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Recent Pokémon sales prove nostalgia is still king Pokemon Recent Pokémon sales prove nostalgia is still king By Zachary Roberts All Pokémon Glazed Cheat Codes: Full List & How to Use Them Pokemon All Pokémon Glazed Cheat Codes: Full List & How to Use Them By William Davis Pokémon Legends Arceus: Adaman or Irida Choice – What You Need to Know Pokemon Pokémon Legends Arceus: Adaman or Irida Choice – What You Need to Know By Steven Rondina
Here’s the difference between mythical and legendary Pokémon Pokemon
Here’s the difference between mythical and legendary Pokémon Steven Rondina Fans of Pokémon are obsessed with rarity, and no other categories of Pokémon are rarer than Mythicals and Legendaries. But what’s the difference between a Mythical and a Legendary Pokémon, and how many are there? Pokémon are loosely categorized in several ways, with one of the most awkward distinctions being between Mythical and Legendary Pokémon. Both are strong, and both are rare, but for casual players and TCG fans, there …
Here is every horse Pokémon through Pokemon Sword and Shield Pokemon
Here is every horse Pokémon through Pokemon Sword and Shield Olivia Richman Pokémon designs are inspired by a wide variety of animals and objects in our world. Pikachu is based on a mouse, Piplup is based on a penguin, and Chandelure is, well, based on a fancy lighting fixture. One animal that pops up a lot in the Pokémon franchise is the horse. Through the generations, there have been many popular horse-like Pokémon, and for the most part, they inhabit a special …
Everything to Know About Full Art Pokémon Cards Pokemon
Everything to Know About Full Art Pokémon Cards Steven Rondina Pokémon cards are all the rage these days, and a big part of that is the eye-catching full art cards. The Pokémon TCG has lured back many lapsed fans thanks to how striking many of the cards now look. The most impressive and expensive of these are full art cards. There are many different types of full art cards, and there is a fair bit of history regarding them. Here’s …
Pokemon Champions will have mega evolution, and much more Pokemon
Pokemon Champions will have mega evolution, and much more Steven Rondina Pokemon Champions is set to completely upend the competitive Pokemon scene and that was illustrated through the game’s use of mega evolution. Competitive Pokemon has been growing at an exceptional rate. Though an official tournament circuit has existed for over a decade, it has long operated in the shadows. Even in a game like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, ranked matchmaking is buried within the game’s menus. Greater visibility for the …
Will Pokemon Legends: Z-A be a Switch 2 game? There’s word Pokemon Will Pokemon Legends: Z-A be a Switch 2 game? There’s word By Steven Rondina The best Arceus ex PVP decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket Pokemon The best Arceus ex PVP decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket By M Alzamora Rarest cards in new Triumphant Light Pokemon TCG Pocket set Pokemon Rarest cards in new Triumphant Light Pokemon TCG Pocket set By M Alzamora
Best cards to pull for Triumphant Light in TCG Pocket Pokemon
Best cards to pull for Triumphant Light in TCG Pocket M Alzamora Pokemon TCG Pocket is set to release new mini-set Triumphant Light and has given an early look at the best cards players can hope to pull from this newest card expansion. Less than six months after launch, Pokemon TCG Pocket has become incredibly popular, already hitting 100 million downloads. Since the end of January players have been opening Space-Time Smackdown packs to try and get a coveted immersive Dialga or …
Pokemon Champions has been revealed, but what is it? Pokemon
Pokemon Champions has been revealed, but what is it? Steven Rondina A new Pokemon game has been unveiled as part of the Pokemon Day 2025 presentation entitled Pokemon Champions, taking the franchise in a surprising direction. While Pokemon is known by many for its long-running RPG series, it’s much more than that. Put aside the Pokemon anime, trading card game, and apps. It’s much more than that just within the space of video games. Pokemon Unite is a successful MOBA, Detective …
Here’s how to see your missing cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket and where to get the missing ones Pokemon
Here’s how to see your missing cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket and where to get the missing ones M Alzamora Most Pokémon TCG Pocket players are missing a card or two, and tracking the rarer ones can be more difficult than it initially seems. But with our advice, you should be able to see your missing TCG Pocket cards and figure out which pulls you need to complete your collection. Since its debut in 2024, Pokémon TCG Pocket has released over 3,000 cards for players to collect after the most recent …
The best Pokémon ROM hacks of Nintendo DS games Pokemon
The best Pokémon ROM hacks of Nintendo DS games Steven Rondina There are many impressive Pokémon ROM hacks, but the Nintendo DS offers some of the most interesting and ambitious. The Game Boy Advance is home to many of the best Pokémon ROM hacks. Pokémon Emerald, FireRed, and LeafGreen are some of the most beloved Pokémon games, and serve as a great canvas for some creative ideas. But when it comes to the “best Pokémon games,” many fans will point to …
The best Pokemon GBA ROM hacks that you can get right now Steven Rondina Pokemon The GBA is regarded by many as the definitive best platform for Pokemon games and that has seen it produce some exceptional ROM hacks. One of the common criticisms aimed at the Pokemon series is that it’s repetitive. While that’s not really true given how radically different the last three generations’ games have been from one another, the series hasn’t given fans reason to rethink what the franchise has to …
