Tag: Pokemon

Niantic adds Zygarde in Pokemon GO routes update

A new Pokemon GO update is adding Zygarde to the mobile game, but piecing this legendary Pokemon together takes a bit of effort

A new Pokemon GO update is adding Zygarde to the mobile game, but piecing this legendary Pokemon together takes a bit of effort. You need to collect Zygarde Cells to put Zygarde back together again like in previous Pokemon games, but the only way to find those cells is by traveling Pokemon GO’s new routes.

You’ll also encounter Zygarde in a new round of special research, A to Zygarde.

The route system lets players create paths for other players to follow, ideally to show off their favorite sights around town or highlight places of interest that might not be designated with a PokeStop or other in-game marker. All you need to do is start from a Gym or PokeStop, hit “record” to map your route, and set off.

Send the route for consideration once you’re done, and after it’s approved, anyone can follow it. Traveling routes is the only way to get Zygarde Cells at the moment, but they offer a range of other bonuses as well. These include extra Buddy Candy, bonus XP, and Buddy Hearts when you complete a route with your designated Buddy Pokemon, and incense works more effectively when you use it on a route that you’re traveling for the first time.

To follow a route, open the “Nearby” menu to get a look at any close routes, find one you want to travel, and set off.

Zygarde is only available in the A to Zygarde research task, though if other legendary Pokemon are anything to go by, including X and Y’s signature legendaries, you’ll likely be able to find Zygarde in special raids later down the road.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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The best Amazon Prime Day 2023 Nintendo Switch game sales

Amazon Prime Day 2023 Nintendo sales include a broad range of the best Switch games, and we’ve rounded them up in our Switch sale list

Amazon Prime Day 2023 Nintendo sales include a broad range of the best Switch games from Nintendo themselves, indie publishers, and well-known third-party games. Whether you’re after Fire Emblem, Super Mario, Pokemon, or some of the Switch’s meatier RPGs, there’s almost certainly something for you in the sale – unless you’re after hardware. Nintendo isn’t offering any discounts on the Switch itself.

These deals last until Amazon Prime Day 2023 ends – July 12, 2023 – or until supply runs out.

If you’re after deals for PlayStation, we’ve got some hot picks for Prime Day PlayStation deals as well.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Delphox Tera Raid tips and best teams

Our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Delphox Tera Raid tips include the best teams to counter Delphox and win the raid battle quickly

Delphox stars in the new Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raid event, set to run over two weekends and giving you a chance to add the exceptionally powerful fire fox to your team with its unique Tera type – if you’re strong enough. Like all Scarlet and Violet 7-star raid events, the Delphox Tera Raid is designed for players with well-balanced Pokemon teams who’ve already cleared the main game. While you can technically challenge Tera Delphox with any Pokemon who isn’t weak to Delphox’s moveset, a few specific ‘mon are better suited to the task than others.

Your reward for winning is the fire-type Delphox itself, complete with the Mightiest Mark, which doesn’t offer any practical benefit aside from showing that you won the raid event.

If you’re struggling to get teams together quickly for these events, check out our tips for building 7-star raid teams as easily as possible.

The 10 best Pokemon fan games you can play right now

Fan-made Pokémon games are a treasure trove of unique stories and more challenging adventures than what Nintendo produces.

A new mainline Pokémon game releasing is always cause for celebration, but they don’t come around all that often. In the intervening years, your thirst for new Pokémon content will have to be satiated elsewhere, and thankfully the franchise’s fanbase have you covered.

Whether you want a grittier, less kid-oriented take on the Pokémon world, a bit more of a challenge, or a look into what crazy creatures fans can design, fan games can provide just about any kind of experience you want.

We’ll run down the best Pokémon fan games that you can download and play right now.

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Pokemon manga fan-artist brings Professor Oak’s past to life

Pokemon manga artist Pokeyugami read between the lines of Oak and Agatha’s relationship and brought them to life in a new video

Pokemon manga fan-artist Pokeyugami read between the lines of Oak and Agatha’s relationship and brought them to life in an unofficial new video (thanks, GamesRadar). GameFreak teased a close relationship between the two from the very beginning, and a handful of other Pokemon games have dropped the tiniest of hints about what happened.

