Pokémon News
Random Oh No, You Can Buy A Life-Sized Gardevoir Plush From Pokémon Center
Update: Now available in America
[Fri 31st Jan, 2025 16:45 GMT] We've seen lots of life-sized Pokémon plushies over the years — Larvesta, Lucario, Arcanine, multiple starter 'mons, and Spheal. So really, it was only a matter of time before Gardevoir joined the ranks, right? Brought to our attention by Joe Merrick (of Serebii) on Bluesky, The...
Opinion All My Pokémon TCG Pocket Headaches Help It Nail Playground Trading Nostalgia
Jim used Reminisce!
I am a creature of habit, so when The Pokémon Company revealed Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket and its two-packs-a-day hook system, I knew that I was going to be a sucker for it. And here we are, a little over three months since its launch, and that's exactly what I am. My Pokémon monkey brain (Mankey brain?) has turned to...
News Special Dragonite Short From 'Your Name' Anime Studio Heading To YouTube For Pokémon Day
Only a few weeks to go!
We are quickly edging ever closer to Pokémon Day on 27th February, and while we all wait for confirmation of the inevitable Presents showcase that it will likely contain, we do know that a new animated film will be dropping to mark the occasion. As revealed by Serebii, this year's anniversary will see the debut of...
News Pokémon TCG Pocket To Update Trading Feature In Response To Player Feedback
"We have received a large number of comments"
As you might have seen earlier this week, the new trading feature went live in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket on mobile devices and a lot of trainers aren't particularly happy. The developers have now released an official notice, responding to the players - mentioning how it appreciates feedback and...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Tier List & Best Decks
Now including Space-Time Smackdown
One of the most complicated parts of a new card game, digital or otherwise, is knowing which cards to pursue en route to building a competitive deck. For Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, what decks you should run highly depends on which cards you’ve pulled as there are so many. To help you start building to be...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Palkia EX Deck Guide
Big Pink Palkia is better than you think.
While much of the hype surrounding the Space-Time Smackdown set of Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is centered around Dialga EX, you’re going to have a bad time if you ignore the power Palkia EX brings to the table — especially when you consider cards like Misty and newcomer Manaphy. It may not look...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Lucario Deck Guide
Big punches equals big wins.
One of the standout counter decks in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket hasn’t been, fittingly, Fighting type decks featuring a combination of Hitmonlee and Marshadow alongside a variety of other iconic Pokémon like Aerodactyl EX and Marowak EX. With the release of Lucario in the Space-Time Smackdown expansion,...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Gyarados EX Deck Guide
We slept on this powerful deck.
Gyarados is one of the most iconic non-Legendary Pokémon, going from the weak Magikarp to an absolute wrecking ball of a Water and Flying type. While the Genetic Apex version of Gyarados left much to be desired, we slept on the Gyarados EX released with the Mythical Island mini-expansion. Despite Pikachu EX, it...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Dialga EX Deck Guide
Choo Choo! All aboard the Dialga train.
Despite being only a few months old, energy generating cards have dominated Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket. Moltres EX, Misty, and Gardevoir have been meta-staples since the beginning, and with the addition of the Space-Time Smackdown expansion we have another engine on our hands, and this time it’s a...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Darkrai EX Deck Guide
Edgelords and former emo kids rejoice!
A fan-favourite Darkness-type Pokémon is here to (hopefully) end the reign of Mewtwo EX. That’s right — Darkrai EX has arrived in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket with the Space-Time Smackdown expansion, and with it comes hope for a more stable meta. Darkrai EX can’t do it all on its own, however...
PSA Pokémon TCG Pocket's New Expansion Is Here, But You Can Still Open Old Packs
Gimme a Boost(er)
The day is finally here, Trainers! The 'Space-Time Smackdown' expansion is now live in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, giving us access to a whole bunch of sweet Gen IV newbies. But have no fear if you're still chasing cards from Genetic Apex, they're still available to open. Unlike when the 'Mythical Island' mini-expansion...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Space-Time Smackdown - Best Cards, Full Pack List
The WWE of Pokemon card sets.
Have you completed the Genetic Apex and Mythical Island sets in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket? No? Well, bad news for you then: the next two packs are here! Space-Time Smackdown features Pokémon Diamond & Pearl's box art legendaries Dialga and Palkia, but don't just play favourites; which pack should you focus...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: How To Trade Cards
No swapsies
The long-awaited Trade feature has finally arrived in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, letting you swap cards with your friends at will. However, with new currencies, stamina and card restrictions, it can be a difficult process to get your head around. In this guide, we'll be covering how to trade cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket, all the...
