Continuing with tradition, The Pokémon Company has dropped a Pokémon Presents show on the anniversary of the debut of the first Pokémon games.

As one might expect, the Direct initially focused on a bunch of mobile games, most of which most fans might not care much about. Cresselia and Darkrai are interesting Pokémon to bring to Pokémon Sleep, and that’s cool for whoever is playing that. Pokémon UNITE is bringing Alolan Raichu to the roster in April. I might check that out, considering I like Raichu.

Pokémon GO is running a Unova-themed event, which culminates with Pokémon GO Tour Global, but it doesn’t seem the announcement told us anything new about it. A new season, called Might and Mastery, is coming up, and it seems to be themed around Urshifu.

Also, an event is coming up in Pokémon Cafe Remix. I played the game for maybe a couple days when it first came out, but I don’t really care much for it, now.

A new mini-set is arriving for Pokémon TCG Pocket, and it’s arriving tomorrow. That doesn’t give us much time to save up pack hourglasses. The mini-set is themed around Arceus, and the appearance of a new Raichu card suggests that Pokémon in the set might work together well with Arceus.

I don’t know how many players still care about Pokémon Masters EX, but I sometimes peek back in to see what’s going on. It seems there will be new versions of Brendan and May who will have Groudon and Kyogre respectively, both shiny and both capable of Primal Reversion. I may spring for the new Brendan, so I’ll have a strong Ground type that’s ahead of the power creep.

It seems as though Scarlet and Violet aren’t behind us, just yet. There are a few new events planned for the current core Pokémon titles, including redeemable codes for in-game phone cases, with the case available depending on the game version, and an upcoming Mass Outbreak event themed around certain red, green, and blue Pokémon.

What has me excited in SV is the announcement of new upcoming Tera Raid events featuring Pokémon which have the Mightiest Mark. So far, I’ve caught each Pokémon featured in Tera Raids with the Mightiest Mark, some of which were quite challenging, and I’m looking forward to more!

In my opinion, the biggest announcement of the Presents would be Pokémon Champions, which shows itself as being the next generation of link battles! The program is coming to Nintendo Switch, Android, and will also be available to those who haven’t gotten around to ditching iOS.

Pokémon Champions focuses on battles, according to the gameplay mechanics of the core games. But Champions looks to be encompassing, as it will connect to Pokémon Home, allowing players to battle with their own Pokémon, and include the major gameplay mechanics of Mega Evolution and Terrastalization, in the same battle!

Consider the implications of that!

Will every Pokémon be eligible? Maybe so. Will other mechanics such as Primal Reversion and Z-moves be available? Perhaps. It’s looking like there’s going to be a lot of potential for new and old strategies to emerge!

(EDIT: It’s been revealed that not all Pokémon are going to be in Pokémon Champions, initially. Kinda disappointing, but the implications of this depends on which gets left out.)

It’s been one year since the last announcement about Pokémon Legends Z-A (hereafter ZA, because brevity), and GameFreak finally has something new to say about it!

We got a look at the three starters, which are Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile. Players are probably already forming factions. I’ll probably go with Chikorita this time, because I’d like to see a Pokémon that’s been getting picked on succeed, perhaps by reason of a great new form. And if not, then I’d probably be enjoying a challenging playthrough. If Chikorita doesn’t change, I’d at least have an idea of what to expect.

We got to see more Mega evolutions, but I didn’t notice any new ones. Still, it’s cool that we’re getting many of them back.

What I find interesting is the new battle style where moves have an RTS kind of element, where placement can influence outcomes, and moves have areas of effect. It’s interesting, and I look to seeing how it works in the game once it releases.

And I’ll have to be patient about that, as ZA is to be released late this year!

With Pokémon, it’s easy to be enthusiastic, as there’s usually a lot going on. This year’s Pokémon Presents reflected that well, and was easily among the strongest of them. But I’m still wondering how GameFreak will incorporate Switch 2 into their plans. Is it too soon to ask? GameFreak has historically been hesitant to develop for new hardware.