When you face Agatha during the Elite Four battles of Pokemon Red and Blue, she says Oak has gone soft in old age. She’s got a bit more to say in FireRed and LeafGreen, where she says he’s a shadow of his former self.

The mobile game Pokemon Masters EX has the most to say on the subject. It turns out Agatha used to be close with Oak, but ended their friendship when it became clear he was too weak for competitive Pokemon. Ouch.

Pokeyugami took those hints and imagined a scene that might happen between the two trainers in their younger days, when friendship still bloomed. The video shows Oak and Agatha discussing their respective views on Pokemon. It’s in Japanese, but you can still pick up what’s going on.

There’s also a nice nod to the popular fan theory that the opening of Pokemon Red and Blue, where a Nidorino fights a Gengar, is actually depicting a battle between Oak and Agatha.

This isn’t their first foray into detailed Pokemon fan creations either. Pokeyugami previously posted a series of animated manga-style shorts imagining what Pokemon might look like if it were remade in the series’ original art style.

The whole thing is just lovely – even if the inevitable outcome is sad. Perhaps with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet bringing the idea of time travel to the RPG series, GameFreak might one day revisit the past as well and bring some of these stories to life themselves.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are finally getting Home connectivity

Pokemon Scarlet and Violent and Pokemon Home can connect at last, six months after the hit Switch games launched

Update: May 19, 2023

The Pokemon Company posted a correction on Twitter and said the release date for Pokemon Home 3.0.0 is actually undecided. It (presumably) won’t be launching on May 23, 2023, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer to shuffle your Pokemon around.

Original Story: May 18, 2023

Pokemon Scarlet and Violent and Pokemon Home can soon connect at last, six months after the monster-catching RPGs launched. The Pokemon Company is releasing a new update for Pokemon Home on May 23, 2023, that will add the functionality to the latest Pokemon games, along with a few bonus rewards to celebrate.

After you update Pokemon Home, you can use the tool to transfer Pokemon in and out of Scarlet and Violet to other games or to store in Home if you need room in your Pokemon boxes. Like with other Home-supported games, you can only transfer Pokemon to another game if they actually appear in it – so, no sending Fuecoco to Pokemon Legends, for example.

Transferring Pokemon also doesn’t count as trading. If you want to evolve Haunter or other Pokemon who evolve through trading, you’ll still have to go about it the usual way.

After you transfer a Pokemon to or from Scarlet and Violet from Home the first time, you’ll get a free Sprigatito, Quaxly, and Fuecoco with their hidden abilities as Mystery Gifts in the mobile version of Home, which you can then transfer to your Scarlet and Violet games. You can also bring Roaming Gimmighoul to Home through Pokemon GO and transfer them to your Switch games.

The new update also lets you turn Home Points into League Points for use in Scarlet and Violet, a handy way to get some extra items in preparation for the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC set to launch later in 2023.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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More Xbox Game Pass games for May 2023 include FIFA and a Pokemon-like

Microsoft announced the Xbox Game Pass games for May 2023, and FIFA leads the charge, with some indie gems close behind

Microsoft announced the Xbox Game Pass games for May 2023, and FIFA leads the charge, with some indie gems close behind. As always, the May game launches will happen at a staggered rate, with some out now and some releasing near the end of the month. A handful of games will also leave the service at the end of May, though not as many as usual this time.

These are in addition to the other, smaller round of games that landed on the service earlier in the month, including Redfall.

Pokemon developer is making a secret game with an unlikely partner

Pokemon developer Game Freak is working on an unannounced game with Private Division, publisher of The Outer Worlds, among other RPGs

Pokemon developer Game Freak is working on an unannounced project with Private Division, publisher of The Outer Worlds, Hades, and OlliOlli World, among other games. The project is tentatively titled Project Bloom, and while there isn’t much information to build on just yet, it’s kind of a big deal anyway.

Game Freak rarely works on non-Pokemon games, and the results are mixed when they do. Tembo the Badass Elephant, a side-scrolling platformer that Sega published, met with a fairly warm reception thanks to its strong stage design. Critics also praised the town-builder-meets-RPG Little Town Hero for its unique take on the genre, but were less impressed with the battle design and characterization.

