Games

Pokémon Masters EX is today debuting the second of its Ultimate Battle challenges with the addition of Ultimate Battle: Thorton's Freezing Frost. Also dropping in-game today are the game's latest Legendary Gauntlet, along with a pair of new scouts.

The Pokémon Company has announced that Super Music Collections for Pokémon Sword and Shield + Expansion Pass, Pokémon Legends: Arceus, and Pokémon Sword and Shield + The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero will each be released in Japan on Pokémon Day on February 27th, 2024. Pre-orders are now open on the Pokémon Center ONLINE website in Japan, while stocks last, and are limited to a maximum of 2 items per person.

The developers of Pokémon Sleep have given players a list of features and issues that are currently receiving development attention. This list highlights several of quality of life improvements that players can expect to see coming in an update planned for release later this month, prior to the start of the Holiday 2023 event that was announced earlier this week. Pokémon Sleep are also distributing a large gift bundle of handy in-game items to all currently registered players.

The final trailer for The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, the paid DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, has been released ahead of the release of Part 2, The Indigo Disk next week on Thursday, December 14th. This new trailer reveals a range of new features in the DLC, including for the first time in a main series title the ability to control your Pokémon directly. Additional details on these features, along with special distributions being made to celebrate the release were also given in a simultaneous update made to the official Scarlet & Violet website.

The Pokémon of Myth from the Sinnoh region, Dialga and Palkia, are making their first appearance in a 5-star Tera Raid Battle event in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet starting December 7th, at 4:00pm (PST) / December 8th at Midnight (UTC), and running through until December 21st at 3:59pm (PST) / 11:59pm (UTC).

Limited-time distributions of Darkrai and a Shiny Lucario were announced for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet today alongside the final trailer for The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk, which aired today across the various language Official Pokémon YouTube channels. Darkrai's distribution will be available until December 21st, at 11:59pm (UTC), while Lucario will be available until January 3rd, 2024, at 11:59pm (UTC).

Pokémon Sleep will be marking the holiday season later this month with the Holiday 2023 — Double Dream Shard Research event, running in-game for the week leading up to Christmas. As the name suggests, this event will give Researchers double the regular amount of Dream Shards through sleep research, as well as offering increased chances of meeting Shiny Pokémon. The game will also be receiving a small update ahead of this event, with a significant increase planned for the effect of Dream Shard Magnet S skill.

No Glitches Allowed (NoGA) will be hosting their annual everything-goes winter event from December 6th to December 10th. Pokémon Yellow and a multiworld randomizer Pokémon Red will both feature in the marathon, which can be watched from the group's Twitch channel. The event will be raising money for GO Rescue Pet Adoption Center, a no-kill dog shelter in Norfolk, Virginia.

More Alola region content returns to Pokémon Masters EX, with a re-run of the People Protecting Pokémon Villain Event, which originally ran as part of the Alola Chapter of the Villain Arc earlier this year. This event will run through to December 17th, at 9:59pm (PST).

Battle Pass 20 has arrived in Pokémon UNITE, bringing new holowear for Sableye and Mewtwo, along with other assorted rewards for players. The Version 1.13.1.2 patch has also dropped this week, enabling the Holiday events that were announced previously as well as bringing balancing changes to a wide selection of Pokémon.

Niantic has released details on the upcoming Catch Mastery: Ice event in Pokémon GO, that was first announced last week alongside the release of information on the Timeless Travels season. The event will be held in-game this Saturday, December 9th, from 10:00am to 8:00pm local time.

The Adamant Time event, featuring Pokémon from the Kanto region, will be running in Pokémon GO next week from Monday December 11th at 10:00am local time, through to Friday December 15th at 8:00pm local time.

Pokémon GO's new Along the Routes event will begin tomorrow, December 5th, at 10:00am, running through to December 8th at 8:00pm local time. This event will introduce the travelling Pokémon researcher Mateo, who provides the Gift Exchange service for players exploring Routes, as well as feature the debut of Shiny Hisuian Sneasel.

A huge helping of Alola region content is coming to Pokémon Masters EX this week, with re-runs of the 2023 edition of the Top Speed Time Trial Event, and the Investigate the Foundation Villain Event, both of which originally ran alongside the debut of the Alola Chapter of the Villain Arc earlier this year. A trio of fair-exclusive Sygna Suit sync pairs featured in the Alola Chapter will also be making their return in a special Triple Feature Poké Fair Scout, while the Alola Challenge is starting this week in the Champion Stadium. Also starting today is a new Special Battle Event, featuring the recently released Neo Champion Nate.

Pokémon UNITE have released information on their event schedule for this year's holiday period, with the Snowball Battle in Shiver City and other holiday activities set to make their return starting December 7th, alongside the debut of Meowscarada and its Phantom Thief Style Holowear. Metagross has also had its release date confirmed, with the Pokémon set to make its way to Aeos Island on December 26th. Additionally, a new Producer Message has been posted on the official Pokémon Community forums, announcing new balancing changes for Ranked Matches are taking place, along with new Held Items & Battle Items.

Pokémon Café ReMix is gearing up for the holiday season, with a variety of new and returning Pokémon available for players to recruit to their café staff. The new Scream Tail's Lucky Spin event lets players try their luck to recruit Scream Tail and, if they're lucky enough, recruit Shiny Jigglypuff! Meanwhile in Pelipper Deliveries, Absol gets new five-star outfit as celebration for the game's 2nd anniversary, and Hisuian Form Zorua in its Holiday outfit makes a return. Litwick also returns in a new Pass from the in-game store, while Litten is is the chosen Pokémon for December's monthly Goals.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Ranked Battles Regulation Set F will come into force with the start of the next Season on January 4th, 2024, running through to April 30th, 2024 at 11:59pm (UTC). This new regulation set is expected to expand the list of allowable Pokémon to include those found in The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk, which releases worldwide later this month on December 14th.

As previewed in Pokémon Masters EX's recent developer letter, new content is being added today to the Main Story's Mysterious Stones Chapter. The latest Monthly Poké Fair Scout is also dropping in game today, once again featuring Marnie & Morpeko.

Next week on December 5th, the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live will be receiving an update to Version 1.9.2. This update will resolve a small number of issues that had been impacting on several cards, most notably problems in the application of Toedscruel's Slime Mold Colony Ability, and the longstanding bug where Zoroark's Phantom Transformation ability will show the player multiple card selection screens. This update will be preceded by an 8 hour long maintenance window, scheduled to start at 8:00am (PST) / 4:00pm (UTC) on December 5th.

The Really Really Long A Thon (RRLAT) Twitch channel will hosting a nonstop speedrunning marathon throughout December, supporting the Open Medicine Foundation. A run of PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure will be featured during the event, with the run presently scheduled for Wednesday, December 20th. The event can be watched from the marathon's Twitch channel.