The latest Nintendo Direct has unveiled some exciting news and given us a sneak peek at what's in store for the Switch 2 – including a huge Pokemon Pokopia update as well as new paid DLC for the adorable 2026 banger.

That's right, cozy gamers – we're eating good this summer, as Nintendo has a bubbly underwater update in store for Pokopia... and it's coming in August. There's more in store than just that, however. Not only will we get to take our Dittos into the sea to terraform, build, and expand, but we're getting expansions, too.

An expansion pass is dropping today, in fact, and it'll include Bubbly Basin – an (unsurprisingly) underwater-themed DLC – in August, as well as "additional new features" sometime in late 2026 and an "additional new town" later down the line in 2027.

Bubbly Basin itself boasts a new town, with fresh outfits, furniture, and friends – emphasis on the "friends" bit, y'all. That means new Pokemon, and I'm so ready to see Ditto potentially transform into other cute 'mons.

In the trailer, we already see Mudkip and Popplio, for example, which are exciting enough as it is. Who else is coming? I'm not sure, but I can't wait to see.

Thankfully, there's not long left to wait now until the free watery update and the paid DLC start rolling out in August – so we'll see then. I've got my fingers crossed for all the mermaid vibes with outfits and furniture, so I'll be holding on with bated breath.

Searching for something else to wishlist? Here are the best new games coming this year and beyond to look forward to.

The Pokemon Company has announced that the lifetime sales of all Pokemon games exceed 515 million, with 26 million sold in the last year.

Don't know if anyone out there knew this, but that Pokemon thing is pretty popular. The franchise as a whole is already firmly the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, and the games consistently rank near the top of the best-sellers list on every Nintendo platform they're on (or the top overall on Game Boy and Game Boy Advance). And despite some setbacks in the games' perception after the disastrous launch of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the series continues to sell well.

According to The Pokemon Company in its latest financial report, the "total shipments of all Pokémon-related software" have reached over 515 million units by the end of March 2026. And looking at the Wayback Machine, that marks a jump of 26 million from last year's reported number of 489 million units.

October saw the release of Pokemon Legends Z-A, the first Pokemon game on Switch 2. Of course, earlier this year, we also got Pokemon Pokopia, which became a phenomenon in its own right, and the Switch ports of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen led to another 4 million copies sold for that effort, placing those games in the top 10 best-selling Pokemon games. What's more impressive is that these numbers only cover up until the end of March 2026, meaning Pokopia has probably sold even more, and with Nintendo announcing it sold over 4 million copies by the end of its release month.

With Pokopia's continued popularity and the release of Gen 10 with Pokemon Winds and Waves in 2027, it feels very likely that next year's gain could be even higher.

"The biggest time save in nearly a decade of Pokemon speedrunning" has been discovered thanks to the new FireRed and LeafGreen Switch ports, and all it takes is the press of a button.

Nintendo has reportedly failed to secure another patent relating to monster-capturing mechanics, all while its lawsuit against Palworld developer PocketPair continues to rumble on.

Nearly two years ago, the Nintendo-owned Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair for patent infringement – a legal battle that is still ongoing.

It's been quite a while since it all began to fall into place when Nintendo took its first step in the legal battle back in September of 2024, with Pocketpair allegedly having breached three different patents with Palworld.

The developer has dropped updates that distance its survival game from Pokemon over the years, but the lawsuit is still in progress, and the situation as a whole is far from over.

After securing new patents that don't just affect creature collectors that resemble Pokemon, but various turn-based games, Nintendo is attempting to snag another – this time relating to touchscreen-based monster-catching mechanics… mechanics that are likely relevant to phone games or apps like the still-in-progress project from Pocketpair, Palworld Mobile.

According to Games Fray, though, Nintendo hasn't convinced the Japan Patent Office.

Put simply – because this entire debacle is anything but simple – the JPO examiner who reviewed Nintendo's new application (no. 2026-019762, for anyone wondering) didn't find any "inventive step" over "prior art."

They conclude that the rejected patent, itself a divisional of the prior one regarding monster-catching mechanics, is just a general rule set with nothing technologically original about it.

As for the patent, its only standout quality – at least, when compared to Nintendo's previous filings – is its mention of touchscreen usage, or "a game program executed by a computer of an information processing apparatus equipped with a touch panel." Now, this doesn't mean the company can't have another go at securing the patent.

As the Games Fray analysis reads, Nintendo had "already amended the claims in February and can try to amend them again."

It's all a bit of a mind-boggler if you ask me, but I'd argue that one thing is pretty clear: Nintendo isn't a company that easily backs down, and its ongoing push to secure new patents proves as much.

There's no telling what the future holds, but it's all a bit worrying – doubly so as we've not gotten any word on Palworld Mobile for quite some time. If anything did go forward via the JPO, I suppose the project (and others) could be affected.

Considering the past, it certainly wouldn't be the first time. Palworld already tweaked its original ball-throwing creature-capturing system to appease the lawsuit, for example, and it's not over yet.

All of this – coupled with the egregious Palworld and Pokemon clone that is Pickmos (originally titled "Pickmon") – makes the future particularly difficult to read. I'd wager we'll just need to keep our eyes on Nintendo for its next move.

As wait for Palworld 1.0 has fans in frenzy, lead says don't expect any "sudden announcement on Discord" as "it's a bit too big of a moment."

There are plenty of mind-boggling Pokemon and Palworld clones out there, both on mobile platforms and consoles alike – but the most viral one to date, Pickmos, might just be the most infamous yet… and it's back in the limelight after a quiet return to Steam.

In case you're out of the loop, Pickmos – originally titled "Pickmon" – made rounds online as it features, ahem, quite a few designs that might just be a tad bit too inspired by fan creations and, of course, Pokemon and Palworld themselves.

Folks joked that developer PocketGame (no, not Pocketpair) was "lawsuitmaxxing" with "straight up rip-offs" of iconic 'mons like Charizard. The game's name was soon changed, which the devs said was to "better align with our brand identity and lore."

After Pickmon became Pickmos, PocketGame promised revisions to ensure "a controversy-free experience" were underway, only for the creature collector to then disappear from Steam last month.

Publisher Networkgo explained the removal, saying it had "officially intervened in the development of Pickmos" and would be "supervising the PocketGame team from a player's perspective to ensure the game keeps getting better." It's… a lot.

Well, now, Pickmos is back on Steam. It's made an undeniably quiet return, however, with little update from PocketGame or Networkgo to describe what's happening behind the scenes or what prompted the decision to put Pickmos on Valve's storefront once more.

Interestingly, though, I see that a lot of the more controversial monster designs – like the Charizard-esque one and another that a Fakemon (fan-created Pokemon) artist alleged that the game "stole" – seem to have been wiped away.

There's no telling why this is the case until the devs or publisher speak up, but it's probably safe to say it has to do with the allegations of stolen art and the like. Heck, the new Steam page hardly features any screenshots or any trailer at all.

I'd say they're trying to be careful this time around, although it's hard to escape the general Pokemon and Palworld vibes the open-world game carries with it. I mean, just look at those monster-run factory lines.

Here's hoping that we get some sort of word from PocketGame and Networkgo on what is actually going on. For now, I'd suggest keeping an eye on the Steam listing for any updates or news posts. When they'll come, however, I'm not sure.

Palworld lead defends launch rival Enshrouded, says Pocketpair didn't eat the survival game's lunch and was fortunate to stand out in a "stacked" time for the genre

It's been over three weeks since Nintendo dropped its last big Pokemon Pokopia update, fixing early-game softlocking and more, but various issues have persisted in the cozy life sim since – some of which developers aim to now tackle in a brand-new patch.

If you haven't spotted the news yet, Pokemon Pokopia version 1.0.3 is out now – and as per the official update details from Nintendo, it's a chunky one compared to previous patches.

It addresses softlocking, from construction projects to more serious halts in story progression, over-rumbly vibrating controllers, and, perhaps most notably, bugs that would cost us our Pokemon. Because, you know… they're kind of important.

As Nintendo words the problem. "In some cases, Pokémon whose habitats have disappeared cannot be found even when searching for them using the 'Search' function in the Pokédex."

It's no small bug, really – as someone who spent ages collecting as many Pokemon as I could by going back and forth between the habitat Pokedex and my islands, I don't like the idea of losing my 'mon via an accidental pick-up or punch.

Pokémon Pokopia Version 1.0.3 is now available from r/Pokopia

I'm not the only one who feels this relieved, either. Over on Reddit, one fellow fan jokes, "Excellent, now removing the front door of a habitat accidentally won't send the inhabitants to the shadow realm." Indeed, it will not. A separate post sees folks dubbing the update's fix a "massive solve" – and I certainly agree.

Version 1.0.3 targets other lost 'mon, too, as "certain actions" could cause "seasonal Pokémon to disappear from the town and Cloud Island."

And, for anyone wondering how to update – which you must if you want to continue using the game's online features – simply navigate over to your Switch 2 home screen and select Pokopia without opening it. Then, press the + button or – button on your Joy-Con. The current version number will pop up, and you just need to select "Software Update" and "Over the Internet." You'll then be all set to explore version 1.0.3.

I'm personally hoping Nintendo continues its work on what might just be one of this year's biggest new games yet – and perhaps even addresses fans' requested features, like a better GameShare and multiplayer mode… I know my fingers are crossed, anyway.

Pokemon Pokopia speedruns are already a thing, and they somehow don't use the cozy life sim's fastest ability.

Pokemon Pokopia players have already figured out how to speedrun the cozy life sim, with the time to hit credits sitting at around three hours.

YouTube creator PulseEffects has shared a video detailing how its done, and while the point of the game obviously isn't to hit credits as fast as you can, it's certainly interesting to see how such a laid back game can be minmaxxed like this.

I won't go into all the details here for the sake of spoilers (that's what the video is for, if you wanna see 'em), but an early example includes not creating the biome for Slowpoke where I imagine almost everyone did (down near Magikarp), and instead building it near Hitmonchan, and thus making the act of escorting the slow Pokemon to the Pokemon Center way less tedious.

The most shocking aspect of the entire run is that the best ability in the game – Graveller's Rollout, which allows you to speed around as a ball and destroy terrain along the way – is completely skipped. A few powerups are skipped because most of them are "kinda unnecessary" or "take way too long to obtain to be worth it in a speedrun," with Rollout being an example of the latter.

If there's anything you would associate Pokemon Pokopia with, it's going fast and making sure you get to the ending, of course. Sure there's a Minecraft-inspired cozy game in there that has you rebuild nice communities with the power of Pokemon and friendship, but why would you do that when you can rush to the end as was obviously intended? At the very least, some have taken that approach, as the speedruns for Pokemon Pokopia are now down to three hours, which seems inconceivable to me who has put however many hours in and still not finished either of the second biomes or met the Snorlax or Pikachu variants.

Pokemon Pokopia sends monthly Switch 2 sales flying by 154% in the UK.

As a daily Animal Crossing player, I've been enviously watching the Pokemon Pokopia community build absolutely incredible things with the game's comparatively advanced toolset, but this latest creation has me questioning whether it's wise to give players that much freedom.

We all have neighbors we don't like, and thankfully, in Animal Crossing you have relatively harmless ways of expressing that in the form of pitfall traps you can place around your island and the tried-and-true bug net, which you can smack villagers with until they start sulking like little babies. Sure, some people take it to the extreme by trapping villagers in custom-built enclosures, but there's only so much you can do to make them truly miserable, and that's probably for the best.

One Pokemon Pokopia player posted a video of the ghastly facility they built to literally torture their least-favorite 'mons, and I fear technology has gone too far.

"They are (mostly) comfortable.." says Reddit user jayhanparks, who gives a genuinely unsettling tour of the jail in an accompanying video. In it, you can see innocent Pokemon like Mr. Mime, Hitmonlee, Timburr, and Machamp trapped inside cramped, dimly lit jailcells. Clearly distressed, the Pokemon complain about the low level of light as jayhanparks turns a blind eye to their own cruelty.

They are (mostly) comfortable.. from r/Pokopia

Joking aside, this is a highly impressive build and that makes me even more eager to cheat on Animal Crossing with Pokopia. I've always wanted the ability to create fully enclosed buildings so that my Animal Crossing restaurants and supermarkets don't go out of business when it rains. Although, as this Redditor has proven, deeper customization tools aren't always good or even ethical when you're dealing with cozy gamers. It's always the quiet ones.

I've spent 20 hours in Pokemon Pokopia obsessing over its mysterious world and what it hides beneath the surface

The Nintendo Switch 2 sold 154% more UK units in March 2026 compared to February, thanks to the release of Pokemon Pokopia.

Pokemon Pokopia is that game this year. Not only has it once again overtaken Resident Evil Requiem on Metacritic as the best game of 2026, and been rated as the best Pokemon title of all time, but the game was so popular that people were reporting shortages of the game at retailers. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company confirmed that the game had sold 2.2 million copies in its first four days, and with the lack of an Animal Crossing: New Horizons sequel, cozy game fans are clearly flocking to it, which in turn has given a boost to the Switch 2 itself.

The Game Business co-founder Christopher Dring reports that (per Nielsen IQ) "Nintendo Switch 2 UK sales jumped 154% in March month-on-month following the release of Pokemon Pokopia." Nintendo accounts for over 50% of all consoles sold in the UK so far this year. Dring notes that "One caveat. March was a five-week month, whereas February was a four-week month," but regardless, it's an impressive bump.

With this excellent month, Dring notes that "Nintendo accounts for over 50% of all consoles sold in the UK so far this year," and with the combination of the PS5 price rise, Xbox not doing much, and the leaked Nintendo lineup for 2026 sounding kind of wild, I wouldn't be shocked if this continued throughout the year.

Pokemon Pokopia players turn to "broken" Minecraft tactics to make gathering one of the game's rarest materials a breeze.

Pokemon Pokopia is impressing cozy game stans all over the globe with its Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Minecraft vibes – but some of the rare materials take away from the whole "cozy" aspect, as they aren't exactly easy to grind and gather.

Or, well, they used to not be. If you're in need of Pokemetal or Rare Pokemetal (I'm looking at you, Cloud Island and 3D printer frequenters), simply look to this handy new method from content creator Austin John Plays on YouTube.

First, head over to a Dream Island (ideally the Dragonite doll one, as it harbors the most of the metal). Then, go to the beach right by spawn. From there, face directly downward, use your Rock Smash ability, and dig six blocks under.

This reminds me of the old Minecraft diamond-mining trick, where you have to dig down to a certain depth and search however many blocks beneath the surface. Just another play on ye olde Minecraft mechanics in Pokopia, I suppose (and I'm so here for it).

Once you're six blocks down, use Rollout and go straight until you hit Pokemetal. Turn right after that, and do it all again. As Austin puts it, "We're not doing strip mining. We're excavating."

And, "After you clear off enough of an area, you're just going to do the next column over and over" – it's a cycle that just keeps on giving… no potato hamburger steaks required. It's a tried and true method already, too, judging by the comments.

"This method was perfection," as one reads. "I mined 1,200 Pokemetal in about 90 minutes and 150 Rare!" Another person exclaims, "This has been a huge help!" Others wish they'd learned about the method earlier.

"Man, I wish I had seen this before I spent the entire day clearing out a couple Dream Islands for Pokemetal," one such fan writes. I can see why. That's a lot of Pokemetal to go around, and even more opportunity to craft late-game items or 3D print your favorite objects from Cloud Islands.

I know I'll be putting some to good use myself later on for fruit-shaped lamps and whatnot. When I'm done with the Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream demo, that is…

Minecraft griefing returns in Pokemon Pokopia as player ruins "public island for co-op building" with 0 guilt: "Very sad to see the efforts of around 100 people go to waste"

When Pokemon Pokopia revealed its Dragon Quest Builders 2 DNA, I had no doubt Game Freak and Omega Force's collaboration would yield glowing results. The basic premise of a cozy Pokemon life sim with crafting and building elements always seemed like a winning combination, but it's great when developers surprise veterans and newcomers alike.

Yet the biggest surprises come from the fact Pokopia is comfortable enough to take things a bit further, expanding upon Minecraft and Animal Crossing-like systems and mechanics that had stagnated for too long. That's what captured, after many years away from the creative grind, my imagination – and has pushed me to put an embarrassing amount of time into the game. I'll probably stick around its ruined world and restored environments for a long time. It's exquisite comfort food, and the exact type most of us need right now.

Even as a self-proclaimed optimistic, I think our world is in a bad place right now. Better times will come, but it is what it is. In this context, Pokopia's arrival is reminiscent of Animal Crossing: New Horizons hitting right as the global coronavirus pandemic started. A little ray of color – hope – and a perfect escape from reality... except Pokopia is also quite concerned about reality. This is both a warning and a learning opportunity.

