Pokémon

Donkey Kong, Halo: Combat Evolved, Pokémon Red and Green, and Street Fighter II have been inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. They were picked out of twelve finalists that included Final Fantasy VII, Mortal Kombat, Portal, Resident Evil, and Wii Sports. 

Russian Man Facing Prison For Making Pokémon Go Video Inside A Church

A Russian man might be spending years in prison after his trial wrapped up last week, after being arrested in 2016 for making a video about Pokémon Go while inside a church, a violation of the country’s laws against “inciting religious hatred”. Last year, Ruslan Sokolovsky made a video inside the famous Church of All…

The World of Pokémon Fan Games Has Become A Minefield

Some of the people who make Pokémon fan games are scared, if not a bit angry. They’ve been crafting amazing Pokémon games that rival the official releases for a decade, dodging lawsuits and relying on increasingly dated tools. It’s never been easy, but it’s also never been as stressful as it is today. Pokémon fan…

Pokémon Player Uses ‘Explosion’ On Veteran Competitor, Leaving Him Speechless

Pokémon Sun and Moon’s online Battle Spot ladder is full of wild teams. Since all games are best-of-one (unlike live tournaments, which are best-of-three), many players bring gimmicks to steal the win in unexpected ways. Even the best competitive player can be caught off guard, because they never know what to expect. Take this episode…

Latest Figures Capture Pokémon At The Height Of Their Powers

The second wave of Pokémon Gallery figures have hit The Pokemon Company’s online store, giving Psyduck, Cubone, Jigglypuff and Vulpix a chance to show off their signature moves in style. The Pokémon Gallery figure linelaunched back in February as part of the celebration of the game’s 25th anniversary. The idea is to portray Pokémon as…

Pikachu Is Now Selling KFC In China

Last year, KFC rolled out a special Pokémon campaign in Japan, complete with Pikachu on the bucket. And this year, the character is coming to KFCs in China. Redditor Maxtch spotted the above ad at Xujiahui Station in Shanghai. Those who buy one of the meal deals get a collectible Pikachu figurine. Kotaku East is…

Baseball Stars Are Signing Pokémon Cards

“I just thought it would be cool if professional athletes would sign Pokémon cards”, says Addison Russell, one of the best young talents in baseball. Russell, an infielder for the Cubs, started collecting Pokémon cards during the offseason as a way of connecting with the younger members of his family. Then he had an idea.…

This Is How You Fix A Really Busted Copy Of Pokémon Red

Grant Haack, who goes by Snip3r95 on Imgur, found an old Pokémon cartridge while wandering around a flea market. The game only set them back $5, but actually getting the Game Boy classic up and running required some serious elbow grease. “It was at the bottom of a bin and in pretty bad shape,” Haack…

Competitive Pokémon Players Sometimes Change Teams At The Last Minute

It’s night before the Dallas Regional Championships, and Drew Nowak is trying to squeeze in some practice with a last-minute Pokémon team. Despite not fully understanding the intricacies of the new team, he rises above hundreds and wins the entire tournament. A couple months later, he uses a last-minute team again and takes top four…

For Poké Ball Candy Containers, These Seem Nice 

In Japan, Bandai is releasing a set of Poké Ball. There’s a total of 11 different Poké Balls in the set, and while they’re designed to hold candy (and not, you know, Pocket Monsters), these replicas are rather handsome. Over the years, Japan has seen an array of mock Poké Balls. They’re typically sold at…

Here Is Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Dressed Up As Pikachu

Yesterday, on Easter, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson chased his daughter around the house wearing a Pikachu costume. And how did you celebrate? Eggs? The 6’5″, 260-pound wrestler was playing his daughter’s favorite game, “I run away and you chase me Pikachu,” according to The Rock’s Instagram. Adorably, his daughter pronounces “Pikachu” like “Peekyu.” “The Rock”…

Pokémon Hunter Gets Rare Shiny On First Try, Freaks The Hell Out

In modern Pokémon games, there is only a 1 in 4,096 chance you’ll find a monster in a special coloring. People can spend hours, days, weeks, sometimes even years searching for shiny Pokémon to no avail, just resetting a game over and over again. Here’s what happens when you find a legendary shiny on your…

The New Mythical Pokémon Isn’t Only In Sun And Moon

There is a new Mythical Pokémon in Sun and Moon. The character, however, is also appearing in the upcoming Pokémon reboot feature film. Titled Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!, the movie shows how Ash and Pikachu teamed up and goes from there. As the latest trailer shows, it also features the new Mythical Pocket…

The Latest Pokémon Anime Episode Was Depressing As Hell

You thought the Pokémon Sun Moon was all silliness and sunshine? Wrong! Yesterday’s episode was a real tearjerker. Warning: Spoilers ahead! This week was an hour special with back-to-back episodes. The second episode, number 21, was a doozy. Sun Moon continues to surprise, because this isn’t the only weighty episode of this season. (That Mimikyu…

Computer Learns To Create Its Own Pokémon, And They’re Great

You can train a Neural Network—basically a machine that learns—to do all kinds of things. The best thing, though, is to create a list of its own fake Pokémon. Please welcome Stangute, Tortabool and Ronch to the Pokédex. “I decided to train [a] neural network to randomly generate Pokemon names and abilities based on this…

Legendaries Do Not Ruin Competitive Pokémon

Legendary Pokémon get a bum rap in competitive play. Many casual observers and players constantly ask why legendaries are allowed in the first place. Aren’t legendaries overpowered? Don’t legendaries make battles boring? I see sentiments like these expressed all the time on social media: These beliefs don’t represent the full spectrum of competitive Pokémon players…

The Pokémon Skincare Collection Is Bad

Korean skincare brand Tonymoly dropped a collaboration with Pokémon in December, and I finally got my hands on it. It sucks. The Tonymoly Pokémon collection had a ton of products, including some makeup items that I’m not sure make it to the States, but I was mostly interested in the cleansers and moisturizers. It was…

There’s A Holographic Zapdos Pokémon Card Hanging In The Cubs Locker Room 

Somewhere in the Cubs locker room is the proud owner of a number of a number of rare Pokémon cards, including a holographic Zapdos, the legendary electric bird that first appeared over 20 years ago in Red and Blue The collection, hanging below some cleats in a plastic binder slip case, was spotted by Reddit…

Players Looking For Shiny Magikarp Are Getting Trolled By Pokémon Go

Right now, most people playing Pokémon Go are hunting for one thing: a golden shiny Magikarp. Oh, they’re finding shiny Magikarp alright. It’s just not turning out how they’d expect. Last year, Pokémon Go introduced Ditto, a shapeshifting creature who always appears as something else. You might capture a Sentret, for example, only for it…

Pokémon Go Players Are Finding Shiny Magikarp

Pokémon Go’s big water event started today, and it holds a cool new surprise: shiny monsters. Behold, Pokémon Go’s first shiny monster is none other than the beloved and slightly useless Magikarp, as you can see in this footage by Fabien Parent. As it is a shiny, Magikarp appears in a golden color, rather than…