Happy Pokémon Day trainers! Nintendo took to the internet today to let us know what to expect in the coming year when it comes to Pokémon… and we like what we see. Of course, it seems like Creatures Inc., The Pokémon Company and Nintendo might be taking it a little bit easy for 2024… or maybe they’ve got something they’re not telling us just yet. That said, this year isn’t without excitement. Let’s break down what they announced.
New Content for Current Games
They kicked things off with the announcement of a number of Terra Raids coming to Paldea. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will get Terra Raids featuring the Kanto starters: Blastoise, Venusaur and Charizard. This would be the second time Charizard is being featured. Things will be kicking off with Venusaur on February 28 2024. Blastoise will be featured starting March 6 2024 and Charizard will return on March 13, 2024. Each will be available for roughly 5 days.
The Legendary Beasts will be making their way to Pokémon Sleep. Raikou will be leading the pack in March 2024 with its Entei and Suicune coming soon. Speaking of Legendaries, Koraidon and Miraidon will also be heading to Pokémon Cafe Remix. You’ll be able to get one of them to stay at your cafe during the limited-time distribution. Miraidon will also be heading to Pokémon UNITE together with Ceruledge and Falinks. Miraidon will be available as a 3-day limited license. Cafe Remix will also be featuring Gimmighoul coins for certain puzzles.
Pokémon’s stable of games will also be having in-game events to commemorate the Pokémon Day celebrations. Pokémon GO will be spearheading the celebrations with a tie-in with the Pokémon Horizons anime. Pikachu wearing Cap’s hat will be making its debut. It will also introduce the move Volt Tackle to the game. Together with Pikachu, Charcadet, Ceruledge and Armarouge will be making their debut. Don’t be surprised if Liko and Roy show up in your pictures either! New Sync pairs will also be joining Pokémon Masters EX. Geeta and her Glimmora and Silver and his Tyranitar lead the charge of Sync Pairs.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
It looks like the Pokémon Trading Card Game is getting a brand new app experience. Literally less than a year after the release of Pokémon TCG Live, the Pokémon Company and Creatures Inc. are looking to release another version of the app that will bring more features and a more social aspect to the digital experience.
The new TCG Pocket app will be developed in collaboration with DeNA. From the direct, we could gather that the trio of collaborators are looking to make a more well rounded experience including an immersive virtual experience with things like extended card art and immersive artwork. Not much has been revealed but we’re looking forward to see how they plan to change the experience yet again.
Pokémon Legends Z-A
Of course, they buried the lead during the Pokémon Direct! The highlight was the promise of returning to Kalos! Not only were we left hanging with the absence of Pokémon Z, Mega Evolutions have been sorely missed. In an announcement trailer at the tail end, Nintendo announced that we’d be gearing up for an Urban redesign of Lumoise City, the largest city in the Kalos region. This will be happening in the second entry into the Legends series – Pokémon Legends Z-A.
It goes without saying that we’re more than expecting some exploration of Zygarde and its origins in the game. However, we’ve got a little bit of a tease for Mega Evolution which will undoubtedly be coming back in the game. The game is set for release in 2025 so we’re amped to learn more over the year.
A Case of Pikachu and the Unowns
With everything announced, there was a small question of Pikachu and the Unowns. At the beginning of the stream, Pikachu is seen running across the screen with several Unowns. If you’ve forgotten, the Unowns are Pokémons that are designed around the alphabet. In the stream, Pikachu was followed by a group of Unown arranged in two lines: E,K,O,P,E,O,N,S / P,E,T,R,N,S,M. Pikachu returned at the end with another group of Unowns arranged in a single line: S,O,E,Y,U,E; A question mark (?) Unown was trailing behind.
What do you think they are telling us? Let’s decipher the code in the comments below.