Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Reveals Final Ranked Battle Season

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Ranked Battle Season 41 has been officially announced and scheduled for April 1. While this is set to be the final Generation 9 competitive season, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet‘s servers are unlikely to shut down anytime soon, based on historical precedent.

Just under three and a half years have passed since Game Freak’s Generation 9 Pokemon RPGs hit the store shelves. Ever since then, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have been rotating new competitive seasons on a monthly basis.

Pokemon Winds and Waves Share More Starter Details

Game Freak follows up on the Pokemon Winds and Waves announcement with a few more details concerning the starter mons in the upcoming RPGs.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Ranked Battle Season 41 Begins April 1

Ranked Battle Season 41 has been formally announced via an in-game notification on March 1. It is scheduled to begin on April 1. Unlike prior months, the upcoming competitive season of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will persist until online services end, with no further seasonal refreshes planned after it begins. It will use Regulation Set I, keeping continuity with the late-stage format that the Gen 9 RPGs have already been running for a while.

The final Ranked Battle season will introduce two immediate competitive changes: monthly rankings will be discontinued, and end-of-season rewards based on placement will also be eliminated. Both changes stem from Game Freak’s decision not to plan any future seasons. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet players will still be able to queue Ranked Battles under the same rules, but the monthly feedback loop that incentivizes grinding and is structured around meta resets is being retired.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Regulation Set I Explained

Season 41’s Regulation Set I is a dual-restricted format that permits any mon available in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and transferred via the Pokemon Home app, with the exception of Mythicals. Teams may include up to two Legendary Pokemon. In other words, the pool of eligible creatures includes the first 400 entries of the Paldea Pokedex, the first 242 from the Blueberry Pokedex, and the first 200 from the Kitakami Pokedex. Additional permitted forms include Alolan variants of Raichu, Meowth, and Persian, as well as Galarian forms of Meowth, Weezing, and the Legendary Birds. As in previous Ranked Battle formats, all Pokemon are automatically set to level 50, and duplicate held items are forbidden. The ruleset also allows all forms of Terastallization, the core Scarlet and Violet battle mechanic in which Pokemon transform into crystallized forms with altered types and abilities.

Regulation Set I Timers

Type	Duration
Total time	20 minutes
Player time	7 minutes
Preview time	90 seconds
Turn time	45 seconds

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Ranked Battles Likely to Remain Available for Years to Come

The end of monthly competitive seasons may lead some players to assume that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are nearing the end of their multiplayer lifespan, but historical precedent suggests otherwise. Neither Game Freak nor The Pokemon Company publishes a formal policy governing the duration of ranked ladder support, yet competitive online play in past Pokemon titles has typically remained available for as long as the underlying platform’s online infrastructure was supported. Although Scarlet and Violet are Switch-era releases, Nintendo’s original Switch and the Switch 2 share the same online backend, indicating that Ranked Battles could plausibly remain accessible for as long as the Switch 2 itself retains connectivity to Nintendo’s servers. That is a timeframe that, as of early 2026, could extend well beyond a decade.

In related news, Pokemon Winds and Waves were formally announced earlier this week, on February 27. The Gen 10 titles are slated for release in 2027. Game Freak and The Pokemon Company have not yet disclosed any details about Winds and Waves Ranked Battles, or shared much about any other aspect of the upcoming RPGs, for that matter. Assuming the duo is targeting a holiday season launch, The Pokemon Company may not share more information about it until this time next year, potentially saving the next big info dump for Pokemon Presents 2027.