Light spoilers ahead for Pokemon Pokopia

A wounded world

Pokemon Pokopia pulls no punches. Things are bad from the get-go, and even as Ditto restores habitats with the help of Professor Tangrowth and the Pokemon that show up, there's a glum feeling covering the post-cataclysm Kanto region. As soon as it comes into contact with the leftover human tech, it becomes clear Pokopia takes place in the future. Humanity hit a bad ending, which is starting to pan out right outside our windows.

All hope isn't lost, but it's fascinating to see The Pokemon Company and Game Freak going "yes, we'll release an XXL-sized downer just in time for the cuddly series' 30th anniversary." This isn't a criticism – I love it. Pokopia isn't only the freshest the franchise has been in years; it's also the perfect and most mature way to celebrate what it means to millions of people around the globe. You don't need a Fallout-like dark (but fun) setting to come up with a compelling cautionary tale, and it feels like Game Freak and Omega Force instead looked to family-friendly but loaded animation classics like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind or Princess Mononoke for inspiration.

Mind you, Pokopia is a far simpler story than those and completely without violence, but it's an excellent reminder that "silly little games" about cute cartoon critters can make better commentary on current real-life woes than gory action-adventure romps at times. Moreover, none of it leaves Pokemon's central themes – friendship, exploration, living in balance with nature – behind. If anything, the game elevates them under new light. If civilization as we know it just disappeared tomorrow, who would you befriend and what would you build (or rebuild)? How much of the past should be recovered at all? Pokopia stays focused on keeping its tone playful, but there's an underlying consciousness to all its narrative beats we shouldn't ignore.

Learning from history

In this melancholic introspection, Pokemon (as an enduring entertainment brand) might find the required ingenuity and maturity to please both its aging old-guard fans and the younger generations at the same time. It may sound contradictory, but a game with the emotional and creative bandwidth to be the cutest thing that you've seen in ages – while also making anyone with even the tiniest connection to the franchise feel uneasy – should be studied carefully.

Pokopia isn't (or shouldn't be) just a spinoff which bridges several generations of 'mons and gives fans a massive sandbox that's familiar enough. It's an example of what this IP could be more often, especially when the first generation of Pokemon kids are now in their 30s and early 40s. Continuing what the main series has always done with new entries like Pokemon Winds and Waves is a no-brainer, and I dig the experimentation we're now seeing with the Legends games (even if the budgets aren't where they should be), but there's more than enough room for one of the largest franchises in the world to grow up alongside many of its fans without forgetting about the children of today and beyond.

When Charmander asked for shelter as it started raining, I saved and adopted the Pokemon before its flame went out, like Ash almost 30 years ago. When I dug deep, ruins I'd traversed before helped me better figure out the game's setting. When I finished restoring a towering building, a mighty Pokemon who once resented humans pointed me in the right direction to discover what their ultimate fate was. Our worlds have changed for the worse, but they're still recognizable.

The journey that connected all those big moments was completely new, but from the central mechanic of restoring habitats to its blocky building loop, it's all rightly rooted in past successes and failures inside and outside the multimedia franchise. Neither we nor the Pokemon can have a bright future ahead without closely examining the past. In this conversation, however, there's no room for cheap nostalgia that inevitably leads to repeating old mistakes. Pokemon Pokopia gets it. Do we?

I've spent 20 hours in Pokemon Pokopia obsessing over its mysterious world and what it hides beneath the surface

Pokemon Pokopia is back on top of Metacritic's ranking of the best games of the year, once again overtaking Resident Evil Requiem as clearly not even hot unc Leon Kennedy is able to keep the cozy life sim down.

With 101 critic reviews logged at the time of writing, as highlighted on ResetEra, Pokopia has regained the average critic score of 90, which it previously briefly saw when the first few reviews started dropping. As is to be expected, this fluctuated somewhat as more scores started coming in, but it remained the highest-rated Pokemon game of all time, and now, almost three weeks on from the game's launch, it seems quite unlikely to shift any more than it has.

Its main competition has been Capcom's latest horror romp, Resident Evil Requiem, which is still following close behind on the rankings with an average critic score of 89. It's a very similar story over on OpenCritic, although on that review aggregator, Pokopia is tied for the top spot with indie hidden object game Lost and Found Co. – it's worth noting that one only has 12 reviews in comparison to the 78 listed for Pokopia, though.

A score of 90 for Pokopia also sees it match Animal Crossing: New Horizons on both Metacritic and OpenCritic – fitting given the comparisons between the two, even if the Pokemon spin-off's building elements make for a rather different experience overall.

Obviously, we're still quite early in the year, so even if Pokopia has been able to fight off Resident Evil Requiem, it remains to be seen if it can hold its own against the slew of other games launching this year. We've got GTA 6, Marvel's Wolverine, and Fable set to release within 2026, and that's just to name a few. Pokopia will definitely have its work cut out for it, but that lethally moreish combination of Pokemon and the cozy life sim genre is going to take some beating.

A Pokemon Pokopia player built a working calculator and the game's not even 3 weeks old: "The countdown to a playable version of Doom begins now,"

The ever-cozy Pokemon Pokopia offers a very wholesome blend of Animal Crossing: New Horizons vibes and Minecraft mechanics – but players are discovering that, sadly, not all in the community are as wholesome as the game they're enjoying.

Picture this: it's the early 2010s, you're just getting home from school, and you're preparing to hop on your favorite Minecraft server for some admittedly not-so-great builds. What do you see when you get in, though?

Your house-in-progress is now a house-in-shambles, thanks to griefers. We all remember them, and, unfortunately, they're still around. They're now rearing their heads in Pokopia, in fact, much to players' dismay.

As one disappointed fan reports in a recent online post, "We opened a public island for co-op building, and I suppose expectedly someone came in and wrecked it. Very sad to see the efforts of around 100 people go to waste, but we at least recorded footage prior."

Attached are images of the island they cite before and after the damage – and, yeah, it's pretty crushing to see. Thankfully, it sounds as though folks will rebuild it, at least.

"If you wish to help salvage," the poster writes, attaching access codes for the island. Replies show disheartened fellow fans, with one comment reading, "I thought we left griefers in 2012." Another person chimes in, "They really need to implement island backups or something."

A good few players offer their help in rebuilding everything, too, which is nice, but wow, does this whole situation bring back my worst Minecraft memories.

I'm just glad that something like this even exists in the first place, I suppose – especially when I consider all the calls to Nintendo for a better GameShare and multiplayer mode.

A public island like the one covered here could really be special… and, evidently, is.

New Pokemon Pokopia update addresses early-game softlocking and more, because we all deserve to meet Mosslax ASAP

There's a new Pokemon Pokopia update upon us, squashing bugs and addressing issues with Pokedex entries, certain quests, and softlocks.

Nintendo unveils the new patch, which brings the game to version 1.0.2, in an announcement online alongside some handy instructions on how players can update Pokopia.

The first two changes come to early quests, "Rock smash your way to treasure!" and "To Snorlax!" They basically just make progression easier, as certain block placement can make it "difficult to understand how to progress the request" pre-patch.

There's a plethora of other tweaks for quests, too, including ones that tidy up some softlocks. For instance, during the "Help make a home!" request, Squirtle can get stuck in a tree and become impossible to chat with... you know, preventing progression. Now, this shouldn't happen anymore.

There's also a bit of a pre-update bug in "Find the Pokemon Center!" in Bleak Beach, where progress is halted if players break the bridge's cracked blocks early.

Other changes Nintendo lists are similar, mostly affecting quests and situations that could prevent a player from progressing. It's one of those areas that can be tricky to nail, after all, as Pokopia does allow for full creativity, but it also has a more streamlined story to follow for ability unlocking and such.

While I (thankfully) haven't encountered any issues myself, a quick browse on Reddit shows others certainly have.

For anyone wondering how to update – and you do need to if you want to continue using the game's online features – simply navigate to your Switch 2 home screen and select Pokopia without opening it. Then, press the + button or – button on your Joy-Con. The current version number will pop up, and you just need to select "Software Update" and "Over the Internet."

Et voilà! You're all set to enjoy 1.0.2.

Here's hoping Nintendo continues rolling out the updates – and perhaps even addresses fans' requested features, like a better GameShare and multiplayer mode.

"Welcome back ACNH treasure islands": Pokemon Pokopia fan creates Cloud Island you can use to get some of the cozy game's rarest goodies, and it's reminding us all of our Animal Crossing days

It's no secret that Pokemon Pokopia is a hit with Animal Crossing: New Horizons fans (hi, it's me), thanks to its cozy gameplay loop and relaxing island vibes – but now, thanks to players, it's even more like the adorable Nintendo gem that stole our hearts in 2020.

If you haven't heard of "treasure islands" in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, they aren't as active as they were during the peak COVID era, but they're still around.

Put simply, fans would (and still do) set up their islands – islands that are, admittedly, often modded or on hacked consoles – with all sorts of rare items and goodies, and open them up to visitors so that folks could more easily secure their most sought-after objects.

Unsurprisingly, it hasn't taken Pokopia players very long to do the same in the new Pokemon spin-off with Cloud Islands – islands that carry unique codes fellow fans can use to come and visit. Once there, they can snap pictures and then use Pokemetal back home to clone their favorite items.

One online user shares their treasure-laden Cloud Island in an online post, and boy, is it packed. From patterns to lamps, it's got just about everything on it.

The code, for anyone interested, is 6DXLPD6F. As the poster says, all you need are the Mysterious Goggles (which you can purchase at any PC), and you're all set to travel there. They show off some of the contents, too – and outline a plan to add various rare furniture items and even more in the future.

The island already boasts every flower, hedge, and fruit, as well as the Eeveelution foods. Finally, Sylveon will be mine…

Perhaps most amusingly, the community is already comparing it to Animal Crossing's own treasure islands. My favorite comment, for example, reads, "Welcome back ACNH treasure islands."

Others thank the creator for their time, writing, "Not all heroes wear capes." Indeed. It's apparently not the only Pokopia Cloud Island with loads of items to 3D print back home, either – and I can't say I'm surprised.

It was only a matter of time before fans unlocked everything and made it available to all via Cloud Islands, honestly. Now I'm just waiting for mystery bag events akin to those I'd attend in New Horizons… although I'm not sure how they'd work in Pokopia.

Pokopia players say its water physics are "just as bad" as they are in Minecraft, prompting all sorts of liquid chaos: "How do I even begin to fix this"

It's been a fun few days for Pokemon Pokopia players, as the cozy new gem continues to impress with its Animal Crossing: New Horizons vibes and Minecraft mechanics – but it's not all smooth sailing when it comes to terraforming islands, apparently.

Pokopia players are already blowing fellow fans' minds with their builds, with underground lavafalls, entire little themed villages, and more – but there's one big aspect of building that remains a bit of a mystery to many: water.

Sure, you unlock new ways to interact and engage with good ol' H2O as you progress in the story, but the physics of it all escape plenty of otherwise creative builders (hi, it's me, I have no idea what I'm doing with water).

In fact, it's such a pesky system at times that folks are comparing it to Minecraft's own, which, if you know, you know.

"WATER PHYSICS IS JUST AS BAD IN POKOPIA AS MINECRAFT," as one player exclaims in an online post. "I REPEAT, DO NOT INHALE SURROUNDING WATER TO FILL A ONE-TILE WATERFALL YOU ACCIDENTALLY MADE FROM BREAKING AN UNDERWATER BLOCK."

Attached is a screenshot showing the damage – and, yeah, it's a bit of a waterfall-shaped mess all right. In the comments, the poster questions, "HOW DO I EVEN BEGIN TO FIX THIS?"

Thankfully, fans offer various solutions, from careful height-specific water block placements to actual fixes found in Minecraft. "If it's like Minecraft, place a layer of blocks below the water and fill in and then remove that layer of blocks," one comment reads.

The original poster did, in fact, end up remedying their mistake, replying with an update and new image of much calmer-looking waters. "Ok I fixed it visually and I'll have to accept the fact that a sand bar is gonna live here and I'm haunted by the sound of an invisible waterfall forever," it reads.

Not a perfect fix by any means, but just like in Minecraft, I'd take it. They are not alone in their water-y suffering, however.

Several threads can be found online showcasing similar scenarios, with one person on Reddit begging, "Please help me fix the water." Alongside their post is a picture of their river, gaps and all.

Another screenshot on the forums shows an island that has arguably all but drowned, with a caption pleading, "I think I overdid it using water spit to hydrate this area… how do I fix it?" In other words, we're all struggling with Pokopia's water physics out here.

I'm certainly no exception, and I spent the entire weekend teleporting from island to island to build and progress. Water physics remain an enigma to me in both Minecraft and Pokopia – and, evidently, they do to many a player.

"It can't even be Pokemon Minecraft, you can't even craft": Pokopia leaves co-op fans disappointed, saying GameShare between Switch 2 and its predecessor "might as well not exist"

Pokemon Pokopia has seemingly confirmed that a NPC from Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen is dead… or has a sore tummy. Equally bad fates.

Possible spoilers for Pokemon Pokopia ahead, and I guess Pokemon gen 1 too?

Something isn't right in Pokemon Pokopia. The whole plot (at least in the early hours of the game where I currently reside) revolves around how no one can find the humans at all, and the only remnant of them is one Ditto who remembers what their trainer looked like. But as you explore the somewhat apocalyptic lands, you find notes scattered about from humans from before whatever happened in this world took place.

There's chatter of space travel, an incoming catastrophic event, and notes from or about specific people like the NPC builder in Vermillion City or a Team Rocket Grunt talking about their squad. But one you can find, on what appears to be the wreckage of the S.S. Anne, seemingly tells you the fate of one specific patron of the vessel.

The note is titled Sailor Dylan's diary, and has the NPC originally found in FireRed and LeafGreen – maybe Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow too (most trainer NPCs weren't named in the original versions) – describing a really rough day on the ship. Dylan says, "The sea is really rough today. The ship keeps swaying back and forth," closing out his memo saying "Ugh… I don't feel so good… I might not be able to write much mo–" abruptly cutting off.

Some – like Twitter user Tales_of_Taylor – have taken this as the last moments of Sailor Dylan's life, assuming the ship to have crashed as he wrote this note, hence it being found in the wreckage. "This game is fucking devastating," another replies.

Although, another reading of this is mentioned in the responses, suggesting "he frew up" from seasickness, which is also a possibility.

However, given that Pokopia takes place seemingly ages after an apocalyptic event, Sailor Dylan is probably dead anyway… alongside every other NPC from those games.

I thought nothing could replace Animal Crossing for my nightly cozy vibes, but Pokopia's delightfully unhinged dialogue is very tempting: "It's a pretty nice butt, don't you think? So shiny!"

Pokemon has been a steady fixture in my life since I was about 10 years old. When I was the same age as the man, the myth, the legend himself (Ash Ketchum), Pokemon Blue was the first game I ever managed to complete without bugging my older cousin for help. Since then, I've played nearly every mainline title in the series. Unfortunately, unlike Ash, who has been a seemingly immortal 10-year-old for over 20 years now, growing up has made Pokemon lose a bit of its sparkle for me.

Don't get me wrong, I love the games, new ones included (sorry, Scarlet and Violet haters); still, I often find myself skipping through dialogue, racing towards the end, and struggling to get that same level of immersion I did back when I was stepping into the pixelated Kanto region for the first time. But, after playing the new Switch 2 exclusive, Pokemon Pokopia, I've realised that growing up isn't my main issue with this series. What I needed was a world without humans, and I'm back to feeling like a happy kid all over again.

Planet of the Pokemon

Pokopia seems harmless on the surface. After all, it's all about building habitats for cute Pokemon, raising their comfort level, and decorating little communities that'll have you kicking your feet with glee. But don't be fooled by Squirtle's waddling folks, Pokopia's story is pretty dark and has an eyebrow-raising amount of similarities with the classic post-apocalyptic franchise Planet of the Apes.

Essentially, the cozy game takes place in a world that has been ravaged by natural disasters. Humans are no longer around, and instead, we, the player (a gloopy Ditto Human clone), are running the show, building new houses for our fellow Pokemon on top of the ruins of human society. The world-building in Pokopia is subtle, and you find clues about what happened to the humans as you explore areas and make your way through the main story. It's wildly interesting to find diary snippets and to see the Pokemon around you trying to make sense of their memories with humans to help you rebuild each region you unlock.

During my 40th sleep-deprived hour of playing, I realized that Pokopia's approach to storytelling had me hooked. The game employs an almost archaeological approach to world-building as we uncover human history. But what really makes it shine is the Pokemon-first perspective, which is a game-changing experience as a cynical adult who has been forced into the role of a plucky pre-teen for years now.

The universal joy of Pokemon

Being a grown-up Pokemon fan normally comes with some kind of disconnect, which is understandable given that Pokemon is a family-friendly series first and foremost. Not only are we almost always young children who have been shoved out the door into the wide world by some parents with questionable decision-making skills, but the tone of games is a bit too over the top for those of us of the "my back is starting to hurt" persuasion.

