The progress of Pokémon battles is visualized using AI, and the development of tools will help spread the spectator culture.

The Pokemon Company and HEROZ Corporation have jointly developed the Pokemon Battle Scope (PBS), an AI tool that visualizes the progress of Pokemon battles in the Pokemon series of video games.

The culture of “spectating” has now become commonplace, not only in sports, but also in the world of shogi, Go, and video games.

Watching the players’ every move, watching the players’ every move, and having the live broadcasters and the audience join in the excitement at the match venue…This way of enjoying the game is becoming established in the world of Pokemon battles, so Pokemon battles that utilize Shogi AI are becoming popular. We have developed an AI specifically for this purpose.

One of the charms of battle is the depth of strategy. Players choose the Pokemon they have raised and battle against their opponents. Each Pokemon can learn four types of “moves,” and each turn, players read their opponent’s moves and choose the most appropriate move.

What is important here is the “type” of the Pokemon and moves. There are 18 types in total, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.

For example, the “Fire” type is strong against the “Grass” type and weak against the “Water” type. While considering these compatibility, predicting your opponent’s movements and searching for the best move…Pokémon battles are also a battle of minds like shogi.

Furthermore, “luck” is also involved, such as “attacks to vital points” that have a 4% chance of increasing damage to the opponent, and “status abnormalities” such as paralysis, poison, burns, and sleep that occur to Pokemon due to various factors. come. Even if the situation is unfavorable, there is always a chance to turn the game around…That thrill is what makes watching the game so enjoyable.

PBS is a tool that allows more people to experience the fun of battles like this. Utilizing AI, “Situation Judgment” is used to quantify which player has the upper hand, and the “candidate move” to be selected next is displayed.

By visualizing the battle situation, even people who don’t usually play video games or are new to battles with little knowledge can now watch the battle while reading the flow of the battle.

PBS has developed it with the aim of introducing it in the game category of “Pokemon Dragon King Battle 2024” to be held on February 25, 2024. This tournament is sponsored by the Pokémon Company and co-sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun, which hosts the Ryuo Tournament, the highest title tournament in the shogi world, and the Japan Shogi Federation. In recent years, it has become popular as a unique event that is more than just a battle tournament, with players wearing traditional Japanese clothes and taking part in a Noh theater setting.

Development is not straightforward, and unlike shogi, which has a fixed number of pieces, Pokémon battles have over 1,000 types of Pokémon and over 900 types of moves. Also, the choice you make will change depending on the weather on the battlefield, the Pokemon’s status abnormalities, etc.

The combination was an astronomical number, and the conditions for the AI ​​to learn were set, and the number of simulations was hundreds of millions of times.