Pokemon Presents coming on Pokemon Day 2025; what we’ll see Steven Rondina Pokemon Fans can mark their calendars for Pokemon Day 2025, as a Pokemon Presents event is happening and is sure to have some interesting content. While Nintendo already has a much-anticipated Nintendo Direct slated to reveal the Switch 2, it’s not alone. Pokemon Day is coming, and will reveal the future of the franchise across its many, many different titles. Though the event is an annual tradition, 2025 feels like a …
Pokemon: The best Nuzlocke rules for every single game Steven Rondina Pokemon Diehard Pokemon fans are no doubt familiar with the Nuzlocke challenge, but the rules have become more malleable thanks to Sword, Shield, Scarlet, Violet, and Legends: Arceus. The Nuzlocke challenge has grown from being a curiosity among hardcore fans to a broadly popular way to play Pokemon. YouTubers and Twitch streamers who aren’t associated with Pokemon often turn to the Nuzlocke to add extra stakes and drama to their streams. …
Pokemon HOME: Every free shiny legendary, mythical you can get Steven Rondina Pokemon Pokemon HOME gives casual fans a great reason to use the app; offering free shiny legendary and mythical Pokemon as rewards. Competitive Pokemon players absolutely need Pokemon HOME. In Scarlet and Violet, powerful legendary Pokemon of previous generations like Landorus and Urshifu are still meta-defining threats. Players can still get them through The Indigo Disk DLC but in both cases, the legendaries have multiple forms that are built completely differently. …
Best ways to counter Darkrai ex decks in Pokemon TCG Pocket M Alzamora Pokemon As the meta settles in Pokemon TCG Pocket following the introduction of new booster packs, many competitive players are looking for ways to counter the emerging Darkrai ex decks. After Pokemon TCG Pocket introduced Darkrai ex with its Space Time Smackdown expansion, the card quickly began popping up in the competitive meta. It has up to 160 HP when paired with Giant Cape, making it able to withstand the usual …
Pokemon TCG Pocket: How to find and open Genetic Apex packs Steven Rondina Pokemon While Pokemon TCG Pocket gave players a welcome treat with the Space-Time Smackdown expansion, some might be wondering if they can still open Genetic Apex packs. Thankfully they’re still available, albeit hidden. Pokemon TCG Pocket started strong with the massive Genetic Apex expansion, which featured hundreds of cards to collect including the full original 150 Pokemon. The Mythical Island mini-set fleshed that out further, and it wasn’t long until Space-Time …
Space-Time Smackdown brings new tools to Pokemon TCG Pocket M Alzamora Pokemon While players are poring over the revealed full art cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket, the new tools cards may end up becoming the best pulls. Pokemon TCG Pocket has a number of exciting upcoming features coming to the game. Most notable is the second full booster set titled Space-Time Smackdown and featuring Generation 4 Pokemon. Pokemon TCG Pocket is also finally giving players access to player-to-player trading, albeit in a …
Can you buy cards from other players in Pokemon TCG Pocket? Steven Rondina Pokemon Trading is coming to Pokemon TCG Pocket, but does this mean players can buy cards, gold, and other resources from each other? Not if The Pokemon Company has anything to say about it. The Pokemon TCG is known for many things, but in recent years it’s been defined by its rarest, most expensive cards. The 2024 mobile game Pokemon TCG Pocket has broken free from that by offering players an …
Best cards to pull for Space-Time Smackdown in TCG Pocket M Alzamora Pokemon Pokemon TCG Pocket is gearing up to release the second card set titled Space-Time Smackdown, and we’ve got an early look at the best cards to pull from this new set. As the end of January approaches, Pokemon TCG Pocket players have a lot to look forward to. Currently going on is a Psychic Pokemon Mass Outbreak event with no-cost Psychic Wonder Picks. Trading is finally coming to the game …
Can’t open Pokemon TCG Pocket packs? This might be why M Alzamora Pokemon Some Pokemon TCG Pocket players are running into a specific issue that is keeping them from opening packs. Here’s what we know about it, and the easy steps you can take to fix it if you’re so affected. For many Pokemon TCG Pocket players, the name of the game is card collecting. The popular new mobile game contains a number of new chase cards and art designs with low pull …
The biggest potential Pokemon TCG Journey Together chase cards M Alzamora Pokemon Every new Pokemon expansion set has its own valuable chase cards, and Journey Together certainly won’t be an exception to this rule. We’ve put together a list of the biggest potential chase cards to look out for when Journey Together arrives for Pokemon TCG. The Scarlet and Violet: Journey Together set heralds the return of Trainers’ Pokemon at last. Previously named Owner’s Pokemon, the special edition cards feature a small …
Pokemon TCG Pocket reveals strict trade limitations, players upset Hannan Mundia Pokemon The Pokemon TCG Pocket team has revealed when the game’s trade feature will be introduced and how it’ll work, and players aren’t too happy with its clear limitations. Pokemon cards have seen massive popularity in recent years. Former Pokemon collectors reignited their lost passion and many Pokemon content creators have found new audience sby focusing on opening rare packs. The primary limitation with physical cards is not everyone has access …