Human characters in Pokemon games tend to be zany, over-the-top personalities crafted around their respective Pokemon team's type. And, while I appreciate their creative designs, I'm more annoyed than not when I have to speak to them outside of battling. The human interactions in Pokemon games are a stark reminder that I'm not 10 any more. However, Pokopia's premise means that I can just bask in the timeless glory that is the Pokemon themselves.

Pokemon are adorable, and that will never change. Collecting all the hundreds of Pokemon in Pokopia, seeing them reclaim nature and rebuild towns to fit their needs, and also interacting with them and raising their friendship levels, is the peak Pokemon game experience. In Pokopia, Pokemon become the effective new "humans" of the story, making them the focus in a way that they have never been before and giving them personalities that we've only seen realized in the anime. It's everything I love in a Pokemon game, tied up in a surprisingly mature story set in a post-human world.

Goodbye Humans

Pokopia isn't anti-human. In fact, the Pokemon regularly tell me how much they miss their trainers, and some stories you find in the world of duos having to say goodbye to each other is heart-breaking. However, the more I play the game, the more I don't want humans to enter the picture again.

My little utopia is developing perfectly without trainers getting in the way. I'm enjoying every second of Pokemon running around the world without being confined in a little red and white ball, and when they speak to me, it's always endearing. I'll never be annoyed when Bulbasaur tells me that he is hungry. However, if a human like Brock constantly came up to me complaining, I'd likely be moving them into a cave on the far side of a map as punishment for their audacity.

Pokopia is ideal because it truly puts the Pokemon first. This new dynamic is one I never knew that I needed in my life, and I haven't felt this content in a long time as a fan. It's also pushing me to investigate other non-human spin-offs like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon. Sure, I'll still play the new Pokemon Winds and Waves game when it comes out, but Pokopia is a new Switch 2 go-to, and may just be the best Pokemon game that I've played since my frontal lobe fully developed.

Want more Nintendo greats? Check out our list of the best Switch 2 games. Or for more Pokemon we have a handy guide on how to watch all of Pokemon in order.

Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have announced that Pokemon Pokopia sold 2.2 million copies in its first four days, with the Switch 2 exclusive already ranking among the top-selling spin-offs for the series.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of the best-selling games of all time, and even if it's not the best-selling Switch game ever, it's one of the five most successful Nintendo games of all time. Meanwhile, Pokemon is one of, if not the most successful media franchise ever, so merging the two is a bit of a no-brainer, and throw a bit of the best-selling game of all-time, Minecraft, in there, and you've got a recipe for success. And turns out that's exactly what happened, as reports of physical copies of the game being extremely hard to find are plentiful.

Nintendo released a statement today – the one-week anniversary of Pokopia's release – on its website announcing that within the first four days of its release, Pokopia has sold 2.2 million copies on Nintendo Switch 2, with one million of those being from Japan alone. Based on the previous info released by Nintendo, that places it as the console's fourth highest-selling game to date, but that number will surely have jumped up by the time Nintendo releases its next batch of financial results, and I wouldn't be shocked if it ends up ahead of Donkey Kong Bananza as the console's second-best-selling game.

Serebii owner Joe Merrick put this number into perspective, showing that Pokopia is already one of the most successful Pokemon spin-offs ever, beating out the lifetime sales of the likes of Pokemon XD, Pokken Tournament, and a number of the Mystery Dungeon titles. Although, given this hot start, it feels almost guaranteed that it'll end up at the top of the pile, as it only needs to sell just over 3.65 million more to beat Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red and Blue Rescue Team.

Pokopia leaves co-op fans disappointed, saying GameShare between Switch 2 and its predecessor "might as well not exist."

We're coming up to halfway through the year, and we've already played more than enough to begin to assemble our best games of 2026. While some of them have been part of well-loved series, like Resident Evil Requiem, what's been great about the year so far is how many surprises it's brought. With loads of new games for 2026 to still get excited about, we're only just getting started

Below, we've got our ranked list, which collects together the best games we've played this year so far. To qualify, these games must have scored 4-stars or more in our proper review verdict (you can find our criteria by taking a look at how we score on GamesRadar+). For games that received the same score, we've further refined the ranking below through healthy debate on-team. Though, expect the exact order to shift as the year progresses.

These highly-rated games will be in the conversation when it comes to Game of the Year discussions. Unsure why something is missing? You can take a look at all our reviews to see which ones we gave a full verdict, but we also offer additional curated lists on a genre-by-genre basis, such as the best single-player games, best RPG games, best FPS games, and more! For now, join me as we rundown the best games of 2026 so far!

The best games of 2026, ranked

Licensed fighters can definitely be hit and miss, but Invincible VS manages to land a blow square to the jaw, bloody flecks flying. Built with obvious love for both the source material and fighting games as a genre, this fighter might not push the form forward much but really gets it.

While some of the match-ups feel like they don't make a lot of sense (the curse of any fighting game based on a power-scaling type of media), questions quickly fade into the background as you get hooked on its solid four-button fighter system – similar to the likes of Tekken 8 or Dragon Ball FighterZ. Narratively this is lightweight, and doesn't come close to the source material, but it doesn't have to for this to be a fun fighter in its own right.

Crimson Desert is an open world action RPG stuffed to the brim with just about every game mechanic you can imagine for the genre. It doesn't make for the greatest gaming story ever told, but it does make for a massive open world sandbox that's easy to lose yourself in.

The biggest inspirations seem to be from The Witcher 3 with its gritty world and bloody combat, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild's approach to open world freedom and puzzling – and there's a touch of the Assassin's Creed's RPGs to it as well. You can tell developer Pearl Abyss are known for MMOs (they made the massive Black Desert Online), as this has a huge amount of side-content to explore that can feel rewarding to find. This adventure is best taken as your own, so set out into the world and explore.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is a remake of the iconic PS3 crime drama, centering on former yakuza with a heart-of-gold Kazuma Kiryu as he attempts to retire and run an orphanage in Okinawa. But won't you believe it, he gets dragged right back in as the land his orphanage is on becomes a valuable piece in a political conspiracy.

In terms of narrative, this remains one of the best Yakuza storylines because of how much it really does grapple with Kiryu trying to leave his criminal life behind, and having to grab that by the horns rather than operate from the shadows. Crunchy real-time brawls return too, which is great to see after recent turn-based and floatier entries. While great side content from the original is missing, and replacement bonuses are a bit hit-and-miss – this is still a great adventure and a solid overhaul of one of the best Yakuza games.

Romeo is a Dead Man is a bloodbath-generating time travel hack and slash adventure that isn't quite like anything else, with hyper-violent gunplay and melee. Romeo is plucked out of time just before his death to join the FBI Space-Time task force, coming down on aberrant fluctuations with extreme prejudice, all as he tries to find meaning in this new, strange existence.

The result is an electric experience like little else, with bloody, high-octane clashes, a talking jacket, a mysterious man inside a TV who helps you solve puzzles, and a hub area that shifts perspective from third-person to being in the style of a 16-bit RPG. Creator Suda 51 is known for a certain punk and irreverent style that permeates the likes of Killer7, No More Heroes, or Shadows of the Damned – and it feels like it all coalesces here. So off-kilter is Romeo is a Dead Man, it won't be for everyone, but that feels like a triumph of its own, and only ensures those who are into it will love it all the more.

World of Warcraft's World Soul Saga continues to go from strength to strength, with World of Warcraft: Midnight being one of our favorite MMORPG expansions in a long time. It's not a complete reinvention of the genre wheel, but small improvements stack up to make this a great time to be invested as a fan.

A great story rewards investment in the saga's characters, while also providing compelling hooks for newcomers, taking you through an RPG adventure that even recontextualizes some old favorite areas. There's a great sense of space to how the tale moves you through each environment, too (and even a few dialogue options). Mini-dungeon Delves are better than ever, and new race Haranir are a great addition alongside the new Demon Hunter Devourer class. For a series now over two decades old, it's great to feel excited about its future again.

We can debate how much Mixtape is a game until the cow's come home, but to do so is missing the point. Like a real Mixtape, it's better to just let the vibe take over and experience what it has to offer: a humorous, emotional, and often unserious montage of coming-of-age teen moments leading to one big bash before college.

Obviously inspired by similar teen movies of the '80s and '90s – John Hughes flicks in particular – Mixtape doesn't evolve much on these concepts except in one big way: it's a video game. Scored by protagonist Stacey's ever-present mixtape (which she breaks the fourth wall to discuss), teen antics become interactive music videos, whether that's busting kickflips to DEVO or joyriding a shopping cart to Rainbow. Another moment has you play out a first kiss by controlling two squelchy tongues with your analogue sticks. This is lightweight but infectious, Mixtape becoming more than the sum of its parts. Just as any good mixtape should.

Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is, in some ways, a departure for the Lego series, but that ends up making it less of a departure as a Batman game. Leaning on the Batman Arkham series, this combines the series' high-impact action and open-world discovery with the classic Lego humor better than we expected.

The result is a more focused Lego adventure that nevertheless pulls in just about every possible Batman reference across comics, movies, television, and even games to joyfully remix the best bits into what feels like a real celebration. Filled with collectibles to hoover up, a solid storyline to follow, and its fair share of supporting characters (though much more limited than other Lego games), this is a treat for young players and veteran Bat-fans alike.

Dosa Divas sees sisters Samara and Amani reuniting to take on their own third sister, Lina, who has let their family tradition of home-cooked food fester into a mass-produced business. With mech suit Goddess, the pair are able to use flavor profiles to battle enemies, and use its built-in kitchen to whip up street food on the fly.

It's an odd setup that's immediately charming, its fresh world of mech-based food vendors immediately providing a strong hook as you help out the residents of each town to remind them of the love that comes from food culture when it's properly respected. This is a short, snappy RPG (a bit less than ten hours), with lightweight, simple action. But, like the best of dishes, the ingredients all come together to make for something delicious that'll leave you wanting another bite just to taste it again.

Yoshi's big platforming return might not completely rewrite the genre's book, but it does have a good go at it, trading linear levels for more exploratory challenges that have you filling out a living book until it's bursting at the seams with your creativity that you unearth.

In action, that means the colorful Yoshis leaping into Mr E's chapters to encounter new creatures across different worlds, puzzling out how each critter's powers can enable Yoshi to push further and explore more. The goal is more about figuring out what to do, and how to do it, than it is just moving from left to right, and it gives the green dino star a fresh feeling direction that stands apart from Mario's platformers, even if the power-absorbing tips a cap to Kirby.

This Monster Hunter spin-off series isn't an open world action game, but a more traditional turn-based JRPG that leans into creature collecting instead. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a big improvement on its predecessors, with refined combat and exploration, and an almost Game of Thrones-like weaving plot of political intrigue.

In part, it's helped by giving you access to a special Rathalos 'monstie' pal at the beginning of your adventure, this strong and adaptable monster really helping you feel like you're coming into this RPG swinging. The rock-paper-scissors-style combat triangle has more depth than it first appears, and each map is loaded with reasons to poke around. Best of all, while its plot is approachable, it's not afraid to tackle big themes that feel right in-step with the rest of the Monster Hunter world, making you really think about this fantasy ecosystem.

Tides of Tomorrow is a narrative-driven microplastics post-apocalypse that manages to feel like a much-needed fresh take on an end-of-the-world scenario, while giving you and fellow players enough agency to consider making a difference to the almost-doomed world.

Awakening from under the sea, you and other players are part of an old world before the fractured remnants of humanity scattered across mostly man-made islands. Your own story is reactive based around what players before you did, resulting in the vibe of a well-crafted theme-park experience as you make decisions and follow returning characters across each island's episodic-like story. It's a quirky concept that could pay off more, but still makes for a shot in the arm for narrative gaming, and those deadly but colorful plastics do make this bright blue tale look simply gorgeous.

Like if Metal Gear Solid 5 went goblin mode, Styx: Blades of Greed sees the return of the titular fantasy burglar for another quest to nab shiny goodies. This time around, though, the action goes open world, with each act of the story expanding a handful of big, dense maps with more thieving opportunities.

Here, Styx is after magical Quartz on a world-saving mission that just so happens to also be beneficial to him. After all, if the world ended, there'd be nothing left to steal, right? Objectives are broad and available for Styx to tackle in mostly any order, each map connecting together different structures with multiple points of entry, with Styx having numerous fantasy skills to get the job done. From scrambling up chimneys, poisoning food with his vomit, or creating clone decoys, there are loads of ways to get creative with stealth. It's rare to get any big budget stealth games these days, and we didn't expect this one to impress us so much by genuinely evolving the genre like it does.

Demon Tides offers a whole archipelago of platforming levels, each with their own biome, theme, and set of jumping challenges for demon queen Beebz to master. Building on the tricky platforming in Demon Turf, this gorgeous step forward refines the action while adding in loads of customization options that make you feel like you're putting together your own platformer moveset.

Core actions draw from the genre's best, from long jumps to wall runs. Demon transformations add complexity, giving bonuses depending on how you swap between them with each jump, which can then be further customized with talismans. Want extra height on certain moves? More horizontal traversal at the cost of less verticality? Greater speed at the cost of exploding if you stand still? Just strapping on rollerblades? Playing how you want doesn't stop Demon Tides from offering fantastic challenges, even if it ends up a bit easier than Demon Turf. Few 3D platformers feel as joyous as this.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a weird, surreal, and wonderful fishbowl of your own Mii-created oddities that feels like a solid evolution of what's become an iconic social simulator. Filled to the brim with strange events and collectibles, as well as new quirks for your custom characters that really bring them to life, this is better than ever and can be a total time sink as you check in each day.

Still, this can feel more like a much needed refinement than anything truly fresh. If you like the previous Tomodachi Life, you'll love this – but nothing is so new that it'll give you a totally new experience or bring you in if you bounced off the last one. It's hard to complain, though, as this is so shockingly off-the-wall and friendly to true customization that we're surprised, delighted, and feeling devilish with what this allows us to get away with.

This isn't just the best Bond game to date, but the best encapsulation of the complete spy thriller fantasy in gaming form. Smartly combing blockbuster spectacle with stealth elements, this knows when to go loud but importantly when to open up spaces for quiet espionage as well.

Starring a young James Bond (brilliantly portrayed by Patrick Gibson), this is a terrific origin story that genuinely charts the evolution of the character into the 007 we know from across the series' wider media. Loaded with gadgets, slick snooping evolves on the developer's Hitman series without feeling like a reskin, and can break out into some incredible action when the narrative demands.

This open-world racer moves the action to Japan, Forza Horizon 6 delivering one of the series' largest, densest, and most detailed maps to date. Heaving with a base amount of solo content, with oodles of multiplayer and updated seasonal activities on top, this is a rich, racing treat.

Despite that, this is a bit business as usual for Forza Horizon, with fairly straightforward, arcadey racing events that don't push the boat (or, erm, car) out too much, with an almost theme park-like lack of friction to the world's actual construction. Small gripes, for sure. Modern racers don't get more packed with thrills than this, and grumbling about more high-quality Forza is like grumbling about more delicious cake, but we do hope future entries have a bit more tinkering under the hood.

Pragmata can feel like playing two different sci-fi games at the same time, the controller almost split in half between astronaut Hugh and android Diana as they fight through an AI-controlled space station together, the former blasting away like in an arcade shooter while the latter hacks robot enemies to make them vulnerable.

The story is touching, but lightweight. Instead, Pragmata feels like a real celebration of arcade-style sci-fi action. Capcom is the perfect studio to blend that with modern sensibilities, each time you exit the Shelter safe room to plow through robot enemies almost feeling like an arcade run. It'd be easy to get anxious that this is all too much to balance, but somehow Pragmata manages to give you a lot to do without overwhelming, instead helping you feel locked in to playing it at all times. Just, you might struggle to also pay attention to Family Guy at the same time – Pragmata is almost like second-screening already by design.

Saros exists somewhat in the shadow of the incredible Returnal, but manages to find its own groove to its shooting-heavy roguelike adventuring across a new alien planet. More narrative heavy, and with more ways to power-up, this successfully broadens the appeal of Housemarque's former PS5 exclusive.

In fact, it manages to combine some great storytelling that doesn't get in the way with really thrilling, arcade-like gameplay. Hero Arjun is able to use his shield to absorb certain element bullets, a risk/reward that encourages you to get into the fray to truly dominate explosive encounters. So much here is similar to Returnal that it's hard to disentangle the two, but once it clicks, Saros really does manage to feel like an evolution.

Titanium Court is a bizarre blend of match-three, real-time strategy RPG, and narrative-driven puzzler. What's even more bizarre is how well the game's disparate elements don't just go together, but complement one another.

Before you know it, you're commanding your fairy court to take advantage of shifting market rates, all while carefully merging mountains and cultivating unbroken chains of rivers to provide protection from enemy units. As the battlefield merges and disappears, there's a lot to keep track of as new challenges and story beats emerge – but it manages to be a pleasing brain massage without ever asking too much if you just want to chill. I've not been this hooked on smashing through a puzzler since Balatro.