PSA Trading Is Finally Live In Pokémon TCG Pocket, But It's A Real Headache
Traders of the Lost Card
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket's hotly-anticipated Trade feature is finally live in the mobile app. Those who have been waiting to swap cards with their pals can now do so, but there's a catch: it's a real headache. As with everything TCG Pocket, Trading is all about consumable items and currency. We've known for a while...
News New Pokémon HOME Distribution Dishes Out Rare Shinies For Completing Select Pokédexes
Man(aphy), what an Enamorus opportunity
The latest distribution event is underway in Pokémon HOME, and this one is a prime opportunity to nab some extremely rare shinies — if you've completed the necessary Pokédexes. All those who have completed the Sinnoh Pokédex from Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl can head to the Pokémon HOME app to...
News Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket Taking Action Against Inappropriate Conduct
Including "data tampering, real money trading and other behaviors"
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket got off to a strong start when it arrived on mobile devices last year, but it's also had to deal with a few things along the way. With this in mind, the developer has now issued a new notice about how it's "taking action in response to inappropriate...
News Nintendo Music Adds Another Pokémon Soundtrack, Here's Every Song Included
Gotta listen to it all
Ahead of the launch of Pokémon Legends: Z-A this year and Pokémon Day next month, Nintendo has this week added the Pokémon Legends: Arceus soundtrack to its music application. This soundtrack comes loaded with a total of 102 tracks and has a whopping runtime of four hours and one minute. This includes songs for all of the...
Feature Catch-Up Crew: Pokémon Snap - "There’s Nothing Stopping You From Pelting Every Unlucky ‘Mon"
Jack and beans
Welcome to Catch-up Crew, where USS Nintendo Life officers slingshot around the sun and go back to play something a crewmember missed back in the day. We went back to the first WarioWare game last time, but today our destination is the year 1999 when Pokémon Snap first appeared on a chunky N64 cartridge. For anyone looking to play...
News Another Pokémon Has Joined The Build-A-Bear Plush Line
It's Yamper!
The Build-A-Bear plush Pokémon line continues to grow with the arrival of the Electric-type Yamper. This Pokémon was first sighted in the Galar Region during the Sword and Shield generation. You can buy it online now in the bundle pack which comes with the 5-in-1 sound chip, a yellow cape, and a bandana for $65 USD (or your regional...
News Pokémon Company "Investigating" Registration Improvements After London Pop-Up's Online Issues
Update: All days now fully booked
With the Pokémon European International Championships right around the corner, reservations for London's pop-up Pokémon Center are now live. The store will be up and running throughout the event at ExCel London from 20th-23rd February 2025 , and, much like previous years, you need to book a slot if you want to...
News Pokémon TCG Pocket's New Expansion And Trading Feature Arrive Next Week
Bring on the Smackdown
After many weeks of teases, The Pokémon Company has finally revealed when we can expect to see Trading Card Game Pocket's next expansion and the long-awaited trade feature. Surprise! They're both arriving next week! Trading will be the first to be added to the card-collecting app, with the feature going live on Tuesday 28th...
News Pokémon Cards Return To U.S. McDonald's Happy Meals Today
Scalper no scalping
McDonald's and The Pokémon Company have today announced another crossover event that sees a limited range of Trading Cards appearing in Happy Meals across the United States until late February. Starting today, fans in the US can pick up a four-card Pokémon TCG booster and sticker activity sheet with every Happy Meal, and if...
News Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket Details New Trade Feature, Arriving This Month
New booster packs are also being added
Late last year, The Pokémon Company announced it would finally be adding an anticipated feature to the mobile app Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket in January 2025. It's now been reconfirmed the trading feature will arrive "this month" - with the team also detailing what exactly you can expect from this new...
News Trainer's Pokémon Cards Make A Comeback In Upcoming Scarlet & Violet TCG Expansion
Juuust the two of us
The Pokémon Company has announced its next Scarlet and Violet Trading Card Game expansion, 'Journey Together', which sees 'Trainer's Pokémon' cards make a comeback. The set launches on 28th March 2025, consisting of over 180 cards with more than 40 Trainer's Pokémon in there. This includes the likes of N’s Zoroark ex,...
News Yes, We're Getting Closer To Pokémon Day
And you know what that means...
We're now in January and that means Pokémon Day 2025 is just around the corner. As always, this annual celebration takes place on 27th February and traditionally follows with all sorts of new and exciting announcements. In fact - it seems there's so much excitement this year that some fans around the world are...
