The Solo Challenge in Pokémon Unite

Aside from offering regular ways to play, as through Ranked matches and quick battles, Pokémon Unite is known to be not shy of providing challenges that change up the gameplay mostly through existing mechanisms. The latest one is called the "Solo Challenge", which as can be discerned is a challenge specifically for one player only. Regardless, there is more to the challenge than just "one", in more ways than one (ahem).

The challenge involves battling one, three, or five familiar Trainers (played by the CPU), which are represented by their Pokémon, in a Standard match in Theia Sky Ruins on one of four difficulty levels. If this sounds like the Legacy Trainer Challenge from some time ago, that's because it is exactly that - with the same five Trainers from before - only optimized and reworked for a single player to experience. A solo lobby is thus necessitated for this.

Other differences are also present. Unlike its predecessor, entry is not limited by an item, surely due to its single player mechanism. Like Panic Parade, however, one is also required to go through each difficulty level progressively (Casual, then Intermediate, then Expert, then Extreme), making sure the newer players get the hang of the challenge, even if all the other players are handled by the CPU; it can still get complicated as with human players.

Linked to the challenge are missions that are to be completed for points to obtain rewards, including Unite snapshot goodies. They consist of daily missions as well as challenge missions, the latter having more points than the former, but both can be completed in sync - as well as each day. And it seems that may be the point of them all, to encourage playing each day, moreover as the challenge is directly accessible from the main menu.

Currently, the featured Trainer is Leon, but in a previous period, the featured Trainer had been Cynthia. The challenge has in fact gone on for a couple of periods, roughly corresponding to the Battle Pass seasons. Although that does mean there's a good bit of time to complete the challenge, it will also likely have to be simultaneous with Ranked progression. At least, the challenge can serve as a "break" from that progression.

Reworking the Legacy Trainer Challenge for the purpose of progression by a single player makes for a nice way to play that is not dependent on other (human) players as is common in other areas of the game. Still, "uniting" one's efforts with the others remains the key part of the challenge, also as is common with the rest of the game; instilling the regularity for any and all of these definitely becomes the key to success.

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