I never thought that a game centred around the tactical breeding of questionable-looking cats would be so good. But I'm happy that Mewgenics proved me wrong. Developed by Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel, here we get the perfect mash-up of The Binding of Isaac, Into the Breach, and a touch of Dungeons and Dragons to give us a truly outstanding strategy roguelike. With each run, you'll need to pick a group of cats and assign them different classes that come with their own abilities and quirks.

On said runs, you'll need to win turn-based encounters and often stop by skill checks on your adventures. Basically (if you don't want to get exploded by a cocky rat, or worse), the game relies on your cats having good stats, and you'll want to breed the ultimate crew as you progress to different areas. The gameplay loop is massively fun, but the humor and frankly outstanding soundtrack really tip Mewgenics into being one of the best games you'll play this year.

Nioh 3 takes the masocore Soulslike series open world, and manages to make it feel like a huge improvement rather than a gimmick. Each large map is dense with activities, and the wideness means you can poke and prod as you please without feeling like you're stuck on a single challenge. Well, most of the time, that is. Nioh 3 still has more traditional levels you access throughout the map, which makes it feel like the best of both worlds.

Speaking of two worlds, the samurai action of the earlier games is joined by a ninja playstyle. Rather than pick one, you can swap between them with just the press of a button, even mid-combo, creating fluid multi-skill builds that allow you to strike back at even the biggest of yokai demons. Nioh 3 is as challenging as ever, but manages to feel fairly balanced so you have the tools to take on all-comers. This isn't just the most ambitious Nioh yet, but the easiest to get into as well – a great combination.

Marathon is the perfect distillation of everything FPS legend Bungie is great at, combining excellent gun feel with tense player-vs-player combat across truly gorgeous and well-realized sci-fi settings. An extraction shooter, Marathon definitely takes cues from genre titans, but, as ever for Bungie, uses sheer polish to reinvent its vibes almost from the ground up.

With a cyberpunk setting, mixing garish bright colors with a touch of bleakness, you play as a Runner slipping into a Shell on Tau Ceti IV to hoover up goodies and get them out safely on behalf of your contract sponsors. Encouraging conflict, rival players are rarely friendly, but there's still the sense you're all in a mess together, whether that's forging quick alliances out of practicality or simply accepting you've all been thrown into the blender together. Securing gear readies you for big, limited-time events, like the truly brutal yet thrilling Cryo Archive raid. Marathon certainly isn't for everyone, but for those that feel the Shell's calling it's become an obsession for good reason.

Pokemon Pokopia isn't just one of the best Switch 2 games, but it's also (in our opinion anyway), a system seller that will have you saying "just one more hour" every time you play it. For years cozy gamers have wanted a relaxing Pokemon title in the genre, and Pokopia delivers a well-balanced and truly addictive answer to our prayers. Here you play as a Ditto that takes on the form of their old trainer after waking up in a post-human world.

The world is truly in ruins, and it's up to you to restore areas, strategically place items to form Pokemon habitats, and make sure all the Pokemon friends you find are happy and thriving. As a completist, filling up my Pokedex and the new Habitat Dex, is beyond satisfying. That, paired with a surprisingly touching story and the absolutely massive amount of building and colossal maps to decorate, creates a winning formula.

Resident Evil Requiem celebrates 30 years of survival horror, tying together plot threads stretching back into series history while also introducing some newer, scarier elements to push the genre forward.

Two heroes help those mesh, with veteran agent Leon Kennedy taking point on bombastic action horror, while newcomer FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft struggles to make it through more classic-themed survival horror. Both are split across one storyline, perspective shifting as the narrative progresses. The detailed environments early game in the Rhodes Hill Care Center really modernize the vibes of the iconic Spencer Mansion, while Raccoon City is the backdrop to cutting through legions of undead. It might not specialize in one form of horror, but this combination manages to feel fresh, making for one of the best Resident Evil games yet.

Cozy Pokemon spin-off Pokopia is impressing fans with its Animal Crossing: New Horizons vibes and Minecraft mechanics, but players hoping to enjoy the new Nintendo gem in co-op – particularly via GameShare – are expressing disappointment with multiplayer.

If there's one thing folks were looking forward to – aside from the whole island-building bit, of course – in Pokopia, it's the four-player multiplayer and GameShare functionality between the Switch 2 and its predecessor that trailers showed last year.

People wanted to play with pals, partners, and you name it… and they wanted a better co-op experience after Animal Crossing's more limited take on multiplayer. Now that Pokopia is finally here, however, folks are sadly discovering that neither co-op nor GameShare is what it seemed cracked up to be in 2025.

As one fan reports on Reddit, "PSA: The GameShare is awful and might as well not exist." They explain their thoughts, writing, "The Switch 1 player is only able to wander around and do nothing."

PSA The gameshare is awful and might as well not exist from r/Pokopia

The poster continues, explaining that the person on the first Switch basically can't do much of anything, from changing their appearance to crafting items. "I'm so disgusted. I only got this game to play with my girlfriend, and you can't do anything. 0/10, stay far away if you want this game for co-op. There is nothing here."

They're not alone in feeling this way, either. "GameShare is SOOOO BADDD," exclaims another player in a separate post. Not only can you not play the story mode together, but you "can't interact with ANY Pokemon, can only play in certain areas, can't craft items, can't open the Pokedex, and can't customize your character," as the disappointed fan outlines.

"You CANNOT OPEN CHESTS? It can't even be Pokemon Minecraft, you can't even craft."

GameShare is SOOOO BADDD from r/Pokopia

According to the poster, "98% of the mechanics are unavailable to GameShare players." In GameShare, you can only do a few things, apparently: pick up certain objects, put blocks down, and use the skills the host has unlocked.

It's understandably upsetting – heck, I was excited to play alongside friends myself. As another online thread puts it, "GameShare is disappointing." It's a "sour note on an otherwise perfect game."

News of the letdown that is Pokopia co-op, specifically via GameShare, is spreading far and wide. One person amusingly points out that they're "just a glorified pack mule" as the second player – and, yeah, it unfortunately does seem so.

Here's hoping Nintendo hears fans' cries and acts on them – I know I'll be waiting.

"Bro am I talentless": Pokemon Pokopia players are already blowing fellow fans' minds with their builds, proving they're just as creative as the Animal Crossing and Minecraft community

As someone borderline dependent on Animal Crossing for my nighttime wind down, there's no way I could turn my back on my island fam – my sweet Chester, my kibble-loving Nibbles. But I have to say, I haven't been this jealous of an adjacent cozy community in a minute, as Pokemon Pokopia players have been sharing some of the most wonderfully unhinged dialogue I've seen since the early '00s, back when the original Animal Crossing's villagers would send you letters with musings like, "I fear oblivion."

Anyway, back to Pokopia. Poking around on social media, it seems like Nintendo really let its Pokemon writers run wild in a way that's genuinely refreshing to see after years of milquetoast dialogue. Here's just a few of my favorites so far:

the way i instantly took a screenshot of the dialogue that post is referencing 😭😭😭 icon behavior from bulbasaur #pokopia

— @feraligite.bsky.social (@feraligite.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-03-10T18:39:40.207Z

By comparison, as much as I treasure my precious Animal Crossing community, when you have more than 500 hours across six years of play time, it does start to get old hearing the same canned dialogue shared across multiple different villagers with the same personalities. Again, Chester, you're the best Animal Crossing villager ever, but if I have to hear about your dang bug friends one more time, I might have to see what Pokopia's all about.

Legitimately, from these early impressions it seems like there's a lot more care that was put into making sure each individual Pokemon has its own unique personality, whereas Animal Crossing dialogue is largely pre-determined by personality type. Although, to be fair, Animal Crossing is six years old and came out during a different console generation. With New Horizons recently getting its huge 3.0 update, it's clear Nintendo isn't done with Animal Crossing, but it might have to channel its GameCube-era writing to compete with Pokopia.

Meanwhile: Pokopia players can't fathom just how big the Pokemon spin-off is so far: "More feature rich and wider in scope than Animal Crossing has ever been."

Pokopia, the new Pokemon spin-off making waves for its cozy gameplay, has only been out for four days now – but that hasn't stopped its wildly creative fans from building everything from beautiful homes to literal lavafalls.

With the cozy aesthetic of Animal Crossing: New Horizons and building-heavy Minecraft vibes, Pokemon Pokopia is a haven for folks who enjoy expressing their creativity in-game. Unsurprisingly, some fans have spent the past few days conjuring up all sorts of impressive builds – so impressive, in fact, that it's blowing the minds of fellow players who might not be quite as stuck into the more creative side of the new Nintendo gem just yet.

Sharing the video of one very organized player's storage area – handy decorated signs and all – one such mind-blown Pokemon fan admits, "I am really liking Pokopia, but it's clear that I will never be 'good' at this kind of game."

They explain in the comments that they're making a joke, but they're certainly not alone in feeling that way. "My island sucks aah, but my little fellas are happy with it, and that's the only thing that matters," a reply reads.

Elsewhere, a similar post shows an admittedly stunning white house, garden and all, with a fan questioning, "HOW?" An amusing response contains a screenshot of a blocky brown house and some words I think many of us can relate to (I know I can, looking at these builds, anyway): "Bro am I talentless."

Someone else jests, "These blocks just don't spawn in my game ig." They don't spawn in mine either, apparently… Mood.

A separate thread highlights another beautiful build: a cute cottage with a little dock and mill in front, trees surrounding it. "Am I doing smth wrong with the game?" asks the person sharing the post.

The top comment sees a fan exclaim, "The Animal Crossing creatives and Minecraft builders are showing all the regular pokemon players up… I'm SICK." It's funny, but I suppose it makes sense. Pokopia has drawn in all sorts of masterminds.

I've been eyeing some jaw-dropping builds online myself, hoping to spark some inspiration. After spotting a cave house with an indoor lavafall and Cyberpunk-esque neon home, though, I think I'll just go back to practicing… I've clearly got a long way to go.

Pokopia players can't fathom just how big the Pokemon spin-off is so far: "More feature rich and wider in scope than Animal Crossing has ever been."

Pokemon Scarlet and Violent, the ninth generation of Pokemon, also released on Nintendo Switch but, compared to Pokemon Sword and Shield, is much more ambitious, taking a lot of cues from spin-off Pokemon Legends Arceus. Instead of limiting open areas to wild zones, the Paldea region is fully open-world. Some may chafe against this sheer looseness, but for those who want to just be let off the leash to catch creatures, this is one of the best Pokemon games for catering to that.

Given spin-off followup, Pokemon Legends Z-A, further evolves this formula, it seems that the big open world experiment in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is here to stay – it's a defining aspect of the ninth generation because of how different it makes play compared to earlier entries. Still, there's plenty more additions when it comes to new types of Pokemon transformations, and how the adventure is structured around your role as a student in Paldea. Read on to see more about the new features introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, and how it's evolved the series.

5. The open road

Throwing Trainers into a vast open world, you're allowed to venture in any direction you choose. However, a lack of level scaling limits you somewhat. You might accidentally wander into an area with wild Pokemon too strong to stand against, or overlevel your own squad so much that Gym Leaders are no longer a challenge.

4. Let's Go!

As seen in select previous titles, you're able to call out the first Pokemon in your party to follow you around by hitting the ZR trigger. But you can also use the R button to direct your Pokepal to collect items on the ground and enter battles on its own, with the winner decided based on type and level. Perfect for grinding XP and materials.

3. Tera power

We've seen Mega Evolution, Z-Moves and Dynamaxing, but in Paldea it's all about the Terastal Phenomenon. When a Pokemon Terastallizes, it turns crystalline and takes on its Tera type, boosting any moves of the same type. A Pokemon's Tera type can be completely different to its original typing, allowing for some creativity in battles.

2. Picnic party

From the menu, you can set up a table for your team to gather around in the overworld. As well as replacing daycare as the new method to obtain Pokemon Eggs, you can play with, clean and check in with your squad. You can also use any ingredients you've collected to make sandwiches that provide unique bonuses.

1. Stay in school

Befitting the game's school setting, you can attend optional classes in Biology, Math, History, Languages, Battle Studies, Home Economics and Art, with six lessons per subject. Even Pokemon veterans might learn something new here, and doing well in your midterm and final exams will yield rewards and faculty friendships.

Pokemon Sword and Shield is the first mainline Pokemon game that launched on a home console instead of just on a handheld. That's thanks to Nintendo Switch itself, a hybrid console that merged Nintendo's home and portable console lines into being one and the same, which means a lot of the changes that came to this eighth generation of Pokemon revolve around reckoning with crossing both of those styles of play.

For instance, Pokemon Sword and Shield experiments with wild areas, where the more linear, classic-style routes fully open into huge areas with roaming Pokemon. On the other hand, battle changes play with the 'bigness' afforded by the move to Nintendo Switch, Dynamax and Gigantamax transformations taking the concept of Mega Evolutions from Pokemon X and Y even further, with huge gym challenges and battles that felt like set pieces. And, if you simply want to visit the Pokemon take on the UK, the Galar region, this is one of the best Pokemon games for doing so. Stick around and read on as we count down the biggest changes Pokemon Sword and Shield brought to the series with the eighth generation.

5. Wild area

The Wild Area marked a major departure from other Pokemon locations by giving you a vast stretch of land to explore. Here you'll find all types of Pokemon to catch, some of which are too high-leveled at first but are ideal for fleshing out and improving your team later on.

4. Dynamax and Gigantamax

Sword & Shield made it possible for you to temporarily increase the size and stats of every Pokemon. While every one can Dynamax, however, a handful of species can Gigantamax and gain access to exclusive G-Moves to help turn the tide of Trainer battles.

3. Gym challenges

Gym Leaders and Badge collecting make a welcome return in Pokemon's full Nintendo Switch debut, but an element of Sun & Moon's Island Trials cross over in the form of Gym Challenges. These precede every Gym Leader battle and often revolve around a unique minigame or puzzle.

2. Max raid battles

Pokemon had been searching for ways to let Trainers play co-operatively for a while. Well, in Sword & Shield the series cracked it by implementing what's known as Max Raid Battles. These you will find in the Wild Area, allowing teams of four to challenge a Dynamaxed Pokemon.

1. Expansion packs

Despite being the case for most mainline instalments, Sword & Shield didn't receive an expanded standalone third entry. Instead, Game Freak continued the games' story, introduced new locales and expanded the Pokedex via two separate DLC expansions: The Isle Of Armor and The Crown Tundra.

Now that Pokopia, the cozy Animal Crossing: New Horizons-esque Pokemon spin-off, has been out in the wild for a solid day, folks have been reporting back on what they think of it – and it's safe to say most players are very impressed so far.

Pokemon Pokopia is huge. So huge, in fact, it's almost too huge. It's got the day-to-day jobs and chores Animal Crossing titles do, coupled with the creative building from games like Dragon Quest Builders – and even Minecraft, which arguably stands as the most iconic sandbox experience to date.

You have Pokemon to tend to, materials to suck up as a human-y Ditto, decorations to place, and so much land to scape… so much.

A recent thread on Reddit sees fans discussing Pokopia and the mind-boggling potential for creativity it boasts, aptly titled, "This game is HUGE." The poster exclaims, "I have never been so awestruck and paralyzed on what to do next," going on to then ask, "Anyone else simultaneously struggling and overwhelmed while also insanely excited about this?"

I'm (pleasantly) unsurprised to report that lots of players comment in agreement.

This game is HUGE. from r/Pokopia

"I'm SO overwhelmed," reads one reply. "I have a job Nintendo. But I'm not complaining. I really appreciate how much they gave us with this game." Somebody responds, "I think we are all a bit overwhelmed."

Elsewhere in the thread, a fan says, "Bought it thinking it was just Animal Crossing with a Pokemon skin" – but Pokopia turned out to be "more feature-rich and wider in scope than Animal Crossing has ever been," in their opinion.

The Animal Crossing comparisons don't end there, though. Another person comments, "It feels huge. The first map feels like it can give 10x more content than Animal Crossing." My favorite response of all, however, states that Pokopia "feels like the truest expression of Pokemon yet."

If that's not a compliment, I'm not sure what is – and it certainly checks out, seeing as the game is tied with Y as the Pokemon series' best title to date.

Something tells me the positive reception is only going to grow from here – heck, some fans are still waiting to receive their copies of Pokopia in the mail. With so much to uncover and so little time with the game so far, I look forward to seeing how it all evolves.

Are you playing the cozy new gem yourself? Be sure to browse our roundup of all the current Pokemon Pokopia Mystery Gift codes and rewards for a little treat or two.

Behind its cutesy designs and wholesome life sim gameplay loop, Pokemon Pokopia is quite an odd game, seemingly set in a post-apocalyptic Kanto however many years, decades, or centuries after humans up and left the region. But that also means the crafty game can give us a peek into the series' future, and notably acknowledges one Pokemon mystery that's been left hanging for 30 years.

