Wednesday, August 3, 2016

The Pokemon 20th Anniversary Continues with an Arceus Event and More

The celebration of the 20th anniversary of Pokemon continues.  This month’s legendary Pokemon is Arceus, a legendary Pokemon that first showed up as a special download during the Pokemon Platinum era.

Arceus of Legend

Arceus of Legend

This month the Pokemon 20th Anniversary event requires another visit to GameStop to pick up a card with a code to claim Arceus.  I haven’t been by the store yet, but I suggest getting out early.  With previous such GameStop Pokemon card events, the cards have gone quickly, often ending up on for sale eBay.

Arceus is another legendary Pokemon I remember going to an event to collect back in 2009 as part of the war up for Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver.

Arceus is Coming!

Arceus pre-event promo, August 2009

As before, the code on the card is only good for Pokemon X & Y or Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire on the Nintendo 3DS or 3DS XL.

Upcoming download events for the rest of 2016 are:

  • September – Victini (Nintendo Network)
  • October – Keldeo (Nintendo Network)
  • November – Genesect (GameStop)
  • December – Meloetta (Nintendo Network)

Meanwhile, we are continuing to get more news about the upcoming Pokemon Sun & Moon, due out later this year.

Sun and Moon coming in November

Sun and Moon coming in November

One of the lastest tidbits is about the Pokemon players will encounter in the Alola region, the setting for Pokemon Sun & Moon, which is modeled on the Hawaiian islands.  In addition to new Pokemon, there will be “regional variants” of some traditional Pokemon.

Variations on what we know

Variations on what we know

From the site:

Pokémon Adapted to the Alola Region

Some Pokémon have adapted to the distinctive microclimates of the Alola region, taking on different forms than they have in other regions. These Pokémon are called regional variants. Taking root in the Alola region, they live like native Pokémon. Regional variant Pokémon can have different appearances and types, and their ways of living can also differ from that of the forms previously known.

I am not sure how I feel about that.  On the one hand, they did pick a few choice Pokemon to use, but on the other, it does seem a bit like a cheap copy/paste method to fill out the required minimum 150 new Pokemon that need to show up for any new region.   I suppose I should be glad of it, as there are so many Pokemon at this point (721 total in the current full National Pokedex) that I am not sure I could remember 150 more, so new flavors of old ones might be a good thing.

And, finally, the Pokemon 2016 World Championships , which combine both the trading card game and the video game versions, are coming to San Francisco, August 19-21.

Pokemon come to Baghdad by the Bay

Pokemon comes to Baghdad by the Bay

I would buy a poster-size copy of that graphic.

Living just an hour’s drive away, I may have to see if I can roust the child out of the house to go up and see what is going on.  They usually have side events or special downloads for spectators… or maybe just some Pokemon GO hunting in a new location.

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