Regulation M-C added 46 Pokémon — the 24 announced plus 22 more found on the live ladder — and six Mega Evolutions including the first Z Megas. What changed, what is confirmed, what is still unrevealed.
Regulation M-C went live on 8 September 2026 at 7:00 p.m. PDT (9 September, 02:00 UTC) and runs until 1 December 2026. It is the third regulation set of the Pokémon Champions competitive year, following M-A and M-B, and it is purely additive: nothing legal in M-B was removed.
This is the headline of M-C, and it splits into two groups. Three are conventional new Megas: Mega Salamence, Mega Golisopod and Mega Baxcalibur. The other three are the first Z Mega Evolutions — a second Mega form for Pokémon that already had one.
⚠️ Watch out: Note that Champions' Aura Break is not the mainline ability of the same name — in the main series it reverses Fairy Aura and Dark Aura. Here it is a contact-damage reduction. If you are coming from mainline VGC, do not assume the ability text carries over.
Nothing official has been published for Mega Salamence, Mega Golisopod or Mega Baxcalibur. What we do have now is ladder data: the M-C feed serves a page per Mega form, and its stat blocks reproduce Mega Charizard Y, Mega Garchomp and Mega Absol Z exactly as we already had them. So the stats and typings below are sourced, not guessed.
Two independent sources agree on all three, ability included: the M-C ladder feed and the Pokémon Showdown dex return identical stats, typings and abilities. Mega Golisopod really does keep Emergency Exit and Mega Baxcalibur keeps Thermal Exchange — the Mega is a stat-and-typing upgrade for both, not a new ability.
⚠️ Watch out: One caveat worth keeping: Champions has overridden Mega abilities before. All three Z Megas were given abilities that differ from their Legends Z-A versions — Mega Absol Z is Sharpness here, not Wonder Skin. So if The Pokémon Company publishes something different for these three, that is the version that counts, and this guide gets updated.
💡 Tip: The usual Mega rules still apply: one Mega Evolution per team, and the stone occupies the held-item slot. A Z Mega is not a second Mega — it is an alternative form of the same one, so you still only get one per team.
The Pokémon Company confirmed 24 newly available Pokémon but did not publish the list — in-game, it sits under Recruit → Recruit Pokémon → Roster Info. Published lists therefore vary, mostly because outlets count form variants differently. These are the additions that independent sources agree on:
Published lists disagreed on three entries — Pawmot, Farfetch'd and Sirfetch'd. We checked each against live Regulation M-C ladder data and all three are legal: each list had simply missed some. That makes 24 Pokémon, or 26 entries once Toxtricity's Low Key form and female Indeedee are counted separately.
Working from published lists was the wrong approach, because those lists were short. On 25 September we went the other way and checked every species in the National Dex against the live M-C feed. 22 more came back with M-C usage data and no Regulation M-B page at all — including a block of legendaries and paradox Pokémon that no roster list mentioned:
Usage on most of them is still thin — a handful of recorded sets each — so they sit low on the tier list for now. That is a sample-size statement, not a verdict on the Pokémon.
The tier list now runs on live Regulation M-C ladder data, and several of the additions went straight into the top tier. Rillaboom opened the format as the most-used Pokémon, and Salamence, Golisopod and female Indeedee all entered the top ten alongside established picks like Sneasler, Incineroar and Kingambit. On Garchomp, Garchompite Z immediately became one of its two most-held items alongside Life Orb — the Z Mega is being taken seriously from week one.
⚠️ Watch out: Early-format usage is noisy. The first weeks of a regulation reward whatever players tried first, not necessarily what is strongest, and placements shift as counters get found. Treat week-one rankings as a starting point.
When does Regulation M-C start and end?
Regulation M-C went live on 8 September 2026 at 7:00 p.m. PDT — that is 9 September at 02:00 UTC — and runs until 1 December 2026 at 5:59 p.m. PST. Because of the time-zone split, most of Europe, Japan and Australia saw it arrive on 9 September.
How many new Pokémon are in Regulation M-C?
46 that we can verify. The Pokémon Company announced 24, and the full roster is only listed in-game under Recruit → Recruit Pokémon → Roster Info, so published lists vary. On 25 September we checked every species in the dex against the live M-C ladder feed and found 22 more with M-C usage and no Regulation M-B page at all — Heatran, Entei, Suicune, Latios, Cresselia, Regidrago, Nihilego, Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Iron Hands, Iron Moth, Iron Valiant, Tornadus, Enamorus, Ogerpon (Wellspring and Cornerstone masks), Togekiss, Togedemaru, Barraskewda, Lilligant, Gastrodon, Murkrow and Polteageist. All 46 have dex pages here. Everything legal in M-A and M-B stays legal.
What is a Z Mega Evolution?
Z Mega Evolutions are a second Mega form for Pokémon that already had one. M-C introduced three: Mega Absol Z, Mega Garchomp Z and Mega Lucario Z. They use their own stones (Absolite Z, Garchompite Z, Lucarionite Z) and are activated the same way as a normal Mega Evolution, through the Omni Ring.
Does Regulation M-C ban anything from M-B?
No. The Pokémon Company confirmed that everything eligible in previous regulation sets remains eligible. M-C is purely additive — 46 species and six Mega Evolutions on top of the existing roster.
Is the tier list using Regulation M-C data?
Yes. Usage, win rates and tier placements come from live Regulation M-C ladder data and refresh daily. For the first few days after launch it showed final M-B figures while M-C games accumulated, and said so at the top of the page.