So, yeah, Pokopia's world is full of dilapidated Pokemon Centers, half-finished or destroyed buildings, lonely pocket monsters who sometimes yearn for things long gone, and a distracting lack of humans. Still, some eagle-eyed fans have managed to deduce that one of the game's areas is a neglected version of Kanto's Vermillion City based on its layout and placement of key landmarks.

And, of course, the lore sickos among us had one thing on their mind: Whatever happened to that old man who was forever stuck building something in the area? For context, during the first generation of Pokemon games, you can find one dude in Vermillion City who's planning to make a building on a plot of land. In Gen 2, you find out that him and his Machop gave up on their dream.

For three decades, players didn't know what the NPC builder was planning on constructing or whether he eventually achieved his goal.

Fast forward to now, streamer Cecilily decided to trace that man's location in Pokemon Pokopia. Lo and behold, a slightly worn lighthouse stands where the old man's plot of land would have been. You can even find a document nearby that all but confirms it, framed as an in-universe interview with the builder, who we now know is called Kenzo, and became renowned as the "owner of the largest building in the area."

He even shouts out his old Machop who since evolved into a Machamp. They really did think of everything, huh? "My family has dreamed of constructing a building here for generations," he says in the interview, and it's fair to say some fans have also been dreaming of this day themselves.

"This is literally my childhood dream," Cecilily exclaims on stream. "I'm so happy I could die. Game of the year... This game is for the hardcore lore freaks."

For now, here's how to level up environments in Pokemon Pokopia and how to change humidity in Pokemon Pokopia.

Pokemon fans have noticed some little details in Scarlet and Violet that seemingly foretold Pokemon Winds and Waves four years early, leading to speculation that two new 'mons might have been teased, too.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet rival Nemona has some interesting decor in her house, but when the game first released in 2022, no one really paid it much attention – likely being too busy focusing on the horrible performance issues. However, once Pokemon Legends: Z-A released last year, some noticed that one of the paintings included has a striking resemblance to Mega Greninja, which wasn't introduced until last year.

Now though, it appears that the rabbit hole goes even deeper. As spotted by soulsilverart on Twitter, looking at Nemona's house after the reveal of Winds and Waves, we can see some interesting details. Namely, she has a stained glass design of Tropius in the doorframe, and a painting of two Lumineon.

Who is the first Pokemon you see in the Pokemon Wind and Waves trailer? Well, Pikachu, but when it gets to in-game footage, it's Tropius. Meanwhile, the trailer ends with two Lumineon swimming underwater. Obviously, this implies that Game Freak planned out the Winds and Waves trailer four years ago, but given that the studio has done things like this in the past – with a poster of Gigantamax Toxtricity appearing in Sun and Moon years before its debut in Sword and Shield – there's maybe some merit.

Which then brings us to the other painting in Nemona's house, that being one of two Eevee, something that, right now, can't be linked to any obvious Gen 10 or Legends Z-A content. So, what could it mean? Soulsilverart theorizes that it could imply that we might get two new Eeveelutions in Winds and Waves. One response speculates that we might see "flying type for the wind and poison type for the water depths/waves," while another tweets: "FLYING AND DRAGON PLEASE I’M BEGGING."

Safe to say, if this is true, people will be keeping an eye on every inch of Pokemon games going forward.

Before Pokemon Winds and Waves, Pokopia crushes hopes for the Sound-type that fans have been begging to see for years.

Perhaps the most special thing about Pokemon is the way it resonates with each fan in a deeply personal, unique way. Everyone holds onto those cherished memories of their first game, their first Pokemon, their original favorites, and time spent playing with their friends. Those memories are what one group of fans are doing their best to preserve with their unofficial Pokemon Rescue project.

"Every Pokemon has a history," content creator and Pokemon Rescue lead Professor Rex tells me as we sit in front of his two enormous cases of Nintendo hardware and old Pokemon games at the series' recent Europe International Championships. "And the coolest thing about the franchise is that it doesn't just end when you finish the game, you get to continue, if you choose. You can continue to make memories with that Pokemon, for all we know, forever."

Gotta save 'em all

Wandering outside the halls of EUIC 2026, it's hard to miss the setup that Rex and his brother, Professor Tops, have created. Their two huge Pelican cases, filled with retro goodness that the two siblings have been collecting for over 10 years, look like high-tech first-aid kits, with inspiration taken from the official Pokemon Rescue Team event held in Japan in 2017, which helped players transfer their old Pokemon up to Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the newest games at the time.

Ads released for the event showed people acting like paramedics, dramatically recovering old Pokemon games from fans' homes and anxiously completing the transfer processes to bring the 'mons over to the 3DS installments. Rex, Tops, and their friends offer the same service – albeit without the emergency services roleplay – and now with the extra steps required to bring a Pokemon to Pokemon Home on the Switch and Switch 2, where they can be safely stored in the cloud or moved into the Switch games that they feature in.

"I just thought that [Pokemon Rescue Team] was the coolest piece of media that The Pokemon Company had ever put out," Rex says, explaining its influence. "There hasn't been any other game in history where you could take something that's 20 years old and continue to use it in a brand new game. Like, there's a very few select games that have the ability where you can have your save data influence the story in the second game, but not 10 games later.

"And then they made those trailers, and never talked about it again. Like, Pokemon Home exists, but there's never been a trailer for Pokemon Home about 'you can bring your childhood Pokemon and use it on the Switch,' and I think that's so cool."

"The main concept from the trailer is helping people transfer their old Pokemon to the new games," Tops adds. "But again, we wanted to add our own flair to it, and that's where we kind of got to the point where we are now, where we have the ability to do that, but also the ability to add new memories to people through older connections with the game."

Rex likens his service to the in-store Pokemon events of old, which required you to bring your game and handheld to receive special 'mons, and having now been witness to both, I can definitely say that the vibe is the same. The Pokemon Rescue team even offers a personalized flair with special certificates – inspired by the certificates of authenticity for the Generation 1 event Mew – recording the name of the Pokemon and date it was rescued for each person to take home. "If one person holds onto it as something that means something to them, win. That's a win to me," Rex says.

From the cases of carefully packaged game cartridges and hardware – including a massive collection of the many different language versions of the games – to the concept of Pokemon Rescue itself, this whole project is essentially a subsection of game preservation, and one that ends up being deeply personal to anyone who interacts with it.

"I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars of my own money preserving pieces of Pokemon history that would have been lost otherwise, because of the fact that everybody has a little memory that means something to them," Rex says. "There's a lot of pieces of Pokemon history that just get thrown out, literally ripped up and thrown in the trash. So yeah, game preservation is huge for me."

Each Pokemon that Rex and his team rescue essentially runs the risk of becoming a form of lost media, if not for the intervention. "We rescued a Spinda in California. It was the first Pokemon that we rescued, and it was a shiny Spinda," Rex begins. For those uninitiated, shiny Pokemon are extremely rare, differently colored variants of Pokemon that, from Generations 5 and below, only have a 1/8,192 chance of appearing. What's more, Spinda is an extremely unique Pokemon because there are over four billion possible spot patterns it can have.

"It was somebody's first shiny, and every single Spinda that exists is unique," Rex continues. "I mean, every Pokemon is unique already, but literally, every Spinda looks different."

Not only that, but Tops adds that the Sapphire cartridge that the Spinda was rescued from "was on its last leg." He explains: "It looked like it had been through the wash, it had been stomped on, it looked like it was on its last run of the game. So if anything ever happened to that game, that Spinda would have been lost. So it's cool that you're able to preserve those things, even from games that are just barely holding on, because they're 20 years old."

That's on top of the impracticalities of transferring old Pokemon up to Home if you don't have a collection of hardware and software like the Rescue team's. Transferring Pokemon from a Generation 3 game is no easy feat, requiring a Nintendo DS or DS Lite, a Generation 4 game, a 3DS and Generation 5 Pokemon game, then either a Generation 6 or 7 game and the 3DS' Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter apps, which are no longer available to download.

"You're looking at hundreds and hundreds of pounds of your own money being put up to try and do it, on top of not actually being able to do it anyways," Rex says. "So putting this all together is just like that step of making it more accessible to everybody, to be able to do the thing that Pokemon made that is so cool."

There's something about Pokemon that makes all this mean more. "Everybody has a Pokemon that made them fall in love with the game," Rex says. "You remember your first one, you remember your first event. And you also hear stories where people lost them." As far as he's concerned, "any little step I can take to just make it so that there's less of those stories and more of the stories of pulling out your phone and having your 20-year-old Pokemon," he's going to take it, and to some, that means even more than others.

"Right after [the 2025 Pokemon World Championships], I had the Rescue cases, and I was about to leave to go get dinner, and somebody ran up to me, and they just started crying right away," Rex tells me, immediately tearing up. "They played Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire with their dad as a kid, and they had a bunch of Pokemon that had their dad as the OT [original trainer].

"Their dad had a stroke and is now non-verbal, and she was taking care of him," he continues. "And she was like, 'I couldn't find my game, but I'm gonna tear my house apart, and I'm gonna find you at the next event that you're at, and I'm gonna bring those Pokemon somewhere safe.' So I brought these to Milwaukee, and I met up with them, and we brought those Pokemon up to Pokemon Home. She was crying most of the time, but then she went home, and she was able to show her dad Pokemon that they had caught together 20 years ago. And even though he couldn't say how cool it was, he was able to smile about it."

It's stories like that that are "exactly what it's all about," Tops adds, and it's impossible not to feel emotional too as I see how much the two brothers genuinely care about what they're doing and what difference they're making to fans around the world. Needless to say, Rex denies any notion that the Rescue project is in any way "performative," as has apparently been suggested before.

"Everybody that's here at an event like this [with] 10,000 people, every Pokemon Go event I've been to, tens of thousands of people, every single one of them has some reason they fell in love with the game," he says. "And maybe that was playing with your friends, playing with your family, escapism, there's something. And, I don't know, it's an honor to be able to be part of taking people on that next step in their Pokemon journey."

After all, that's something that the pair have been able to experience together growing up, from being "in the backseat of a car" and finding their first shiny Pokemon together (a Medicham in Pokemon Diamond, if you were wondering), to going to the store as kids and trying to memorize as much as possible from the Ruby and Sapphire game guides so that they could go home "finish the game together." Now, the Rescue project is the latest thing for the two to carry out together, which is "the best part."

That also means collecting more memories as they go – both their own, and from the people they help. "I collect stories. I love hearing people's stories about Pokemon," Rex smiles. "Every time somebody shares a story of their Pokemon journey with me, that's locked away in the important box."

"We had no idea this would be such a phenomenon": As Pokemon Red and Blue turn 30, here's how Game Freak created one of the most important RPGs of all time.

Pokemon Sun and Moon, the seventh generation of monster collector, stayed put on Nintendo 3DS, but still managed to find fresh ways to evolve beyond Pokemon X and Y. After all, arriving late in the handheld's life cycle, Game Freak were able to get much more out of the console by the time Sun and Moon released. Still in 3D, for instance, the untethered exploration along each route feels much more free form (aided by new traversal options enabled by certain special Pokemon).

Like all the best Pokemon games, Pokemon Sun and Moon added plenty of new creatures to collect but with a twist – the sunny, Hawaiian inspired Aloha region includes special, unique forms for classic Pokemon inspired by the tropical setting, meaning old favorites get a new lease of life. Likewise, special moves neatly evolved from mega evolutions, making for a sunny adventure that remains one of my favorites to revisit when I just want to soak in some fantastic vibes. Read on as we run down the top ways Pokemon Sun and Moon moved the series forward.

5. Rotom pokedex

Rotom is a Ghost/Electric Pokemon introduced in Gen 3 that can possess inanimate objects, and in Sun & Moon it inhabits your Pokédex, which unlocks a suite of new features exclusive to this entry. In addition to being a real-time map, it will also indicate any areas of interest, take pictures and even speak to you.

4. Z-moves

Z-Moves offer you a strategic advantage in battles, acting as ultimate abilities that can only be used once per battle. Trainers need two items to make them work: the Z-Ring and a Z-Crystal. Have a compatible Pokemon hold the necessary Z-Crystal, and enjoy moves like Tectonic Rage and Breakneck Blitz.

3. Poke-ride

Previously the bane of every Pokemon Trainer's adventure, Hidden Machines (HMs) were finally done away with by the time of Sun & Moon's release. Taking their place was the much more visually delightful and fun Poké Ride feature, which lets you instantly summon one of seven different Pokemon useful for travelling.

2. Pokemon Pelago

The PC Box becomes its own miniscule paradise for any transferred Pokemon in what's known as Poké Pelago. Once here, members of your Poké-party can gradually raise their own level and stats by engaging in fun activities. They will even gather up useful items if you send them out on adventures.

1. Battle royal

Battle Royal is a new type of Pokemon battle that sees four different Trainers fight it out against one another simultaneously. It's a mode accessed in the Battle Royal Dome located on Akala Island's Royal Avenue, and the winner is the person who manages to knock out the most Pokemon.

New Pokemon Types are always a contentious topic with fans, but Pokemon Pokopia seemingly just confirmed that the much-requested Sound-type isn't in the pipeline anytime soon, crushing one half of the fandom's hopes and making the other half rejoice.

With Pokemon Winds and Waves on the horizon, trainers are once again wondering if Generation 10 will finally add a brand-new Type to the franchise. People often speculate about Light-type, Cosmic-type, and sometimes even Gourmet-type pocket monsters, but one of the longest-running theories is centred around the Sound-type.

Since Generation 3, Sound has been a sub-type of sorts. Several moves in the series are sound-based and have specific properties, from Supersonic to Torch Song, which simply adds fuel to all the speculation. The ability Punk Rock even boosts the power of sound-based moves, for example, though they don't have specific elemental strengths or weaknesses like the other 18 official types do.

And after seeing Stereo Rotom in the promotional material for Pokemon Pokopia, the newly-released cutesy life sim spin-off, droves of fans were once again on the Sound-type hype train. How could a literal speaker-shaped creature, whose entire purpose is to blast sound, not be here to introduce the Sound-type?

However, Pokopia's Pokedex lists Stereo Rotom as an Electric-Normal-type critter, which is making many a trainer second guess themselves. "Why would they do such a thing if not for the future?" Serebii creator Joe Merrick tweets in reference to Stereo Rotom.

"Sound type is DEAD," one fan proclaims. Another speculates that Stereo Rotom's typing is evidence that The Pokemon Company isn't interested in Sound, "considering this was the perfect opportunity and they did not take it."

"Kinda glad this shoots down the 'Sound' Type," a third argues. "Sound is already a subtype of move, and are we really gonna change the typings of moves like Torch Song, Bug Buzz, Grasswhistle, and Sparkling Aria, which are already well fitted into other types?"

To play devil's advocate, DJ Rotom's existence doesn't completely rule out the possibility of Sound-types being added in Pokemon Winds and Waves because, I think, The Pokemon Company would be way more willing to add a new Type in a mainline game than it would in a spin-off that doesn't even feature Pokemon battles. Still, that's not me advocating for Sound, either. Pokemon Types work so well because they immediately make real-world sense - water puts out fire, fire melts ice, ice freezes flyers - and it's kind of impossible to make Sound fit without doing mental gymnastics.

Game Freak can't add hundreds of new Pokemon and more Types every generation or else new games would take too long to make, director says: "If you added like 300 or so new monsters, that'd just be too many."

Pokemon Pokopia is just hours away at this point, and the devs are already detailing post-launch events to keep you coming back in the weeks and months to come. The first of these events will introduce the Hoppip evolutionary line to the game and offer an array of picnic-themed items to add to your world.

The event, called "More Spores for Hoppip," begins on Monday, March 9 at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 9pm GMT, and ends on Tuesday, March 24, at those same times. During the event, as long as you've completed the early-game task of rebuilding the Pokemon Center, you'll be able to befriend the Gen 2 Grass/Flying cutie, Hoppip.

Cotton spores will also appear during the event period, which you can collect and exchange "for picnic-themed furniture items," according to the official announcement. "By using these items to create habitats, you'll be able to befriend Skiploom and Jumpluff, too," completing the Hoppip evolution trio.

"These Pokemon can't be encountered outside of this event," the announcement warns, so you might want to prioritize them during the next few weeks. Given how much Animal Crossing DNA is in Pokopia, though, I wouldn't be surprised if this is similar to seasonal events in that game, which recur every year.

This is just the first in a series of "special limited-time in-game events," though we don't yet know what shape further events will take. You'll also be able to pick up a special item via the in-game Mystery Gift option. A cute l'il Ditto rug will be available via that menu until January 31, 2027, so there's a lot more time to grab this bonus.

The Pokopia Metacritic score is up there with the series' best, and Sam has superlative praise in our own Pokemon Pokopia review. This is a "brilliantly bizarre blend of Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Dragon Quest Builders, and Viva Piñata," she writes, "and despite its many influences, manages to be a unique spin-off for the Pokemon series that's also an accomplished life sim."