News Feast Your Eyes On Some Of The Exclusive Merch Coming To London's Pop-Up Pokémon Center
Arriving next month
The Pokémon Europe International Championships return to London next month (20th-23rd Feb), and while we are, of course, very excited to see the cream of the competitive crop go head to head across a range of disciplines, the big selling point for many will be the pop-up Pokémon Center. Reservations for this one are expected...
News The Pokémon Center Has Dubbed 2025 "The Year Of Eevee"
Good eeveening
11 years ago, we had The Year of Luigi. Last year, we got The Year of Shadow. In 2025, it seems that Pokémon is finally getting its time to shine. Welcome to The Year of Eevee. Okay, this might just be a marketing slogan to sell some merch, but as Serebii's Joe Merrick flagged on BlueSky, The Pokémon Center website currently is...
News Pokémon Unite Adds Another Pokémon To The Roster This Month
Galarian Rapidash arrives
The free-to-play MOBA Pokémon Unite is still adding new Pokémon and the next one joining the roster will be Galarian Rapidash. This psychic/fairy-type evolves from a Galarian Ponyta and was originally introduced during the Pokémon Sword and Shield generation. This new pick in Unite is scheduled to join the fray on 23rd...
Feature A Trip To Machida, The Real-Life 'Pallet Town' That Inspired Pokémon
Pokén around
The first generation of Pokémon games features some of the most iconic locations in the entire franchise. The eerie Lavender Town, the winding Viridian Forest, and the quaint Pallet Town where all players start their journey. Pallet Town isn’t just a fanciful creation, but draws real-life inspiration from Pokémon creator Satoshi...
Feature The Company You Can Pay To X-Ray Unopened Pokémon Card Packs Speaks Out
"The technology is not going away, and people know what it can do"
The entirety of the trading card community — that is, people who collect, buy, and sell the Pokémon Trading Card game, sports cards, Magic: The Gathering, Disney, or literally any trading card game you can think of — has gradually become aware of what might be an existential...
Feature Evolving With Pokémon: How The Games Helped Me Navigate A Confused Childhood
This coping mechanism was super effective!
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, Tim thinks back on how Pocket Monsters came to his aid in his formative years, and how the series that started on Nintendo's iconic portable would stay beside him in the years that followed. Pokémon is a clockwork franchise. Its cyclical...
News Thieves Steal Thousands Of Pounds Of Rare Pokémon Cards From YouTuber's Company
Around £250k's work have been taken in a "targeted attack"
Thousands of pounds of Pokémon Trading Cards have been stolen from Ace Grading, a Banbury-based Card Grading company run by TCG YouTuber Randolph. As reported by the BBC, the break in took place on Friday 13th December in what Randolph and his company has called a "targeted attack"...
Random Streamer Beats Pokémon's Most Difficult Challenge After 3,978 Attempts
Flareon achieves victory
Pokémon games have often been derided as being too easy for veteran players, which is why fan-made challenges such as Nuzlocke have become so popular over the years. There's one challenge, however, that's been described as the most difficult of them all, and it's taken streamer PointCrow a total of 3,978 resets over the...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Mew EX Deck Guide
Mew EX is here to keep the meta in check
We might’ve spent hours trying to find Mew back in the original Pokémon Red & Blue – even going so far as to search beneath trucks – it isn’t a super difficult card to obtain in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket’s Mythical Island set. Mew EX is flexible enough to slot into just about any deck,...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Best Mythical Island Cards, Full Pack List
It's time for a Mewstyerious vacation
The first expansion for Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is here in Mythical Island. While it’s a mini-expansion, we hope you saved up some Pack Hourglasses to rip open several cards on your first day. Or maybe you have the most powerful card of all – the one in your wallet – ready to go. Either way,...
Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Celebi EX Deck Guide
Oh no, this Grass fairy is going to be a problem
It was too much to hope that a meta-dominating card wouldn’t be added to Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket with its first expansion, Mythical Island. From anti-meta cards like Mew EX to some great additions to type archetypes in Vaporeon, Celebi EX and Serperior had people running scared when they...
News Pokémon TCG Pocket 'Mythical Island' Expansion Out Now, Adds Over 80 Cards
Boooost!
The new expansion for Pokémon TCG Pocket, dubbed 'Mythical Island' is out now via a free, automatic update for all users. The booster set contains an additional 68 standard cards alongside roughly 20 secret cards for you to find, including the likes of Mew, Celebi, and Aerodactyl. In addition to the new cards, a new 'themed collection'...
News Mew EX Heads To Pokémon TCG Pocket Next Week In New Booster Pack
Mew-sic to our ears
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has announced its first new Booster Pack, and it's coming to the game on 17th December 2024. The new expansion is called Mythic Island and stars Mew EX, alongside Celebi EX, trainer card Blue, Aerodactyl EX, Marshadow, Morelull, and a handful of other newcomers. New cosmetic items and new solo...
