Pokemon Battle Revolution is a game, like Colosseum and Stadium before it, that is designed primarily as an extension of the portable Pokemon games. The main concept behind the game is the ability to battle Pokemon from Diamond and Pearl while taking full advantage of the hardware benefits of the Wii.

The first differentiating feature that expands upon what is done in the portable games is that of a Battle-Pass. Upon importing Pokemon, the player will be asked to set up one of these passes that will then be tied to the Trainer ID that is saved on the portable game. This pass acts as a customizable way of keeping track of a player's progression through the single player mode as well as success in multiplayer and online battles.

Besides the basic customization options like changing the background picture of the Battle-Pass, players can also choose a 3D avatar to represent themselves in all battles, including those that are online. This is done by first choosing one of six characters as a starting point, three of which are girls and three of which are boys. Each one has a different body type and age. Throughout the game accessories can be earned to change the look of the character and give it an appearance that will be unique among other players online. These accessories range from shirts and pants to glasses and backpacks.

Certain Pokemon teams can also be associated with a Battle-Pass, making it so a DS does not have to be connected to the Wii every time someone wants to have a quick battle online. Any time a DS is connected, all stored teams will be automatically updated so that each Pokemon remains as they have been trained in the portable games.

Besides battling online, each team can also be used to compete in a number of tournaments that are included in the single player portion of the game. Each of these tournaments has different rules associated with it. One may only allow pre-evolved Pokemon, while another may just give the trainer random Pokemon to work with. These single player events will earn players points that can be exchanged for anything from special Pokemon to accessories for their trainer.

So what happens if you don't have Pokemon Diamond or Pearl? Well, all of the same features are available using what the game calls “Rental Pokemon". These are just a collection of Pokemon that come pre-trained. Using them, players can compete in all of the single player tournaments. However, most of the rewards can only be used on Pokemon that were trained in the DS games.

Pokemon Battle Revolution ships early next week, on June 25th, to retailers throughout North America.