Pokémon turns 25 today! In the midst of COVID-19, Pokémon still offers us large-scale entertainment! The 25th celebration won’t end anytime soon, as The Pokémon Company has announced a lot of things that are going to be amazing!
New Pokémon games
As announced during the recent broadcast of Pokémon Presents, Sinnoh is getting a highly anticipated remake! Shining Pearl and Brilliant Diamond will arrive in late 2021. In addition, a new Pokémon game that is also based in the Sinnoh region will arrive in late 2022.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus is coming in late 2022 and yes … it’s like a Pokémon Zelda: Breath Of The Wild game. Is it exactly what fans have dreamed of since the release of Sword and Shield? A kind of open world game for the Pokémon series, and Game Freak delivered! Add the Sinnoh treatment to the mix and you’ll have a winner! So there are two remakes – well, almost – for the price of one!
Pokémon Events
Throughout this week, Pokémon has celebrated its 25th anniversary in several different ways. For example, in Pokémon GO, we have the trio of birds in Raids plus Mewtwo, at the Special Kanto themed event that was announced on The Pokémon Company’s official website.
Also, if you have Pokémon Sword and Shield, then you can claim a Special Pikachu – yes, you can never get enough Pikachus – that knows the Sing movement. Sing is not a movement that Pikachu can learn on his own, so it is a rare collection piece for sure.
Special Pokémon P25 Music concert
The icing on the cake is coming in the form of a special Pokémon-themed show, live on the Pokémon’s Twitch channel and the official YouTube channel. At 7 pm Eastern time, both streaming platforms will broadcast Pokémon P25, a special concert with artists presenting special Pokémon themed songs to celebrate the occasion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWFbOoI93F4
One of the confirmed artists is Post Malone. You can hear Malone’s hit track I just want to be with you on Spotify, and yes, the Pokémon viibe is there, just listen carefully. Of course, the track is available on other music platforms, depending on the availability of your country.
But here’s the thing. On January 13, The Pokémon Company revealed they made a special deal with Universal Music Group, under which even more artists will participate in this year’s celebration.
Katy Perry, the popular pop artist, is one of the confirmed faces. In fact, Perry was the brain behind the P25 Concert, where Post Malone will perform live. Does this mean that Katy Perry will also appear? And who should other artists join them? We have no idea, but it’s exciting!
The Pokémon Company has officially confirmed that additional details about Perry’s participation in the P25 program will be announced throughout the year. P25 Music seems to be something that will last all year, and not just tonight. Katy Perry gave a statement to the press a few weeks ago:
“Pokémon has been a constant in my life, from playing the original video games on my GameBoy, exchanging Pokémon cards at lunchtime, to the adventures of capturing some monsters on Pokémon GO”, “I even visited Pokémon Café in Japan while I was on tour. It is a real honor to be chosen to help celebrate a franchise that has given me so much for the past 25 years, and to be able to see it evolve in ways that I have been able to share this type of electrical joy with the children in my life and for Worldwide”
With all these things announced, it looks like the P25 program could have really good entertainment value. Stay tuned!
Words of Departure
A franchise does not turn 25 every day. This year’s event is somewhat different thanks to COVID-19 and oppressive roadblocks, but still, we don’t think TPCI is interrupting us here in any way.
I’m happy to write these lines, because Pokémon is one of the franchises that I love the most – that’s why I’m here after all – and even more importantly, Pokémon GO has been a huge help on my left since it launched in 2016.
Being able to be part of a community with so many amazing people is something I am very grateful for. For me, the chance to be part of the GO Hub is sincerely wonderful, mainly because Pokémon content is everywhere!
I think it’s frankly impossible to summarize the impact that Pokémon had on us in an article, but I think something is clear: we have to thank Satoshi Tajiri for creating this world that brought us together. For another 25 years of Pokémon!