If you're counting down to the Pokemon Pokopia release time, you can get a full breakdown of the launch at that link.

Pokemon X and Y moved the series from Nintendo DS to Nintendo 3DS and, as you might expect, one of the biggest changes was taking the monster collecting into full 3D for the first time. Gone were 2D sprites, and in were 3D models for every Pokemon present, bridging the gap between the home console battle-centric spin-offs to having it as standard in the full RPG adventures, which has remained true since.

But, there's more to the Pokemon X and Y than a visual shift, the sixth generation adding vital new mechanics that have colored the series since. After all, mega evolutions have informed later special transformations – and recently was a core mechanic in Pokemon Legends Z-A. The Kalos region has some really interesting lore, and the 3D shift makes it so it feels more immersive to explore for yourself than the greater abstraction of past entries – there's a reason so many still hold these games as some of the best Pokemon games in their hearts and were so excited to return to the region in Legends Z-A. Stick around and read below as we count down the biggest feature additions Pokemon X and Y made to the series, and why you should dust off that Nintendo 3DS.

5. Mega evolutions

Evolving had been core to Pokemon since the beginning, but in X & Y the concept received a significant buff in the form of Mega Evolutions. Here, any Pokemon holding the appropriate Mega Stone could change appearance and boost their stats, giving Trainers an advantage during battles.

4. Wonder trade

Pokemon X & Y were the most interconnected entries yet at the time, providing plenty more unique ways to engage with players online. One of the most notable was Wonder Trade, which enabled you to upload any captured Pokemon and exchange it for a random one offered by another player.

3. O-powers

These were limited-time effects players could share with one another, spanning everything from improved egg hatching to increasing XP. Points were gained from battles, staying connected and seeing someone else use them nearby meant you were able to access them too.

2. Trainer customization

For the very first time in a Pokemon game, X & Y allowed players to implement a splash of personality onto their Trainer. It was possible to customise your shoes, hat and even backpack, leading Kalos' many shops to all offer different outfit styles.

1. Fairy type

Any time a new Pokemon type gets introduced, it's controversial among a small subset of fans. However, in X & Y's defence, Game Freak stated that Fairy's inclusion was necessary to help provide a counterbalance to those that were Dragon type – and it gave Eevee a new evolutionary option in Sylveon.

Pokopia, the new Pokemon spin-off making waves for its cozy gameplay, isn't just similar to Animal Crossing: New Horizons – apparently, it boasts a bit of Minecraft flair as well, with a mechanic that resembles Redstone-powered creations.

If you've ever employed the use of good ol' Redstone in Minecraft, then you know it's a very unique element that allows you to do everything from functional computing to powering note blocks to create music in-game. It's incredibly versatile – and it looks as though we might get something similar in Pokopia.

During yesterday's developer island tour (below), we got a sneak peek at some of the life sim's features, and that's when fans spotted it.

At around the 5:08 mark, Pokopia director Takuto Edagawa shows off one of his creations – something he says he spent the latter half of 2025 on. "If you step on this, the lights gradually turn on, the waterfall starts flowing…" It's a note block, basically, and it powers exactly what Edagawa says it does – lights, neon LEDs, and a flowing waterfall.

It's a whole lot like, you guessed it, Redstone. There's even an intentional time delay.

Edagawa explains that it works via a motion-sensing system. Unsurprisingly, though, fans can't get enough of the block-operated build, and the Redstone comparisons are running wild online.

One person writes in a post that Pokopia has a power system "inspired" by Minecraft's own Redstone gimmick, while another exclaims, "THERE'S RED STONE MECHANICS IN POKOPIA?!" It would seem so, anon. It would seem so.

Elsewhere in a thread, somebody says, "It's so hard to even compare Pokopia to Animal Crossing or Minecraft anymore, with how specific you can be with the customization. This is like super advanced Redstone shit."

Attached is not only a clip of Edagawa's lights and waterfall, but another from the dev island tour in which there's a moving minecart activating note blocks to produce a little tune. It's definitely giving Minecraft vibes, in the best way.

I'm thrilled to see how much customization Pokopia has to offer its players. With the game releasing tomorrow, there's not too long left until we all get to explore it for ourselves. I, for one, can't wait to hop in and put my creativity to the test.

As Pokopia ties for the series' best game according to Metacritic, fans are left confused by its competition: "…Pokemon Y was the highest-rated Pokemon game?"

Is Pokemon just a game for kids? One Game Freak veteran doesn't think so, previously suggesting that the belief comes from "a misunderstanding" rather than reality.

Obviously, Pokemon has a lot of adult fans (hi), and I'd guess there's probably more than ever as the series turns 30. After all, many fans who were kids when they started playing have stuck with the franchise throughout their lives, and still enjoy it all these years later. Even before this big anniversary, though, veteran Game Freak artist Ken Sugimori once dismissed the idea that the RPGs are only for a younger audience.

Sugimori, who served as a character and monster designer in the original games (he's responsible for that lovely watercolor-style artwork of all the Gen 1 'mons), and in more recent entries has held a number of supervisor roles, expressed his thoughts on the matter back in an old interview with games™ (a sister publication to Retro Gamer). "People think that Pokemon is a game for children but I believe that's a misunderstanding," he said at the time.

It might sound a little funny considering that every entry in the series has sat with a firmly child-friendly age rating. However, I think it's safe to say he was trying to defend any adult fans who enjoy the games, too, rather than dismissing their appeal to kids entirely.

And, obviously, his statement wasn't meant to signify an enormous upcoming change in tone for the series, as it's remained consistent in the years since the interview, although it's arguably dabbled in slightly more mature themes in the more recent games. The big twist of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet was surprisingly dark, and Legends: Arceus' basic concept of being sent back in time to a land where all your favorite creatures will mercilessly attack you on sight out in the harsh wilderness is pretty brutal in itself.

At the end of the day, though, Pokemon is a game for everyone, and clearly Game Freak thinks so, too – there's no shame as far as the devs are concerned if you're 9 or 90.

While you're here, be sure to check out our ranking of the best Pokemon games.

Pokemon Pokopia's review scores are in, and it's safe to say that we appear to be in for a treat – the upcoming cozy life sim spin-off was, for a few hours yesterday, the highest-rated Pokemon game of all time on Metacritic. It's now tied for the top spot instead, but fans have some questions about its competition.

With an average critic score of 88, Pokopia sits right at the top of The Pokemon Company's finest releases, according to Metacritic, alongside… Pokemon Y. Not X, just Y. That's a little weird in itself – what did the life-absorbing bird do to win an extra point above its majestic deer counterpart? But more than that, many are baffled that it's a Generation 6 game at the top of the chart above the likes of HeartGold and SoulSilver, Black 2 and White 2, Platinum, and Emerald.

"…Pokemon Y was the highest-rated Pokemon game?" one fan responds on Twitter. "How and why was Pokemon Y the highest rated Pokemon game before now though?" another asks.

No one is trying to say X and Y were bad games – they still hold up well today, and as some have pointed out, being the series' first 3D mainline titles, they were an even bigger deal at the time, even introducing some major new mechanics like the Fairy type and Mega Evolutions. Even so, it's still surprising to see when many veteran fans' personal rankings of the titles tend to place the older games much higher.

"Soul silver isn't high enough," one argues, looking at the Johto remake's score of 87, while another says: "Black and white are SO much better than x/y ffs." Another concludes that "X/Y were very good," but says they "feel like they were mid" compared to Gold, Silver, Ruby, and Sapphire.

Now, it's got to be pointed out that a whole bunch of Pokemon games have very similar Metacritic scores. In fact, Sun, Moon, X, Black, White, HeartGold, and SoulSilver are all tied with an average of 87, with Diamond and Pearl trailing closely behind with 85. With that in mind, Pokemon Y's mysterious lead is only a one-point difference above many of the rest, which makes it a tad less surprising, even if I'd personally reshuffle that 'official' ranking, too.

Honestly, what's more shocking is that all-time great spin-off Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky has an average critic score of just 54, for some reason.

While you're here, be sure to take a look at our Pokemon Pokopia review.

Pokemon Black and White are the fifth generation of Pokemon, but combine that with earlier games' in-between definitive releases (like Pokemon Emerald), and that's a lot of Pokemon games, and a whole lot of creatures to catch. You can never truly get tired of Pokemon, but Black and White shrugged off any fatigue by acting as a sort of soft reboot.

While Pokemon Black and White's 156 new additional Pokemon (the most added in any generation) brought the total up to a hefty 649 – a dedication to having your initial playthrough revolve purely around this new Pokedex makes it feel fresh. The story, too, feels a bit more built out than previous entries, and it's still one of the best Pokemon games for its narrative as far as I'm concerned. When I'm itching for classic Pokemon, Pokemon Black and White and Black and White 2 are ones I often return to because the Unova region feels so self-contained. Join me below as I count down some of the biggest features and changes that ensured Pokemon Black and White continued to innovate this monster catching series for its final Nintendo DS entries.

5. Sequel hook

The fifth generation didn't have a definitive bonus version, but it more than made up for it with the first direct sequels in Pokemon history. It's hard to think about this era without including Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 side-by-side with Black and White. Taking us back to the region years on, and building on the originals' themes, was a stroke of poke-genius.

4. All new 'mons

Throughout the bulk of Pokemon Black and White, classic Pokemon are nowhere to be seen. You've got to assemble a team of brand new Pokemon from the Unova region, a great way to celebrate the generation's new creatures while discouraging me from falling into old habits. I'd love to see this concept revisited.

3. The Nth degree

While plenty of Pokemon games up to this point have had strong narratives, meeting N and Team Plasma who follow him felt like the most in-depth and center stage a Pokemon story had taken to this point. Both us and N have our beliefs about the nature of the Pokemon world questioned, and its unique dynamic has yet to be replicated.

2. Getting animated

The final Pokemon generation to feature 2D sprites, Pokemon Black and White and its sequels have some of the most gorgeous in-game Pokemon artwork to date. Building on animation in previous games, they now move throughout battle, making these fights feel more alive than ever.

1. A 'mon for all seasons

The Unova region evolves beyond things like weather and day/night cycles, adding seasonal elements to the mix, not only affecting how you move through different routes depending on the time of in-game year, but what Pokemon you'll encounter and even how early night falls. The fifth generation is all about revelling in the details.

Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum felt like a huge level up at the time, as the leap from Game Boy Advance to Nintendo DS was simply huge. Many of the clamshell handheld's most striking hardware features were reflected in how they shaped generation four of this monster catcher – most notably the ease with which you could play with others both wirelessly and across the internet through WiFi.

For a series all about trading creatures and battling rivals, an increased emphasis on multiplayer felt natural, and the Nintendo DS made supporting that much easier than other online play solutions at that time. The power of the new hardware also meant a big graphical leap, fantastically animated and detailed new sprites bringing each Pokemon pal to life, and a new perspective added a 3D depth to the still 2D-style sprites which cleverly made the Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum's Sinnoh Region feel more expansive than before. With battles also featuring more detailed systems (and neat touch screen controls), there's a reason that for many this fourth generation still offers some of the best Pokemon games you can play today. Read on as we count down the biggest new features this jump to Nintendo DS brought to Pokemon.

5. Pokemon Watch (Poketch)

The Poketch has a handy little collection of 25 apps, with most being unlocked as you progress in your adventure. It provides many helpful functions, from keeping track of your Pokemon at the Day Care to locating rare, hidden items with the Dowsing Machine.

4. Wi-Fi Plaza

Head downstairs in any Pokemon Center to enter the Wi-Fi Plaza and play minigames with players from around the globe. These minigames involve the use of the touchscreen to, for example, toss Berries into a Swalot's mouth or help keep a little Mime Jr balanced on top of a circus ball.

3. Physical/Special

Diamond & Pearl were the first Pokemon games to designate each move as either a Physical or Special attack. In previous eras, this was simply determined by a move's type (for example, Fighting-type moves were Physical); since Gen 4, each move has its own classification, independent of its type.

2. VS Recorder

Introduced in Platinum, this gave players the ability to record and rewatch battles and even share them over Wi-Fi. You could relive that time you managed to sweep your opponent's entire team with one Pokemon or the moment when a lucky critical hit just barely saved you from defeat.

1. Wi-Fi Connectivity

Battles, trades and other fun activities could take place over Wi-Fi, as opposed to just local connection with nearby friends. Battling was still restricted to players with whom you had exchanged Friend Codes, but trading was possible with anyone through the Global Trade Station.

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen are now back on modern consoles thanks to last week's Switch ports, but the devs didn't leave the Game Boy Advance titles completely untouched in their latest release, with one of the worst bugs in the original now mercifully patched out.

There are a handful of tweaks to FireRed and LeafGreen if you play them on Switch or Switch 2 – including a new button combination to quickly reset your game, and the return of limited-time event items to catch Deoxys, Ho-Oh and Lugia in the post-game – but one of those changes is a key bug fix that I'm sure many would have appreciated 22 years ago when trying to catch Raikou and Entei.

In the original releases, it's possible to catch one of the three Johto legendary dog Pokemon, Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, with the one you get depending on which starter Pokemon you picked at the start of the game. However, they're roaming encounters – the sort that randomly appear on different routes around the region and run away on the first turn unless you successfully catch them, knock them out, or use a move like Mean Look (or an ability like Arena Trap) to keep them in battle.

This is annoying enough as is, but Entei and Raikou have a move at their disposal to get around any attempts to keep them in battle – Roar. Using this will let them get away regardless of what measures you've taken to hold them in place, and what's worse, thanks to a nasty bug, they previously disappeared completely if they managed to use the move, making their capture even more difficult. Now, though, folks have been reporting that after almost 22 years, the bug is finally fixed in the Switch versions.

"The Roar Glitch in the Switch version of Fire Red and Leaf Green is fixed," one writes, sharing a clip of Raikou escaping from battle but remaining on the map afterwards. "This is huge!"

This same thing has been tested by YouTube creator TortoiseCity, who notes that "I tested it with Arena Trap, Sand Tomb Dugtrio, and Mean Look from Golbat, and in both instances, the Raikou that I was testing on reappeared and could be tracked afterwards using the Pokedex as normal."

Entei and Raikou using Roar will still allow them to escape from battle, meaning that throwing a Master Ball on sight is still probably the best way to capture them, but at least this means that folks won't end up permanently missing out on one of the coolest rare Pokemon in the game if they do try to catch them the hard way (or if they already used their Master Ball on Mewtwo).

Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen re-releases will be compatible with Pokemon Home after all, so you can once again bring GBA-era creatures to your modern collection.

The Pokemon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara has explained why he believes the series resonates with players and how the team chooses what's coming next.

In news that is sure to make the knees of anyone who owned a Game Boy ache, Pokemon is now 30 years old. And yet, despite being the biggest thing in the world multiple times over, it seemingly keeps getting bigger with every entry, with the card game being more popular than ever, even if recent entries on the game side haven't all landed as well. With Pokemon Winds and Waves on the way, people seem genuinely excited about what's to come (although most of that is probably thanks to the best of Pokemon Winds and Waves' new starters, including the fire-Pomeranian Pombon).

Speaking to the Apple App Store (thanks Genki_JPN), Ishihara is asked what he believes resonated with people in the original Pokemon Red and Green releases. He explains, "The setting for the Pokemon games started with the Kanto region, which is similar to real-world Japan. The game was designed as an adventure close to the one that players live in."

Ishihara continues, "I've always believed connecting the world of Pokemon with the real world brings even more exciting possibilities." He adds, "the game experience connects to real-life experiences, such as catching insects, fishing, raising animals, or growing plants."

Ishihara is also asked what's next for the series (presumably, this interview was before the announcement of Winds and Waves), and he notes, "I believe what we must continue to do is keep making fun games." Obviously, that's a bit of a no-brainer, but Ishihara elaborates, saying, "It might sound broad, but it all comes down to whether people play our games and find them enjoyable; that's not something we can dictate. Sustaining that is what's important, and it's OK if everything else changes."

Pokemon Winds and Waves Browt already has quite the fan following despite agreement that the grass starter is kinda ugly

Since their launch on Friday, it's become clear that Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen's Nintendo Switch re-releases aren't just simple ports, with a number of changes made from their original Game Boy Advance versions. However, one alteration is either one of the best or by far the most annoying, depending on who you ask, as quickly resetting the game just became a lot easier.

Soft resetting in Pokemon is nothing new – certain button combinations in the pre-Switch games swiftly send you back to the title screen, allowing you to reload your save without having to more slowly turn your console off and back on again. This is generally a feature reserved for the shiny hunters – folks dedicated to tracking down ultra-rare, sparkly Pokemon with alternate color palettes – as for certain Pokemon like Legendaries and the starters at the beginning of the game, the only way to look for them is by re-rolling that same encounter over and over again.

