After six months, The Pokémon Company is back again with another Pokémon Presents. This 35-minute show had something for every type of Pokémon fan. From TCG to animation and the all-important video games, there is something for you, no matter what type of fan you are. The presentation also featured the Pokémon World Championship in Yokohama, Japan, which is happening in the next few weeks. But enough of the intro; let’s get into the news.
We kicked things off with a trailer for the Pokémon World Championship. The event is happening over the next few weeks, and we got a look at some of the events being planned throughout the city of Yokohama. These events include photo ops, a massive Pokémon centre, and even a fricken cruise ship. They’re really going all out this year. They then announced that the Pokémon TCG Game Boy game and Pokémon Stadium 2 are coming to the Nintendo Switch Virtual Console.
My favourite announcements from this section were, without a doubt, the upcoming animation projects. We got a new trailer for Pokémon Horizons, and it looks incredible. The series has been out in Japan for a while, but now it seems it’s officially heading to the West. They also announced two new short series: Pokémon: Path to the Peak and Pokémon: Paldean Winds. Both these series look amazing in their own way, but I’m way more excited for Paldean Winds. It’s giving me Twilight Wings vibes if you remember that.
It wouldn’t be a Pokémon Presents without a section covering the mobile games. All the usual suspects are here in full force, and each is getting an update. Pokémon Unite is introducing a new mode called Panic Parade and bringing Mewtwo into the game with both its mega forms. Generation 9 is coming to Pokémon GO this year, meaning now every generation is available in GO. It’s crazy to think that it’s been seven years already. Pokémon GO Fest dates and locations were also announced, but no community days were revealed (you can check out a list of the best community days here).
Café Remix got its usual time in the spotlight, and with it comes the new Pokemon Tatsugiri. You’ll be able to recruit one of its three forms for your café over the next few weeks! Speaking of Generation 9, Nemona is heading to Pokémon Masters EX. As someone who has put in more time than I care to admit into Pokémon Masters, I’m keen to try Nemona and her new sprint style out. Lastly, there was an update on the newly released Pokémon Sleep. I’ve been using the app for the past month, and it’s actually useful. It was announced that when it’s a full moon, Snorlax will get a buff that attracts more Pokémon. It’s really helping out those of us with terrible sleep schedules.
The two biggest features of this show were new trailers for Detective Pikachu Returns and the DLC for Scarlet and Violet. The Detective Pikachu trailer gave us a better look at Ryme City and the characters you’ll meet throughout the game. I missed out on the original 3DS game, but the more I see the sequel, the more interested I am. Also, a fun fact: Detective Pikachu is voiced by Kaiji Tang, who also voices Gojo in the English dub of Jujutsu Kaisen. The game launches on the 6th of October this year.
The news I was waiting for came at the end: a new trailer for the Scarlet and Violet DLC, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. This trailer gave us a better look at both parts of this upcoming DLC. We got a better look at some of the new Pokémon, including Dipplin, a new evolution for Applin. We also got our first proper look at the new environments we’ll be exploring in the DLC. They also revealed some new characters, one of which looks oddly like Adaman from Legends: Arceus. Maybe they’re related somehow, but that’s just a theory.
The biggest surprise for me was what appeared to be new paradox forms for Raikou and Cobalion, and they turned my electric boy into a giraffe. Why did it have to be a giraffe? The Teal Mask was announced to be released on the 13th of September, with The Inidgo Disk coming later. A free Mew is also being distributed right now with the code GETY0URMEW. Each Mew will have a random tera type, so try your luck (I got a normal tera type, which sucks)
And with that, another Pokémon Presents is in the bag. Hopefully, you were able to find something to be excited about from the world of Pokémon. Keep it locked onto Couch Soup for everything coming from Pokémon for the latter half of the year. You can check out the full presentation below.
Did you watch the Pokémon Presents? What did you think? What Mew tera type did you get? Let us know in the comments where we can discuss all things Pokémon.
