Archaic

TheCapsFan leads a lively discussion on predictions for the upcoming 25th anniversary of Pokémon. Join him, along with Archaic, Rhodehawk, WyndonCalling, celadonk, and Blazing Larvesta, as they guess about impending news.

Australian clothing brand BlackMilk has announced the company will be releasing a new range of Pokémon clothing, with the line to go on sale this March 2nd.

The Pokémon Company International has recruited a new Director of Digital Consumer Engagement, Narbeh Minasians. Narbeh joins TPCI after more than a decade at Nickelodeon Animation, where he has spent the last four and a half year working as the Director of Nickelodeon's online social content and marketing. Narbeh is also a Director of The BRIC Foundation, an organisation which works to increase representation of women and people of underrepresented groups in the Entertainment, Gaming, Media, and Tech industries.

Opposuits, a novelty suit company based in The Netherlands, unveiled earlier this week its upcoming licensed collaboration with The Pokémon Company. The suit features first generation starter Pokémon Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander, alongside franchise mascot Pikachu, and includes a jacket, pants, and matching tie.

In a statement provided to multiple media organisations, McDonalds responded to the ongoing shortages of Pokémon 25th Anniversary Happy Meal Toys and Cards, and confirmed they are working with supply chain partners to restock these items. Their official statement stopped short however of directly acknowledging the ongoing flagrant scalping of these product on online auction sites such as eBay.

In a blog posted this week, Niantic CEO John Hanke has announced the launch of the Black Developers Initiative (BDI), as an extension of their existing Beyond Reality Initiative. The Black Developers Initiative will provide special funding for new projects from Black game development teams for the Niantic platform. Teams who are approved for BDI will receive five months of funding to develop a real-world augmented reality game, as well as direct mentorship and development support from the Niantic team themselves.

The real test for anyone wanting to catch these Pokémon cards and toys won't just be how far and wide you're willing to travel across the land. In a sad addition to the list of why we can't have nice things, the rollout of these Happy Meals has been marred by reports of scalpers and overzealous adult collectors snapping up all available stock.

It's seemingly taken about four months for anyone outside Japan to really take notice (to be fair, it was 2020), but Ambrella, the Japanese-based developers of a number of Pokémon spin-off titles, was fully merged into Creatures, Inc. on October 16th, 2020.

According to several reports in the Japanese media, Kawamatsu Kazuki, a 23 year-old unemployed Japanese man from the Minami ward of Nagoya, was recently arrested under Japan’s Unfair Competition Prevention Act for alledgedly generating and selling hacked Pokémon in Pokémon Sword and Shield, including both shiny Pokémon and Pokémon intended for competitive play. Under Japanese law, it is an offense to offer services to bypass technical limitation measures in software, including modifying the save data of video games.

Joining in on Pokémon's 25th anniversary celebrations, clothing brand Levi's is releasing a special collection inspired by the classic first season of the Pokémon anime.

The Pokémon Company International today announced the launch of Top Deck Academy, a new weekly video series designed to help players of all ages to improve their skills at the Pokémon Training Card Game.

The Pokémon Company International has announced that New Pokémon Snap will launch worldwide on April 30. Digital pre-orders for the game are now available via Nintendo eShop.

The creators of hacked versions of Pokémon GO and other Niantic mobile titles have agreed to a $USD 5 million settlement.

The Pokémon Company International has today kicked off celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise with a live action retrospective video showcasing each generation of Pokémon to-date.

From Premium Bandai, the makers of the Snorlax plushie that was large enough to sleep on, comes the newest piece of strange Pokémon merchandise from Japan. The Zettai Nameraretai Gengaa ( 絶対に舐められたいゲンガー ) or "Gengar that you absolutely want to be licked by" cushion.

This cushion looks more like it'd give you nightmares than give you rest. Measuring 170cm, or roughly 5 feet 5 inches long, Gengar's cushioned pink tongue forms a full length futon for you to sleep on while you rest your head inside of Gengar's plush mouth. The tongue can also be used as a pillow or blanket on its own. When not in use, the tongue rolls back to be stored inside Gengar's mouth.

The cushion is retailing on Premium Bandai's website for ¥JP 25,950, or roughly $USD 250, plus shipping. As of writing the first batch (expected to ship in June) has already sold out, however there are hopes Premium Bandai will restock the item in future given the obvious high demand for this unique item.

A Japanese man was arrested near Tokyo on Wednesday on suspicion of fraud, after sending in fake popsicle sticks in November to Akagi Nyugyo Co. in an attempt to redeem them for an Pokémon trading cards that were being distributed as part of a competition the company ran between June and July last year.

Niantic CEO John Hanke and Mayhem CEO Ivan Zhou anounced in separate blog posts today the acquisition of the small San Francisco based social gaming startup by Niantic. The specific terms of the acquisition, including whatever fee may have been paid by Niantic, have not been disclosed by either chief executive. Mayhem is best known for mayhem.gg, a social platform launched in 2019 which provides tools to gaming communities for creating their own organized leagues, ladders, and tournaments.

Singapore police have announced they have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of having cheated more than 15 victims of more than $176,000 Singaporian Dollars worth of Pokémon cards.

Niantic are giving Pokémon GO players worldwide the opportunity to have their trainer avatars appear as in-game characters for other players as part of Pokémon GO Tour: Kanto

Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) is an annual event run by the Games Done Quick charity fundraising organization, raising money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. As part of AGDQ 2021, two separate runners will be playing Pokémon games, with Etchy running Pokémon Platinum, and eddaket running Pokémon Blue.