Pokemon
Pokemon
Leak finds new Pokemon Unite Holowear, including epic Crustle
Steven Rondina
Pokemon Unite is set to add a bunch of new Holowear skins over the next month, and a leak is letting fans exactly know what’s coming. Following the announcement of the Halloween Festival, a leak has revealed more Pokemon Unite skins that are set to arrive in November. These skins are follow-ups to established Holowear styles with new ones being discovered alongside the Holowears that were revealed in the Halloween …
Pokemon
Everything you need to know about shadow bans in Pokemon GO
Steven Rondina
While there are an abundance of different third-party tools in existence for Pokemon GO, they run the risk of getting the player shadow banned. Developer Niantic’s primary way of punishing players who violate the terms of service for Pokemon GO is to give them a shadow ban. This has been a steady theme throughout Niantic’s existence, and is a threat in its original GPS-based AR game Ingress as well as …
Pokemon
Big Venusaur, Lucario nerfs coming in Pokemon Unite patch
Steven Rondina
Some big changes are coming in Pokemon Unite’s 1.2.1.8 patch. The update is set to either buff or nerf a number of playable Pokemon and shake up the three main neutral objective Pokemon. Alongside this are several UI and quality of life improvements, as well as some early staging for the upcoming Pokemon Unite Halloween Festival that will add new Pokemon Greedent. In all, four Pokemon are receiving buffs while …
Pokemon
Pokemon Unite developers reveal reasons for roster picks
Olivia Richman
Pokemon fans are often curious about who the next addition to the Pokemon Unite roster will be. And with forgettable Pokemon like Eldegoss and Crustle making the cut alongside fan favorites such as Lucario and Charizard, it could hypothetically be any of them With almost 900 Pokemon being released across 25 years, there are so many to choose from. So how do the developers do it? Pokemon Unite’s team recently …
Pokemon
How to get and counter Mawile in Pokemon GO
William Davis
With hundreds of Pokemon available in Pokemon GO, it’s always hard to keep track of the different types, how to counter them, and how to get them. One of the more unusual Pokemon is Mawile, which is a Steel and Fairy-type Pokemon that can often be found in raids or sometimes hatched from eggs. Mawile has some very clear strengths in the game and can be used effectively in the …
Pokemon
How to reach Legend rank in Pokemon GO
Olivia Richman
Trainers are in the middle of Season 9 in Pokemon GO’s PVP Battle League, fighting their way up through the ranks. The goal is to reach Legend, the highest rank in the game’s Battle League. It comes with an abundance of awards, but it does take a lot of effort to get there. Season 9 had all of the usual awards for winning a battle but also announced avatar items …
Pokemon
Pokemon attractions coming to Universal Studios Japan
Olivia Richman
Pokemon attractions are coming to Universal Studios Japan. Universal Studios dropped a press release about the unique collaboration. The two companies have a “long-term partnership” starting in 2022, bringing Pokemon attractions to the Universal Studios theme park in Osaka, Japan. The press release didn’t mention any specific rides or experiences, but fans can expect something creative and immersive. “Pokemon is beloved by fans around the world,” Universal Studios Japan CEO …
Pokemon
Here’s the best Sylveon build for Pokemon Unite
Steven Rondina
Sylveon has arrived in Pokemon Unite, but how do you best build the newest Pokemon to join the game’s cast? The first Eeveelution added to Pokemon Unite is a deadly ranged attacker that offers a mix of offensive and defensive prowess with some extra mobility options thrown in for good measure. The combination makes Sylveon a versatile threat in all stages of the game. Just as importantly, Sylveon is designed …
The mission Search for Zarude is now available in Pokemon GO
William Davis
Pokemon
A new special research has arrived in Pokemon GO and this time Professor Willow will be taking all players on the hunt for Zarude. On the journey to catch Zarude, players must go through five stages of research tasks to get there. These missions will take a bit of time to play and have players work a bit to encounter the mythical Pokemon from generation 8. Zarude was introduced in …
Here is the release date for Sylveon in Pokemon Unite
William Davis
Pokemon
The first Eeveelution to enter Pokemon Unite will be Sylveon and fans finally know the Pokemon’s release date. The Fairy-type Pokemon will be a ranged attacker and has some brand new fairy moves that will likely spice up the meta. Sylveon will start out as Eevee at level one but evolves quickly at level four. Furthermore, Sylveon will be getting its Unite Move at level eight. Sylveon is the first …
Here’s the best Mamoswine build for Pokemon Unite