Pokemon stands as the largest cross-media IP in the world by a comfortable margin, but how did it make such explosive gains?

For a long while, pivoting a video game franchise into a larger brand seemed impossible. Iconic titles like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Resident Evil received TV and film adaptations, with the most common result being catastrophic failure. That was the norm from the 1990s all the way into the 2020s; and it probably shouldn’t have been.

While Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and Silent Hill: Revelation were irredeemably bad, Pokemon showed that a video game series can be adapted into many different mediums. Here’s a quick history of the franchise and its future outlook.

Pokemon explodes with Game Boy games, quickly expands

Pokemon first arrived in Japan in 1996 with the release of Pokemon Red and Green; a pair of titles for the Nintendo Game Boy. The two games were largely identical, but each one had a handful of Pokemon that were exclusive to those titles. This encouraged players to collect and trade these monsters with others who purchased the games.

Later on in 1996, the game was reimagined as a trading card game. Then in 1997, an anime adaptation launched in Japan.

Both of those rapid-fire expansions earned strong success domestically. More importantly, it primed Pokemon for an overwhelming global push.

In 1998, the franchise officially crossed over into North America, Europe, and Australia. The games were killer apps for the Game Boy but it wasn’t just a video game. An accompanying anime aired new episodes daily, and the trading card game exploded out of the gate. This made it difficult to ignore Pokemon to the point where characters like Ash Ketchum and Pikachu were universally recognizable. Just like that, the franchise was unstoppable.

Pokemon expands beyond Nintendo consoles, grows even further

For decades, Pokemon video games were among the top-selling games each year they came out. The Pokemon TCG was one of the biggest in the industry. The anime was a constant, without even mentioning its many spin-off movies. Licensing characters for toys and apparel was a golden goose for all involved.

But the franchise was still positioned to grow further.

Almost all of the games were exclusive to Nintendo’s gaming hardware, but mobile gaming was on a sharp rise of its own. The franchise also released a long list of spin-offs, successfully turning the series into everything from a pinball game to a beat ‘em up. The Pokemon Company had dabbled with PC and mobile games previously, but started actively partnering with other studios in the 2010s.

The biggest example of this was Pokemon GO. The Pokemon Company partnered with AR game studio Niantic was an instant hit, being downloaded hundreds of millions of times. It was far from alone, however. Battling-focused gacha game Pokemon Masters, MOBA adaptation Pokemon Unite, and puzzle game Pokemon Cafe launched in the following years.

It wasn’t just licensed mobile games, though. Games like Detective Pikachu and New Pokemon Snap gave players fresh and varied ways to enjoy the familiar franchise.

Modern Pokémon games see mixed response, but sales remain strong

Though Pokémon has many lifelong fans, the mainline releases have long attracted controversy within the fandom. Though the first few generations were generally beloved, opinions on new and modern games releases vary wildly. Starting with the Nintendo Switch, critical response to the games wavered.

Reviews for Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee were lower than previous entries in the series. That pattern held with Pokémon Sword and Shield, which were also met with extreme backlash on social media.

Though each mainline game made every monster from previous generations available up until Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, this ended with Sword and Shield. Several fan favorites, including Beedrill and the Unovan starters, were made unobtainable in the game. The mega evolution and Z-move battle mechanics were also removed from the games. It’s unclear why or what methodology was used to determine which of the little monsters were left out.

Reviews sank further from there, with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, then Pokémon Scarlet and Violet garnering the lowest review averages for mainline games.

Despite this, the games were still an enormous commercial success. Pokémon Sword, Shield, Scarlet, and Violet ranked among the best-selling games in franchise history. Its publisher may have heeded some of the fan criticism however, as the company opted against releasing a new mainline game or expansion in 2024. This was the first year without a major game release since 2015.