This past Monday marked the 27th anniversary of Pokémon! Also known as Pokémon Day, this anniversary celebrates the birth of a franchise beloved by fans across the globe – myself included. In the past, Pokémon Day has featured big announcements from the brand during their Pokémon Presents livestreams, and this year was no exception.
The biggest ball dropped during this Pokémon Presents was the reveal of downloadable content (DLC) coming to their recently released games, “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.” Split into two parts, the DLC titled “The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero” features players exploring two entirely new areas of the Paldea region.
The first half of this DLC, “The Teal Mask,” will be released this fall. This expanded story will feature players going on a school trip to the land of Kitakami and will focus on discovering the folklore of this land and uncovering its mysteries. Perhaps these mysteries have something to do with the Legendary Ogerpon, a fearsome-looking masked Pokémon revealed within the trailer for this DLC.
The second half, titled “The Indigo Disk,” will be released this winter. This half takes us out to sea as we visit one of our school’s sister academies that finds its home deep within the waters. Players will learn the ins and outs of Pokémon Battling, as is this academy’s specialty. “The Indigo Disk” features its own Legendary Pokémon, Terapagos, which resembles a turtle with a glittering, crystalline shell.
Over 230 Pokémon from past generations will be coming to the Paldea region in this DLC, although this is not a new concept for the series. “Pokémon Sword and Shield,” the predecessor of “Pokémon Scarlet and Violet,” introduced the concept after its release in 2019. The DLC for these two games are quite similar, in fact, with both being split into two parts featuring new, separate areas of their respective regions. The way these DLC releases differ, however, is extremely important.
“The Hidden Treasure of Paldea” DLC is slated to release almost a full year after its base game’s initial release, a huge contrast to the less than two months between the initial release “Sword and Shield” and its DLC. This is great news for Pokémon fans, who were a bit disappointed with “Scarlet and Violet” upon release, as its multitude of bugs seemed to imply the game was rushed through production.
Before the first half of the DLC is expected to drop, hopefully the development team will be able to take their time and those pesky bugs will be a concern of the past. There is no harm in rushing to buy this DLC, however, as players who pre-purchase it get access to special new outfits for their characters in-game to wear right now!
On top of the upcoming DLC, a new Tera Raid Event was announced for “Scarlet and Violet.” Tera Raids allow players to encounter Pokémon that are either not easily found within Paldea or not regularly in game at all. This Raid Event, introduces two new Paradox forms to the game, a prehistoric form of Suicune called “Walking Wake” in “Scarlet” and a futuristic form of Virizion called “Iron Leaves” in “Violet.” This Raid Event started immediately following Monday’s livestream and runs until March 12.
Surprising many Pokémon fans, the mobile sleep-tracker Pokémon Sleep was finally given an official release date during the livestream. The app was first announced on May 28, 2019 through the official Pokémon Twitter. In this announcement, the game was slated to be released sometime in 2020. Clearly, that didn’t happen.
Many thought the game had been canceled after how long it has been, but this past Monday marked Pokémon Sleep’s triumphant return and the announcement of its official release coming this summer.
Outside of game news, a new Pokémon TV series was announced for Netflix. “Pokémon Concierge” will use stop-motion animation to tell the tale of Haru, a Pokémon Resort concierge and the many Pokémon they encounter through their time working there.
As Pokémon’s 27th birthday came and passed, fans can look forward with eager eyes to the rest of the year, as there are many exciting things in store. Did any of these exciting announcements catch your eye?
cgranhol@ramapo.edu
Featured image by Care Granholm