News Pokémon Announces Collaboration With Wallace & Gromit Studio
Coming in 2027
The Pokémon Company has just casually announced that it's working with Aardman Animation, the legendary British animation studio known for creating Wallace & Gromit. The project doesn't have a name yet — and we imagine it's a movie, TV short, or a series — but we'll have to wait a while to see it, as it's landing in 2027...
News Man Caught Selling Hacked Pokémon Sun Save Data Arrested By Japanese Police
Gotta catch 'em all
If you cast your mind back to earlier this year, you might recall that a man was arrested in Japan for selling modded data from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Well, it's clear that not everyone was paying attention to the repercussions, as last week, Japanese police announced that they had arrested a man on similar charges for...
News London's Pop-Up Pokémon Center Returns In February 2025
Shop 'til you drop
Brace yourselves, folks, and prepare to splash some cash. The Pokémon Company has announced that the pop-up Pokémon Center will be returning to the 2025 Pokémon Europe International Championships in London. The store will be open throughout the event at the ExCel London from 21st-23rd February 2025. We don't know exactly what...
News Pokémon TV Is Making Its Grand Return As An Official YouTube Channel
Hosting episodes of the anime starting this month
Following its closure earlier this year, Pokémon TV is making its return this month as an official YouTube channel. As reported by Serebii, the new Pokémon TV channel will contain "full episodes, live streams, and compilations" of the Pokémon anime series, starting from 6th December 2024...
Random This Awesome Pokémon Build Transforms Porygon Into A Working Nintendo Wii
"PorWiigon"
We've covered the sweet work of tech wizard BigRig Creates on Nintendo Life in the past (this is the designer behind the world's largest working DS and its 3D counterpart), and this week he has caught our eye again with a colourful Pokémon-inspired build that has us looking at our bland Wii consoles i
News Nab Some Sweet Promo Cards In Pokémon TCG Pocket's New Limited-Time Drop Event
Including a spicy full-art Venusaur
Gosh, the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket new additions just keep coming thick and fast, don't they? Today, the game's first 'Drop Event' has got underway, giving you a chance to pick up some tasty promo cards by taking part in special promo battles. The Venusaur Drop Event runs from today until 13th December...
Random Pokémon Fan Crunches The Numbers To Settle Alpha Sapphire's "Too Much Water" Debate
Wait, the meme was true??
Back in 2014, IGN, like many outlets, shared its review of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. While the vast majority showered the 3DS remakes with praise, IGN was slightly more critical, awarding them a 7.8/10 and noting that they have "too much water" (among other criticisms, naturally). In case you haven't seen it...
News Pokémon TCG Pocket Sets Its Sights On "Inappropriate Player Names"
Some names are "causing discomfort to other users"
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has been available on mobile devices for a month now and it's a huge success story. While the game is chugging along just fine, it seems the development team has had to issue a notice about inappropriate player names. It seems some trainers have decided to create...
News Pokémon Fans Open Over 22,000 Cards In Record-Breaking 24-Hour Livestream
Happy Holodays
In celebration of the latest Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Trading Card Game expansion, Surging Sparks, The Pokémon Company has set a new Guinness World Record with a mammoth 24-hour livestream. With the assistance of 30 Pokémon content creators, the stream is now officially the longest unboxing livestream to date (previously held by...
News Pokémon Gold And Silver Celebrates 25 Years With Commemorative Plush
Featuring posable arms!
The Game Boy Color classics Pokémon Gold And Silver are now officially 25 years old and The Pokémon Company is celebrating with some new merch. If you have any fond memories of these titles or are just a fan of Pokémon Plush in general, you might be interested to know the Pokémon Center is now offering special...
News Pokémon TCG Pocket Trainer Drops $1,500 To Collect Every Single Card
"I will not be doing it again"
Since the arrival of Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket there's been all sorts of number crunching and simulations breaking down how long it could potentially take to collect every card in the game. Now, one Reddit user known as 'Weens4Life' has decided to test out the paid element and it's cost them a whopping $1,500...
News Pokémon Horizons Season 2 Arrives On Netflix Early 2025
Yeah Roy!
After Season One made its way West earlier this year, The Pokémon Company has today announced that Pokémon Horizons' second season will come to BBC iPlayer for the UK in January 2025 and on Netflix for other regions on 7th February 2025. Officially titled 'Pokémon Horizons: Season 2 - The Search for Laqua', the upcoming episodes will...