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Mamoswine has joined the fray in Pokemon Unite and now players are trying to figure out how best to build the new Pokemon. Mamoswine is a unique addition to the game as a defender that is meant to scale into the late game. As with many other Pokemon of its class, it offers a blend of tankiness and crowd control to make up for its lack of damage output, and …
Pokemon GO’s Little Jungle Cup arrives with unique meta
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Pokemon GO is rolling out a unique new battle format with the Little Jungle Cup. The event comes as Pokemon GO prepares for the arrival of eighth-generation mythical Pokemon Zarude, and is a new take on the Little Cup that occasionally pops up in the game. The Little Jungle Cup only allows users to battle with Pokemon of 500 CP or less, with the extra caveat of requiring Pokemon to …
New Scyther evolution coming to Pokemon Legends: Arceus
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Pokemon Legends: Arceus has already caught the eyes of Pokemon fans with its unique gameplay and setting, but a new Scyther evolution is really turning heads. Pokemon fans already knew that the upcoming spin-off set in an ancient Sinnoh region would bring new Pokemon like regional variants and new evolutions of established Pokemon. But something else that’s set to arrive is an alternate evolution of fan-favorite Pokemon Scyther. The Pokemon …
Mamoswine’s Pokemon Unite release date has been announced
William Davis
Pokemon
A new defender is coming to Pokemon Unite, with none other than Mamoswine entering the game this week. Mamoswine will be the next new playable Pokemon following Blastoise who was released earlier this month after being playable during the beta. It was announced last month that Mamoswine is set to come to Pokemon Unite, but up until now, there has been no official release date. Fans of the mammoth Pokemon …
How to counter, defeat, and capture Giratina in Pokemon GO
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Get into the Halloween spirit in Pokemon GO with the return of Altered Forme Giratina. There’s going to be a spooky theme to Pokemon GO raids in the second half of October, with Niantic announcing that Altered Forme Giratina is going to be the five-star raid boss. The Pokemon will be preceded by Douse Drive Genesect, who will be in raids from October 1 to 12. After Giratina is cycled …
New Lucario bug is ruining the ranked experience in Pokemon Unite
William Davis
Pokemon
A new Lucario bug in Pokemon Unite has swarmed the game and made ranked mode especially pretty much unplayable whenever a Lucario is in the game. The bug is currently affecting Lucario’s move Extreme Speed. The move makes Lucario dash forward and damage opponents hit along the way. The move can also restore health and reset the cooldown in some situations, but this isn’t the part that is bugged. The …
Genesect set to return as Pokemon GO raid boss in October
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
The terrifying steel-bug Pokemon Genesect is returning to Pokemon GO. Though Genesect has been available in Pokemon GO for some time now, different versions of the mythical Pokemon are being added to the game starting with Douse Drive Genesect in October. When Genesect first arrived in Pokemon Black and White on the Nintendo DS, it had the unique ability to change the typing of its Techno Blast attack by holding …
How to complete Finding Your Voice in Pokemon GO
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Meloetta can now be obtained by all Pokemon GO players thanks to the Finding Your Voice special research questline. The new questline was added to the game alongside Fashion Week, making September one of the most action-packed months in Pokemon GO history. The research gives players access to the musical mythical Pokemon, which boasts unique typing and decent strength. Not only that but players can also get a bunch of …
Sylveon, Mamoswine are ready but hidden in Pokemon Unite files
Steven Rondina
Pokemon
Pokemon Unite players already know that Sylveon and Mamoswine are set to arrive as the next playable Pokemon, but there wasn’t all that much clarity regarding how they’d play. Until now. Pokemon Unite has arrived on mobile devices and a major update arrived alongside it. Included in that are hidden files related to Sylveon and Mamoswine. Dataminers dug into those hidden files and activated them, discovering fully realized builds of …
New features, battle pass hit Pokemon UNITE after mobile launch
Olivia Richman
Pokemon
Pokemon UNITE’s mobile version is here. The Pokemon Company launched the mobile version of Pokemon UNITE yesterday, bringing the MOBA to iOS and Android devices. The mobile version has the same Pokemon and maps as the Nintendo Switch version, and will include all the same updates moving forward. Trainers can link their mobile and Nintendo Switch accounts, allowing them to share progress between devices. There is also cross-play, meaning trainers …
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.