In the original releases of FireRed and LeafGreen, the soft reset button combination was A+B+Start+Select at the same time, but on Switch and Switch 2, you can mash A+B+X+Y at the same time, instead. It wasn't particularly tricky before, but the ability to press your thumb against your controller makes resetting even smoother, and I know I'm going to be thankful for it when I get to the post-game and the re-added Deoxys event (which I'm determined to make sparkle).

I'm not the only shiny hunter excited about this change. "Y + X + B + A to soft reset is SO COMFY!" celebrates content creator Professor Rex. "I discovered on my own and that's gonna be a breeze for shiny hunting," another responds.

For some, though, resetting might be proving a bit too easy. "So uh accidentally button mashed abxy while level grinding in leaf green and lost a female pikachu a gym badge & 90 minutes of progress," one player tragically writes. "Don't be like me gamers save OFTEN."

"I lost 5 hours of progress because of this and rage quit, sent from lavender town back to Mt. Moon," says another.

"I found out the hard way accidentally lol I had four pokemon hadn't saved just yet accidentally hit all four at once and it took me out," another adds.

It's always good advice to save often in games that don't have an auto-save feature, but that seems more important now than ever, especially if you're someone who tends to mash buttons a lot – stay vigilant, folks.

As Pokemon Winds and Waves' Pombon quickly racks up adoring fans, everyone hopes the fiery Pomeranian can avoid a major starter curse: "Please keep Pombon on 4 legs please I'm begging."

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald marked a huge shift for the monster catching series as it embraced new, shiny, and more pixel dense hardware with the Game Boy Advance. It wasn't just the visuals that became more expressive and detailed, but battle mechanics too. Where the second gen refined stat types, the third gen was all about making each Pokemon more of an individual through hidden values tied to things like personalities.

Which is all to say that Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald took huge steps forward to make this world of odd little creatures feel more alive than ever, really leaning into the idea that your personal Pokemon team was your team, not like anyone else's. Add to that weather, which plays into the game's epic narrative, completely new ways to battle, and so much more, and you've got a deep iteration that rightfully still holds a special place in the hearts of many as some of the best Pokemon games. Take a look below as we run through the core reasons Pokemon's third generation pushed the series to the next level.

5. Abilities

As well as a Nature and hidden 'Individual Value' (or 'IV') stats, as of Generation 3, Pokemon could also have one or two of 77 different Abilities. These passive traits were essentially special attributes assigned to your companions, in addition to types and moves, that affect both in-battle and out-of-battle behaviour.

4. Secret bases

If you own a Pokemon that knows Secret Power, you are able to decorate a special hidden area with accessories, furniture, and Pokemon dolls, making an imprint on the world that's unique to you. Via communicating with other players, you can share these dens, and an NPC will emulate you within another player's game. Can you keep a secret?

3. Contests

Pokemon Contests are particularly popular in Hoenn. These pageants host Pokemon, who are instructed to show off their style in one of five different types of Contest: Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Cleverness or Toughness. Through these efforts, Ribbons can be won and certain prizes claimed from NPCs.

2. Double battles

Double Battles were introduced in this Generation. In these showdowns, you can use two Pokemon at the same time in order to beat your opponent. This added more strategy to brawls, as you could use moves to support your other Pokemon. Watch out, though: some attacks will even hit your own Pokemon!

1. Weather

While Generation 2 introduced in-battle weather that boosted certain elemental moves, Generation 3 had it in the field – depending on the weather a Route was experiencing, your partners would be more or less effective, and certain Pokemon would be more or less likely to appear in the wild.

Pokemon Winds and Waves have been officially unveiled, and I'm sure many will agree when I say the adorable Fire-type starter, Pombon, might be the best part of Generation 10 so far. However, fans are already begging the devs at Game Freak for one thing – please, keep that little dog on four legs.

Pombon is an adorable little guy. It's literally just a fluffy, fire-breathing Pomeranian puppy – what's not to love? Well, Pokemon fans have been burned many times before with their Fire-type starters (pun intended), which have an odd habit of frequently leaving their cute quadruped forms behind when they evolve and learning to stand on two legs, becoming a lot more anthropomorphic in the process.

Not everyone is a huge fan of the slightly more humanoid designs, but they sure keep happening. Just look at Fennekin, Litten, and Tepig, for example – they're all super cuddly creatures to begin with, but upon reaching their final stages, the vibe is quite different. Litten stops being a house cat and turns into a burly, bipedal, wrestling feline. It's, uh, a lot. Needless to say, you can understand why folks are already making themselves heard about Pombon.

"Please keep Pombon on four legs please I'm begging," one fan writes on Twitter, reacting to the reveal.

Meanwhile, another plans on taking matters into their own hands – literally: "Grabbing Pombon with both hands and forcing it to stay on four legs." One fan takes a slightly different approach: "Good boy, now staaaaay," they write, sharing an edit of the dog with its feet taped safely to the ground.

"GAME FREAK, KEEP POMBON ON ALL FOUR LEGS AND MY LIFE IS YOURS," another declares, while one responds to the official UK Pokemon news account directly, pleading: "Please keep Pombon on four legs please keep Pombon on four legs please keep Pombon on four legs."

I will say, though, some folks have also pointed out that a bipedal Pombon evolution might not be the worst thing in the world. Why, you ask? I raise you Undertale's iconic Greater Dog – proof you can be a cute little pup and a tough, two-legged force of nature all at once.

Pokemon Winds and Waves each have exclusive outfits for your main character, but all I can see is the hoverboard you seem to be carrying.

Pokemon Day Deals

Pokemon Gold & Silver might be iconic now (alongside the revised and definitive Pokemon Crystal), but Game Freak's second generation of the monster catcher faced one of the hardest tasks of any Pokemon game – living up to the genuine global phenomenon that was Pokemon Red and Blue. The feeling of anticipation from a fan community that devoured the original games, plus the anime, card game, and beyond, was monumental. How can you improve on what, for many, already felt perfect?

Plenty of ways, of course – and we didn't know it until it was in our hands. Deeply innovative, Pokemon Gold & Silver didn't just refine and perfect what made the originals great for this second generation, they also defined what we come to expect from a Pokemon sequel even today. In some ways, this iteration even went beyond what's even possible on modern machines – who can forget that moment when you realize the Kanto region from the first gen is fully explorable? Even outside of that, Pokemon Gold & Silver brought plenty new to the table that ensured they'll always remain some of the best Pokemon games ever made, so join us as we count down the new features that cemented Pokemon's legacy for 30 years and counting.

5. Real-time clock

Having a real-time clock and a day/night cycle meant that you felt more involved with the world, whether you were hunting down Pokemon that only appeared on certain days, waking up early to fish for rare Corsola or evolving an Eevee to Espeon or Umbreon, Generation 2 made your real-life play time matter in-game, too.

4. Backwards compatibility

Because Pokemon Gold, Silver & Crystal added new stats and traits to Pokemon, trading something from your old game and seeing that it had a personality, or was holding an item, felt really special. It also meant none of your old collection was just sat around on a dusty, unused cart.

3. Held items

Whether you're giving a Pokemon a berry to hold so that it heals itself in battle or a special item it can hold when you trade it to make it evolve into something different (like a Metal Coat), Generation 2 got creative by granting Pokemon the ability to hold items – and it's a mechanic that's persisted ever since.

2. Breeding

Who would have thought that an inconspicuous little house on Route 34 would be the start of a now-classic Pokemon mechanic? Whether you want to breed to get Shiny Pokemon, try for a 'perfect stat' monster, or simply want to put Ditto through its paces in order to get a baby Pokemon (like the iconic Pichu), the breeders had you covered.

1. PokeGear

Part watch, part personal assistant but all innovation, the PokeGear was a handy little gadget that allowed you to play the radio, check your map on a whim, or call up other Trainers in order to organise rematches. Each of these useful gimmicks would be upgraded and built on in future mainline games.

Pokemon Winds and Waves has officially been unveiled, and that means it's time to start picking apart every little detail shown in that debut trailer as we await further information. The new RPGs will follow up on Scarlet and Violet by offering unique outfit colors depending on the version you choose, but a more important question is being raised by the main character's equipment: Is that a hoverboard?

You'll see it clipped to the lead character's backpack throughout the trailer and in their hand on the official site: a long, futuristic-looking board with two circular designs at each end, plus a little glowy bit suggesting it's an electric-powered device. I'm struggling to imagine what it could be if it's not a hoverboard – especially with the way it's being held in the official art – amid all the official materials, there's been no mention of special methods of transport in Winds and Waves.

A hoverboard would make a lot of sense in the context of the oceanic setting of Winds and Waves, since it would let you cross land and sea with equal ease. The underwater sequences in the trailer imply we'll be able to swim beneath the waves, but hovering over top of them would be a nice option for when you just want to get from place to place.

And yes, "the outfit your character dons will differ between versions," the devs confirm. Your hat, backpack, and (probably) hoverboard will be white in Winds and deep blue in Waves. There's no information yet on whether you'll be able to change clothes during the game, and that singular use of the "outfit" does raise some concerns, but Scarlet and Violet had similar version-exclusive starting outfits and still offered fashion options. I need to look cool while surfing on my hoverboard, you know?

The Pokemon Winds and Waves starters have been confirmed, and we're already putting together our Pokemon Winds and Waves Pokedex.

Pokemon Day Deals

Today's Pokemon Winds and Waves announcement, setting course for Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027, included the reveal of the next lineup of starter Pokemon: Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua. Respectively, the grass bird, fire dog, and water lizard put new and adorable spins on established Pokemon type and animal combinations, serving up a new set of buddies for the next generation of Pokemon battles.

The Pokemon Winds and Waves starters may feel somewhat familiar to longtime Pokemon players, but after Pokemon Legends Z-A reused some older critters, it's nice to have another lineup of all-new Pokemon to choose from.

Rather than an angry bird, Browt is described as the "Bean Chick" Pokemon – a tiny grass-type whose ability is Overgrow, which (assuming no changes in Winds and Waves) boosts the damage of grass-type moves by 50% when the user is at 33% HP or lower. Previously, the flying grass-type Rowlet carried many players as a starter in Pokemon Sun and Moon, and with the same Overgrow base ability.

Pombon, the "Puppy" Pokemon, is the heaviest of the bunch at 14.8 pounds, according to a Pokemon Company press release, which makes it a fair bit heavier than your average, real Pomeranian. Its ability is Blaze, which boosts fire-type moves in the same manner that Overgrow affects grass-type moves. Pokemon's fire dogs go all the way back to Growlithe and Arcanine in the original generation, though Growlithe wasn't available as a starter.

"Water Gecko" Pokemon Gecqua unsurprisingly has the Torrent ability, likewise increasing its water-type power by 50% at one-third HP or less. I'm reminded of the starter water lizard Sobble from Pokemon Sword and Shield, who became even more lizard-like with evolutions. Gecqua's large and recognizable gecko eyes certainly set it apart.

I remain a sucker for water-types – and have been ever since Lapras was embedded deep in my brain by the original Pokemon Snap – so I'm already picking out a terrarium for Gecqua.

Pokemon Winds and Waves Pokedex - all the Pokemon confirmed for Gen 10 so far.

Pokemon Day Deals

Pokemon Winds and Waves looks pretty lush thanks to its summery, oceanic setting and cute new starter Pokemon, but fans aren't so smitten with the game's two new mysterious Pikachu characters called Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu. Yes, those are their actual names and, gosh, making fun of them is just so easy.

Before ever showing us proper footage of the upcoming Generation 10 games during the Pokemon Day 2026 stream, The Pokemon Company opened its reveal trailer with an animated intro showing a classic and cutesy Pikachu enjoying a much-needed holiday. That's when two tanned, seriously uncool Pikachu wearing vacation fits bang down the door with no further elaboration.

The Pokemon Company is also being coy about what the deal is with these two characters. "Just how could these Pikachu be involved in your adventure? Look forward to future announcements," the company teases on its website, giving away only their names which hint Mr. Windychu might be more involved in Pokemon Winds and Ms. Wavychu could feature more heavily in Pokemon Waves.

"The Pikachu couple from across the bar who like your vibe scare me," one fan quips over on the Pokemon subreddit. "Are they shiny or tanned?" Another jokes that "they're the elderly couple that perpetually live on cruises," hence the deep tans.

"They definitely look like they get way too drunk on Mai Tais at the resort bar and insist on dancing way too handsy with you," a third says.

"I can't put my finger on why exactly, but I hate those Pikachus for some reason," someone else on the thread writes, while a commentor chimes in that "the spray tans they got unnerve me."

For now, check out the, Pokemon Winds and Waves Pokedex - all the Pokemon confirmed for Gen 10 so far.

Pokemon Day Deals

One week after Nintendo unveiled its surprise FireRed and LeafGreen remakes for Pokemon Day, The Pokemon Company has revealed that the two beloved decades-old gems will indeed be compatible with the Pokemon Home cloud service.

Chief operating officer Takato Utsunomiya states as much during today's Pokemon Presents showcase stream – which you can now go back and watch in full on YouTube – introducing the remakes and their launch today first.

"The Pokemon FireRed and Pokemon LeafGreen games – remakes of the Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green games in Japan – were released on Game Boy Advance in 2004," recalls Utsunomiya.

"Today, these games have been made available to play once more as download-exclusive titles on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2."

But that's all old news, having dropped a good seven days ago now – what really stands out is what the COO says next: "We also plan to make these titles compatible with Pokemon Home in the future." This means that, yes, you can finally transfer GBA-era 'mons to new games like Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and it'll be a whole lot easier than the arduous transfer process we once had to endure.

Alongside Utsunomiya's words comes a handy chart that depicts as much, highlighting how you can move your Pokemon from FireRed and LeafGreen to Pokemon Home and then withdraw them into other games, like Scarlet and Violet.

It doesn't appear as though you can do things the other way around – bring Pokemon from more modern titles to the old-gen remakes – but Utsunomiya's statement is admittedly a bit confusing.

"This way," as he concludes, "you can bring Pokemon obtained in other Pokemon RPG series titles on adventures with you, or you can send Pokemon to visit Pokemon Champions." That does sort of sound like it implies it's a vice-versa situation, but the chart doesn't seem to show that it is, so… Only time will tell, I suppose.

For now, it's good enough news that Pokemon Home compatibility is coming at all.

Excited about the creature collectors from Game Freak and Nintendo yourself? Here's all we know about Pokemon Winds and Waves, the hotly anticipated Gen 10 title.

Pokemon Day Deals

Pokemon Winds and Waves are the titles of Pokemon Gen 10.

As the next mainline entries in the long-running series, we got our very first official look at Pokemon Winds and Waves during the Pokemon Presents February 2026 showcase, which celebrated Pokemon's 30th anniversary by debuting the upcoming RPGs. Set to come our way sometime in 2027 as Switch 2 exclusives, the trailer showed lots of exciting details, and offered up a look at the open world trainers be stepping into next year.

If you can hardly wait for the new games to arrive, we've brought together and broken down everything you need to know about Pokemon Winds and Waves, from speculation about when it might arrive in 2027, to the starters you'll be meeting, and much more.

Pokemon Winds and Waves release date speculation

Good news, trainers! We know the release window for Pokemon Winds and Waves is set for 2027.

While we don't have a firm release date yet, we suspect that Winds and Waves will arrive in the latter half of next year, given the release pattern of previous mainline games.

The most recent entries, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, landed in November 2022, and Pokemon Sword and Shield dropped in November back in 2019. If Winds and Waves follow this pattern, perhaps we'll also see the new games land in November 2027. It would certainly give Nintendo time next Summer to show off more in the lead up to launch. And with Pokemon Legends Z-A releasing in October, it seems like sometime late next year could be a reasonable assumption. We'll be keeping our eye out for any updates.

Is Pokemon Winds and Waves a Switch 2 exclusive?

Pokemon Winds and Waves will be a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. This choice does make sense and again follows past patterns in the series. I can still remember Pokemon Sun and Moon being a 3DS game while I had my regular old DS still in hand. When a new Ninty console drops, a new Pokemon exclusive tends to come with it.

If you want to know more about other upcoming Switch 2 games, we have a handy guide for you. And if you are still on the OG Switch, you still have some upcoming Switch games to watch out for.

Pokemon Winds and Waves trailer

Pokemon Winds and Waves gameplay

While a lot of gameplay details for Pokemon Winds and Waves are still under wraps, it looks like the classic Pokemon opening formula is still in place. As with previous games, you'll choose from one of three Pokemon Winds and Waves starters that are either a grass, fire, or water type. You'll then go out into the world in order to battle and catch other Pokemon for your Pokedex.

Interestingly, the official Pokemon website mentions that: "you'll be able to team up with all kinds of Pokémon to overcome both the difficult road ahead and even the forces of nature that block your path at times", which suggests we could see environmental blockades which have also popped up in past games. If they'll differ to play in the Waves and Waves respective titles remains to be seen, but it would make sense.