Whatever Game Freak’s vision for Project Bloom, it will be an action-adventure game with what looks like a darker art direction than we usually see from the developer.

“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to create new IP that is bold and tonally different from our prior work,” Kota Furushima, director at Game Freak, said in a statement. “From the beginning, Private Division was the publisher we wanted to work with on our new game. Their track record and global expertise give us all the confidence to create a sweeping new action-adventure game that we can’t wait to share more about in the future.”

“Over the past three decades, you’d be hard-pressed to find a studio which has released more iconic hits than Game Freak,” Michael Worosz, head of Private Division, said. “We’re ready to help Game Freak unleash their potential and we’re honored to be the first Western publisher to work alongside this exceptionally talented and proven team to bring a bold new IP to market.”

There’s quite a while to wait before it does come to market, though. Private Division said they expect Project Bloom to launch sometime in parent company Take-Two’s 2026 fiscal year.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Fan recreates Pokemon Red in Octopath Traveler’s HD-2D style

A pixel artist recreated the classic Pokemon Red in Square Enix’s HD-2D style used in Octopath Traveler, and the result is incredible

A pixel artist recreated the classic Pokemon Red in Square Enix’s HD-2D style used in Octopath Traveler, and the result is incredible. YouTuber Dott made several videos in a similar style over roughly six months, but they started gaining more recognition after self-styled Pokemon reporter Pory_Leaks highlighted them on Twitter (thanks, Eurogamer).

Dott’s specialty seems to be single, usually recognizable scenes, such as the snowball fight in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance or the campfire scene from Chrono Trigger. In January, however, Dott made three videos showcasing Pallet Town and Vermillion City remade in HD-2D. The familiar soundtracks for both cities even got the Octopath Traveler treatment, as Dott replaced their chiptune themes with sweeping orchestral versions. Vermillion City even has seagulls calling in the background.

It’s impressive how much life the style change gives not just the cities, but the world around them too. Thick copses of dark trees flank Vermillion City, looking very much like the kind of place you wouldn’t want to meet a wild Pokemon alone. The water gently laps at a fishing boat, while the dock lamps cast a warm glow in the evening sun.

Whether Nintendo and The Pokemon Company would ever consider such a style for Pokemon remakes is another matter, but if you’re keen to see more of it, Dott has several other scenes on their YouTube channel, including a recent set of videos from the classic SNES game Terranigma.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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A classic Pokemon game is coming to Nintendo Switch Online soon

Nintendo is bringing Pokemon Stadium to Nintendo Switch Online, expanding the platform’s Nintendo 64 library with the multiplayer game

Nintendo is bringing Pokemon Stadium to Nintendo Switch Online, expanding the platform’s Nintendo 64 library with the multiplayer game. Pokemon Stadium will release on April 12, 2023, for those with the Expansion Pack subscription plan.

Pokemon Stadium on Switch will feature support for online multiplayer, so you can face off against three other people in Free Battle mode. Stadium and Gym Leader Castle, the Pokemon game’s two single-player modes, also return, pitting you against the eight gym leaders of Kanto – the setting of Pokemon Blue, Red, and Yellow – and testing your mettle in four tournaments against Pokemon ranging from level one to 100.

If you’re tired of battling, you can tackle a small selection of Pokemon-themed mini-games.

The announcement trailer didn’t mention it, but Game Boy Tower, the mode that lets you play your Game Boy games on a large screen, likely won’t make an appearance for practical reasons. You also can’t transfer Pokemon to or from Stadium anymore.

After completing the single-player modes, you have a chance to face Mewtwo and unlock Round Two, which adds new Pokemon and challenges to Stadium mode.

Pokemon Stadium spawned a direct sequel for the Nintendo 64 and then two spinoff sequels on the GameCube – Pokemon Colesseum and Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. Whether Pokemon Stadium 2 eventually makes its way to Switch Online remains to be seen, and despite persistent rumors about GameCube games eventually coming to the subscription service, Nintendo only added Game Boy and Game Boy Advance libraries earlier in 2023.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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