out Pokémon Let’s Go, Pikachu!

Pokémon Sword & Shield

Inside a packed stadium, two Pokémon face off: a floating sword-and-shield and a fiery rabbit striker, as their trainers watch intently.

Pokémon Sword & Shield mark the beginning of a new generation on the Nintendo Switch. With the Wild Area, the games take their first steps towards open gameplay: an expansive zone where you catch Pokémon and see other players cycling around. Outside this area, the classic Pokémon structure remains in place, with linear towns and locations. Gym battles are fought in sports kit in a gigantic stadium, complete with cheering crowd. Here, everything revolves around Dynamax, the regional gimmick of Sword and Shield, which allows your Pokémon to become temporarily gigantic. This leads to spectacular battles that really shine when your Switch is connected to your TV. 2 expansions were released for Pokémon Sword & Shield, adding extra areas beyond the main story. The Isle of Armor focuses on training, while The Crown Tundra is centred around exploration and legendary Pokémon in a cold, sprawling landscape loosely based on Scotland.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

In an underground chamber, a small trainer stands among large Pokémon statues, with a giant Snorlax sculpture centred on a stone pedestal.

Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl are faithful remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which were released on the Nintendo DS, and bring the Sinnoh region to the Switch with a modern chibi art style that strongly evokes the DS and 3DS games. The structure, world and storyline deliberately stay close to the originals. If you’ve never played Diamond, Pearl or Platinum, these games are the most accessible way to discover Sinnoh in the Switch era.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

A crouching trainer in old style gear approaches two Bidoof in a vast purple tinted valley of grass, flowers and distant hills beneath a gentle sky.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus takes a radically different approach, putting exploration and catching at the forefront in an action-driven Pokémon game set in the distant past. The adventure takes place in the untouched Hisui region, the former name of Sinnoh. If you’ve just played Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl, you’ll recognise plenty of references, easter eggs and locations. The world consists of vast, wild areas such as icy plains, swamps and forests, with little civilisation and a strong focus on survival. The Poké Ball has only just been invented and, like other items, you’ll often need to craft it yourself as you push your expedition forward. Your mission? To observe, study and catch Pokémon in order to compile the very first Pokédex.

Check out Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

A mounted trainer rides a futuristic Pokémon across a wooden bridge towards a village and Pokémon Centre, guided by a colourful minimap bottom right.

Where Sword & Shield offered an initial glimpse of what open-world gameplay in a Pokémon title could be, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet deliver the first fully open-world Pokémon experience. The Spanish-inspired Pokémon, food and cities almost make you feel as if you’re on holiday, but in Scarlet & Violet you’re actually a student at either Naranja or Uva Academy, depending on your version. You head out into the open world on the back of a Legendary Pokémon that resembles a motorbike, riding, swimming and flying your way towards the title of Champion. In addition to exploring, you can attend classes and build bonds with the academy’s teachers, dive into a mysterious crater to uncover the secret behind the strange Paradox Pokémon and put a stop to a gang of school bullies. The DLC expands the adventure with 2 new locations. Kitakami is a rural Japanese-style area you visit on a school trip, where a local legend shakes up the sleepy village. The Blueberry Academy is a school beneath a dome in the ocean where you’re an exchange student. The focus there is very much on Pokémon battles, with various artificial biomes filled with Pokémon you won’t find in Paldea. Scarlet & Violet are available on Nintendo Switch, but there is also an upgrade available for Switch 2 that offers higher FPS and better resolution.

Discover Pokémon Scarlet

Pokémon Legends: Z-A

On a sunlit rooftop terrace, a trainer commands Chikorita against a Flaaffy, while menus and attack names shine clearly across the battle interface.

Unlike previous Pokémon games, Pokémon Legends: Z-A doesn’t take place in a region with multiple towns and areas, but in one large city. You’ll scour back alleys, climb onto rooftops, dive into the sewers and explore special Wild Zones to catch Pokémon. Battles take place entirely in real time, with you directly commanding your Pokémon to attack, dodge or Mega Evolve. At night, Lumiose City becomes the stage for the Z-A Royale tournament, where you face other Trainers to climb the ranks.

There is also DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Mega Dimension, which adds extra endgame content. The DLC’s story takes you to an alternate version of Lumiose City where even more Pokémon, new Mega Evolutions such as Mega Lucario Z, and challenging battles await you. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is available on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.

Check out Pokémon Legends: Z-A

New Pokémon game

Inside a futuristic stadium, several Pokémon clash under vivid lights, with a dynamic trainer on the left and Pikachu hovering above the glowing arena.

The 10th Pokémon generation coincides with the 30th anniversary of Pokémon, which already makes 2026 a huge year for the series. On Pokémon Day (27 February) there is traditionally a livestream in which The Pokémon Company usually reveals the next games. It looks like we’ll be introduced to the new starter Pokémon then, and possibly even the Legendary Pokémon and the new region. According to rumours, that region will consist of an island group inspired by Indonesia and wider Southeast Asia, although this hasn’t yet been officially confirmed. Although there was no Pokémon title in the Switch 2 launch line-up, it now seems likely that a Switch 2-exclusive mainline Pokémon game is finally on the way.

Pokémon Day

Pokémon spin-offs & Nintendo Switch Online games

A colourful top down map shows Pokopía, with paths, gardens, water and forest, as many roaming Pokémon gather around a central red roofed building.

Not all Pokémon games are about battling and earning Gym Badges. The fact that the Nintendo Switch is considered one of the best handheld consoles is partly thanks to the wide variety of games available, and that certainly applies to Pokémon titles as well. For example, there’s Pokémon Pokopia: a life sim for Nintendo Switch 2 in which you play as Ditto, rebuilding an abandoned Pokémon world. By gathering resources, building and gardening, more and more Pokémon return to help you with the reconstruction. For fans of photography and nature documentaries, there’s New Pokémon Snap. In this game, you travel through a range of natural environments and photograph Pokémon in their habitats. Prefer a good detective story and enjoy solving puzzles? Then Detective Pikachu Returns is the Pokémon spin-off for you. Together with a peculiar talking Pikachu, you solve all sorts of mysteries while searching for your missing father. If you’d rather have some action, there’s Pokkén Tournament DX, a fighting game reminiscent of Tekken. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is a dungeon crawler with roguelike elements, and on top of that you’ve got the free-to-play titles Pokémon Café ReMix and Pokémon Unite.