From what we've seen so far, it's unclear if Pokemon Winds and Waves will have real-time battles like Pokemon Legends: Z-A, or if we'll be going back to classic turn-based affairs. We do know that the next games will be open world, and will no doubt expand on Scarlet and Violet. Given the Switch 2's hardware, an open world experience is very doable, and the upgraded version of Scarlet and Violet on Switch 2 definitely ran a lot smoother than the launch version on the Switch 1.

What are the Pokemon Winds and Waves starters?

Thanks to the recent Pokemon Presents trailer, we did get to see the new starters for Pokemon Winds and Waves and they are extremely cute.

The grass type starter is a "Bean chick" bird called Browt with the Overgrowth ability, the fire type starter is a cute puppy called Pombon who has the Blaze ability, and finally, the water starter is a gecko called Gecqua with the Torrent ability.

We're still waiting to see their evolutions (which will no doubt influence who we end up picking), but we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for any more details about these new starters.

If you're curious to see what critters we know about so far, our Pokemon Winds and Waves Pokedex lists all of the confirmed Pokemon we currently know will be in the games.

Pokemon Winds and Waves leaks

There have allegedy been a lot of Pokemon Winds and Waves leaks out in the wild ever since 2024. In October 2024, well-known Pokemon leaker Riddler Khu gave us hints about the names of the upcoming games. And since then, we've had a number of other leaks that reportedly also give insights into Pokemon Winds and Waves' region, game mechanics, and more.

A big leak that we are particularly interested in was reported by Vice back in 2025, which shared rumors that the games would supposedly center around "infinity". Account CentroLeaks stated that this may refer to a new feature where the games procedurally generate the region's map.

Another rumor is that the Pokemon Winds and Waves region is located in Southeast Asia. The games are supposedly said to have a jungle section, and we'll be playing as a trainer who is said to live in a hotel (which is also believed to act as an MMO-like hub that will show us other players). From the recent trailer, it does look like the jungle leak was correct ; however, it seems like we'll be getting a more tropical island vibe.

Leaks have also reported weather effects in battle, and a potential new breeding/evolution mechanic. Finally, Vice also shared another potential leak regarding the game's plot. According to a leak found on Reddit, we may be travelling with three companions. Each companion has their own storyline that relates in some way to issues surrounding the affairs of a powerful corporation and their dealings with the region where the game is set.

As ever, it's important to keep in mind that leaks aren't confirmed. So before you get excited, it's always best to wait until we get proper confirmation from either Nintendo or Game Freak.

Pokemon Winds and Waves region speculation

While the recent trailer shown during the February 2026 Pokemon Presents showcase did give us a look at games open world, it didn't explicitly mention where the games are set, and no name was given for the new region.

But taking previous supposed leaks into account and also piecing together all the different locations we saw, all signs currently point to a region that's based on Southeast Asia.

The tropical climate seen in the trailer, paired with the mountain areas, active volcano shots, jungle areas, and architecture that's reminiscent of Singapore have us thinking this theory could be correct. We will keep you posted as we wait for firm confirmations.

But, if you want more information on whether past areas will make an appearance, or a deeper analysis on what we've seen from the trailer already, we have a Pokemon Winds and Waves region guide that dives into the nitty-gritty.

For more, check out our ranking of the best Pokemon games of all time.

Well do you? No need to play coy – you know what we're talking about. Do you want to be the very best? Like no one ever was? The thing about Pokemon's many elements is that they're all interconnected, and just seeing screenshots or the logo is often enough to send that opening G power chord ringing out in your head, to evoke visions of Ash turning his cap backwards in the anime, or to remind you of that shiny Charizard card you just couldn't get for love nor money back in the day. Pokemon launched on a worldwide scale not just as a video game but as a multimedia offensive. Supported by a TV show, merchandise and other products following the huge success of its original Japanese launch, there was just no way it could fail. It was everywhere and in the late '90s, you could barely move without seeing Pikachu's beaming little face somewhere.

But while that might have been the start of the phenomenon as we know it, our story begins earlier. Well, a lot earlier – all the way back in 1990, in fact, or even earlier if you want to track the origins of the most important people behind the franchise. "Mr [Satoshi] Tajiri was the founder of Game Freak and I was a friend of his when I was a student," recalls veteran Game Freak artist Ken Sugimori, the art director and character designer on pretty much all of the games, and who has been responsible for official art assets.

"We used to play video games together and that's how we started this company – Mr Tajiri started a company and I joined. Back in 1983, Mr Tajiri started selling this little booklet for ¥200 and it was sold only in very specialist bookstores. It talked about strategies for arcade games because, at the time, there were no home consoles. A few people would visit these stores and see the book, and I was one of them. As we talked, we became friends and discussed how arcade games were often very similar – if we were developing them, what would we do differently? When we started, some of the readers were programmers and they had the skills and access to the hardware – that's how we started in producing video games. Then Mr Masuda joined and our first game was Quinty."

Quinty, or Mendel Palaxe as you might know it, was a simple action-puzzle game released for the NES in 1989, its completion heralding the start of something much bigger, much more ambitious in scale, something that we know today as Pokemon. The vision started out small, originally targeting a creature count of around 50 monsters but with that number growing steadily as new ideas were hatched, and improved hardware and coding techniques emerged around them. In fact, it sounds as though the team always had more ideas than would be possible to fit into the memory capacity of a Game Boy cartridge.

"From the inception of the idea to the completion of Red & Blue took a total of about six years, so a long time!" smiles current producer Junichi Masuda, whose involvement on earlier titles was mainly in coding and penning the music of the original games, later taking on directorial and production duties on every mainline release. "We started by creating loads of different Pokémon designs, then we reduced that down to the favourite 150. That took a lot of effort. After that, once we were happy with our designs, we started working on the moves they could each use. This process probably accounted for around three of those six years. It was quite the task! There wasn't an initial plan of which Pokemon would get which moves – we designed the Pokemon and then we designed the moves, and then decided which would fit well together as a gradual process."

Masuda goes on to confirm our suspicions that the team was dreaming far bigger than what a cartridge could accommodate, but it wasn't just a question of storage – it was a case of the ideas being beyond the realms of what the Game Boy hardware could do. "It was difficult. The thing we wanted to focus on at the start was communication and trading but it was difficult to do that as we could only transfer small amounts of data between two consoles," he explains. "Communication itself was a big challenge – the technology just wasn't there but we really wanted to do it, so we fought to get it in there."

"That was an overriding theme – it was a fight against capacity, a fight against what we could fit onto the cartridge. We had designed these 150-odd Pokemon to get in as well. But then we had the problem of movement, so we came up with the idea of the map tiles being the things that moved while the character was animated in place. With these ideas, we found ways to squeeze as much in as we possibly could. I like the Game Boy as a machine but trying to work with all these challenges and make a game that anyone could get into and enjoy was difficult," says Masuda.

Bear in mind that we're still talking about the original Japanese releases of Red & Green at this point – localisation hadn't even been considered, and the studio ran into some serious issues when tasked with preparing the game for release outside of Japan. "Originally, it was kind of based on how people feel about and view different colours. The clearest split for us was between red and green but when we started thinking about abroad, it was clear that wasn't the case. In America in particular, it's red and blue that are considered 'opposites', if you will," Masuda reveals, although there were somewhat more pressing issues standing in the way of taking the game abroad, which is what led to the gap of over two-and-a-half years between Japanese release and US launch, not to mention another year to reach Europe.

"With the capacity problems mentioned earlier, one thing that we found is that English takes up more space on the cart than Japanese. We had no room! Everything was so full on that cartridge and there was little space to implement English at the time we created it. So we had a lot of memory problems to solve – things like changing Pokemon names and even the name entry screen, which was all designed in Japanese. To change that to accommodate English was really difficult and something we hadn't considered when first designing the game. We really had to spend a lot of time working on all of this."

How Pokemon evolved

Some of this could be seen in the game at the time, with character limits on menu terms, character, creature and item names and even a few attacks. Space, both on the screen and on the cart itself, was at a premium, hence these unusually short chunks of text, as seen elsewhere in the game actually, as Masuda highlights. "Another example is the Pokédex. In the original Japanese versions, you just had one screen and everything was displayed there whereas in the US and European versions, it had to be changed to have two screens with the names and details of the Pokemon. Doing all these great changes took a long time, so that was what contributed to the delay. We never expected things to be so popular abroad, either – we had no idea this would be such a phenomenon so that was really amazing. But yes, it took a long time to make all the changes needed to get the game into different markets."

After all this extra work, Pokemon Red and Blue released in the US towards the end of 1998. With the anime, the trading card game, and more toys games and other assorted tat with the Pokémon logo slapped on it releasing alongside it, the buzz was huge and with no European launch date so much as hinted at by Nintendo at the time, would-be Trainers would have to go out of their way to grab import copies of the game – some indie game stores even imported these in bulk to sell through at a premium. "Back at school, a friend of mine had brought back Pokemon from America, where he had gone on holiday," recalls Joe Merrick, webmaster of Pokemon fansite Serebii.net – a resource many like-minded Pokémaniacs have been using for well over a decade. "It hadn't been released here, though the anime was running on Sky and so when he showed the game, I was intrigued, watched the anime and pestered my mother to import the game."

Surrounded as it was by a hype machine on a peerless scale, you might think that this wasn't a matter of quality – for those who weren't fans, the choppy, low-budget animation of the TV show and hoards of cheap collectibles certainly could have suggested as much, at least. Despite its seemingly low production values, the anime series was entertaining in its own way, luring in new fans with its colourful characters and easy-to-follow stories, but the games have always been superb.

"I think the quality had to be there," muses Merrick. "Without it, people wouldn't have felt encouraged to play the game. While Red and Blue were a bit buggy, they had a solid foundation, and were complete fun to play – causing a lot of people to jump in. However, the factor of the anime and cards also had a huge impact on the reach of Pokemon. Many people didn't play the games and just focused on the cartoon or the cards, but like the games, the quality definitely had to be there for it to take off."

But take off it sure as hell did, the multi-limbed approach meaning that there was always something going on in the world of Pokémon – game development may be time-consuming but when you've got new TV episodes dropping, trading card sets being released, toy lines coming out, and Arceus-knows what else helping to fill the gaps between the mainline video game releases, it's easy to maintain a high-profile media presence. "We do have various staff involved in different things and we always think about these when developing a game," confirms Masuda.

"We really want to think about how we can develop beyond the game and widen things once it's finished. For the card game in particular, we've got Creatures Inc. working on the game itself and we discuss with them how best we can expand on the game there and how the new Pokemon we're creating might fit in with their plans." He goes on to explain the difficulty in such coordination between multiple teams and companies, especially when game release dates can't be easily altered. "As we develop the game, we get the TV, TCG, and animation teams in to play it so that they have a better idea of what the world, the characters, and the Pokemon are like," adds Sugimori. "We're all creating the characters and the settings together so that they're consistent across movies, games, and trading cards."

The impact of Pokemon Yellow

As was to be expected, sequels to Pokemon Red and Blue came thick and fast, but not before Game Freak could establish something that would go on to become almost traditional for Pokémon releases – a third game to complement the original pair of releases, originally in the form of Yellow (or Special Pikachu Edition, to give it its full title) which bridged the gaps between Red and Blue versions, and was tweaked to tie into the events and characters of the anime. Pokemon Crystal, Emerald, and Platinum all filled similar roles in their respective generations, although it stopped there – Black and White didn't exactly lend themselves to the naming conventions of this trend (honestly, who would buy Pokemon Grey?) and got direct sequels instead, while X and Y were long rumoured to get the trilogy treatment with Z, although all the stuff that has emerged that follows legendary Pokemon Zygarde has instead found its way into 2016's Pokemon Sun and Moon.

Each game, while still rooted in the core structure used in Red and Blue, has made great strides in terms of improving quality of life for players, which can make it hard to go back to those older games after being spoiled by so many minor improvements in more recent ones. "I look back on them fondly, for sure, but replaying them is a tricky proposition," Merrick tells us in discussion of returning to the original games today. "So often when I go back to play them, so many of the modern conveniences in it are just not there and make playing a slog. For example, in Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow, you had no idea what a move did in-game unless you had an external guide. Sometimes playing the old games without the conveniences and features of modern games just causes me to think, 'How did we play these games?' Once I erase that from my mind, though, I can still play through them happily."

Even then, it's not just these minor convenience tweaks, with each new generation expanding the strategic aspect of the game, not least with every new generation bringing with it a whole new selection of Pokemon. "The reason why there are about 100 Pokemon added per game is not that we can't come up with the ideas, especially when we have new staff – everyone can come up with unique ideas," Sugimori explains. "The number is set by the duration of the project. Plus, if you added like 300 or so new monsters, that'd just be too many – we have to think of the balance of battles." The same is true of introducing new types into the mix, which is why only three new ones have been added to the initial 15 since launch. "By adding even one more type, it definitely makes the gameplay more complicated so when we did that, we had to really look into the battle balance," Sugimori tells us. "With new moves, there's an infinite combination. If we can solve that problem, we can always add more types – it's not impossible."

Forever Evolving

It's incredible to think of the journey that Pokemon has been on for the last 30 years. From the humble origins of Red and Blue, the series has evolved into one of the most beloved and complex RPG series ever made. "People think that Pokemon is a game for children but I believe that's a misunderstanding," says Sugimori, and we're inclined to agree – look beyond the presentation around it, peer deeper into its near-bottomless strategic complexities and you'll find an RPG deserving of far more respect and credit than it often gets.

But while some can be harder to convince of the series' merits, those who are comfortably on the Pokémon Express make up an expansive player bases that spans every age group and demographic imaginable, as you probably saw when Pokemon Go brought fans of all ages out of the woodwork in search of virtual creatures in the real world. "The community is by far my favourite thing about Pokemon," Merrick tells us. "Aside from a few elements within it, it's one of the friendliest communities around. People go out of their way to help others to find Pokemon. The game by design, has mandated to get people together to battle and trade, and it has continued to do that. There are people alive today because their parents met due to Pokemon and that is utterly incredible to me.

"Its impact back in the Nineties was phenomenal," he closes. "It was everywhere and everyone was playing it. I honestly never thought we'd see anything like that again. Then, Go happened and once again, Pokemon was everywhere. Whether or not we'll see an equal of that again? It's hard to say. The industry is far more volatile these days than it was back in the '90s, and far more saturated. Yo-Kai Watch, while huge for a few years in Japan, has diminished and, just hasn't taken off over here. I am unsure if we'll ever see a series permeating so many facets of media at once and be a phenomenon like Pokemon ever again."

Pokemon Day Deals

Pokemon Day 2026 is here, and it's a special one, marking the series' 30th anniversary. All eyes will be on today's Pokemon Presents stream as folks wonder if the time has finally come for us to see the Gen 10 games, but in actual fact, that's not what many people are praying to Arceus for. No, the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Ranger fans are out in full force, begging the universe to give their long-forgotten spinoff series a win for once.

If we're not counting 2020's remake of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red and Blue Rescue Team, it'll mark 11 years this year since the last brand new entry in the series, Super Mystery Dungeon. Pokemon Ranger fans have been waiting even longer for a fresh release, with the series going totally dormant after the launch of Guardian Signs in 2010 (those Wii U Virtual Console releases don't count). Needless to say, you can understand why folks are screaming, crying, and possibly throwing up at the mere possibility of a comeback during today's 30th-anniversary celebrations, with many taking to Twitter to manifest the announcements.

"So we're preparing summoning circles for the Mystery Dungeon and Ranger series on Pokemon Day right?" one fan asks, noting that they "miss Mystery Dungeon so bad."

Thankfully for them, another particularly enthusiastic fan has delivered. "MYSTERY DUNGEON SUMMONING CIRCLE GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" they write, sharing a picture of their collection of games and merch. "WE'RE GETTING THAT NEW GAME TOMORROW."

"Hoping praying begging manifesting summoning wishing asking wanting craving needing yearning conjuring pokemon ranger news," another says. Meanwhile, one fan writes that a new Mystery Dungeon would be "my biggest hope for Pokemon Day," but "Pokemon Ranger is the dream."

Others, however, after years of being let down, are already preparing themselves for disappointment. I'll let the meme below do the talking.

Pokemon Ranger's absence in recent years has been somewhat understandable, since its central mechanic requires players to draw circles around Pokemon on a touch screen with a stylus. Obviously, the Switch has a touch screen too, but to use the same mechanic would mean you'd only be able to play in handheld mode, clumsily smashing your finger against the screen as you play.

However, I'll admit that one of the first things I thought when I saw the Switch 2's mouse controls was that the feature could theoretically work very well for a new Ranger game, but we'll just have to see if The Pokemon Company delivers. After all, there's been no technical reason not to make a new Mystery Dungeon for so long, but that series has been quiet, too. Fingers crossed for later, folks.

Pokopia finally gives starving Pokemon Mystery Dungeon fans some food with its talking 'mons as the life sim's devs "really focused" on conveying each one's "unique personality."

Pokemon Day Deals