On Nov 9th, Pokémon Company International announced that Pokémon Center, its official e-commerce arm, was opening it doors to Canadian residents. Pokémon Center was previously only available within the USA, and offers a variety of merchandise from clothing to kitchenware, to plush, to home décor, to even figurines and cards. The site has also featured collaborations with Funko POP and Kotobukiya, as well as seasonal collections. “We are thrilled to bring Pokémon Center to our fans in Canada, giving them additional ways to express and celebrate their Pokémon fandom through premium merchandise,” said Cindy Ruppenthal, director of e-commerce at The Pokémon Company International. “Pokémon Center has something for every type of Trainer—whether it’s to play, collect, decorate, or wear—and we look forward to seeing even more Trainers enjoy these offerings.” In celebration of the opening of Pokémon Center for Canada, Pokémon Center customers in the US and Canada will receive a Pokémon...

The Legend of Twitch Plays Pokémon is a documentary created by Youtuber TheGamerFromMars about the untold story of the legendary Twitch series. The documentary includes actual interviews with the creator of Twitch Plays Pokémon, shining new light on the history of the streams, and what their creator had to contend with as a result of the streams taking off as they did. The full documentary can be viewed via the video embedded below.

The TikTok & Twitch influencer previously known as Pokeprincxss has been forced to completely rebrand following a cease and desist notice from Nintendo. In addition, she has also been required to halt sales of merchandise that infringed on Nintendo's Pokémon copyrights, and surrender profits from past sales of this merchandise.

Amazon’s Prime Day sales have come again in Australia, stretched over October 13th and 14th, with plenty of deals for Pokémon fans.

When the Pokémon Trading Card Game was released in 1999, the cards had little to no value. As Pokémon's popularity surged, so did card prices. Most veteran Pokémon fans can name the most popular -- and expensive -- card from the Base Set expansion: Charizard. Featuring high HP and damage counts alongside a glorious picture of the Pokémon breathing fire, Base Charizard was -- and perhaps still is -- a (if not the) Holy Grail of Pokémon collecting. Even now, the card sells for at least $80 or more. Logic, a retired rapper, Twitch streamer, and suicide prevention advocate, recently obtained a PSA Grade 10 1st Edition Base Set Charizard for $226,000, about the price of a house. This amount breaks the record for Nintendo collectibles.

Every year, parks around Japan feature holiday season light displays that they refer to as "Illuminations". One of the biggest illuminations, at Sagamiko's Pleasure Forest Theme Park, is to have an new addition this year, with the inclusion of a unique Pokémon Themed Section. The display uses the variety of landscaping at the park to feature a variety of Pokémon in their native habitats, including lakes and ponds, forests, and meadows.

On September 29, 2020, the Official Pokémon YouTube channel premiered a video showcasing various new features coming in the Crown Tundra expansion of the Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield games. As was announced earlier, the Crown Tundra, like its predecessor, the Isle of Armor, will be introducing 100 more Pokémon not in the original version into the game, including many Legendary Pokémon from previous installments (while some legendary Pokémon, such as Mewtwo, Reshiram, Zekrom, Solgaleo, and Lunala, were already coded into the game from the start, they needed to be transferred from past games in order to be available in Sword and Shield). Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are even set to receive regional variants. At the Crown Tundra, the player will meet Peony, who will place them in charge of his team as his expedition chief. In a mode called Dynamax Adventures, the player can explore caves with teams of other players using rental Pokémon to encounter and catch Legendary Pokémon...

The official Pokemon Twitter fell under scrutiny earlier this week after making a tweet regarding Porygon. This was in reference to the banned episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon", often referred to as "Electric Soldier Porygon", which notoriously caused thousands of seizures. Soon after deleting the tweet, a joke response regarding the event was put out.

The Pokémon Players Cup II online tournaments for VGC and TCG have been announced to take place from September to December 2020. There will be no Pokkén Tournament DX tournament for the Pokémon Players Cup II. Players who participate in the first qualifying events for VGC and TCG can become eligible to compete in the Region Qualifiers by earning a high enough rank at the end of the first qualifying competitions. Pokémon TCG players will need to take part in tournaments during the qualifying period on the Pokémon TCG Online application. Players must have a Pokémon Trainer Club account and Player ID by September 21 at 10:00 a.m. PDT and need to have logged in to the Pokémon TCG Online application before that date to take part. Registered players will automatically have 50 Tournaments Keys sent to their Pokémon TCG Online account before the start of the qualifier period which will run from September 28 to October 26. These Tournament Keys will be used to gain entry into a special...

After almost exactly seven years, Bulbagarden's "On the Origin of Species" has returned! In this series, I will be diving deep into the real life inspirations the concept and design of a different Pokémon or evolutionary line with each installment. Today, I wanted to start off this revival with one of the newest additions to our starter lineup, the Sobble family. I've always been fascinated by reptiles. It's a fantastically diverse group of animals, coming in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Many even change colors based on environmental factors or their life stage. The most famous example of this is of course the chameleon, which is actually an entire family of lizards scientifically known as Chamaeleonidae. Sobble and its relatives clearly take inspiration from these lizards, most closely resembling the veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus). Chameleons change their colors for a variety of reasons. Camouflage plays a role, but typically their relaxed, mottled or...

Pokémon Masters, the latest mobile game, has received some tune-ups lately. With the addition of Eggs, new Sync Pairs, and new Story Events, it was only fitting that the game's name was adjusted to reflect the additions: Pokémon Masters EX. Naturally, in this age of social media, the official Pokémon Masters EX Twitter created a hashtag in their August 25th post announcing the change. This was posted in conjunction with a poll asking followers to vote for which Sync Pair should be boosted to a Rank Six. At this point it should be noted that, while the official account started the hashtag, they did so with proper capitalization. Some fans, however, did not. And quickly took notice.

With Fall fast approaching, the first wave of the Pokémon 2020 Halloween collection is now available in the US. The Pokémon Company International has made various comfy tees and sweatshirts available for purchase, with more being added later in the season. Some of the Halloween-specific clothing is themed around Dark, Ghost, and Psychic type Pokémon. Fans of Umbreon, Espeon, and Gengar will be especially happy. However, the collection is not limited to those Pokémon as some non-spooky characters like Wooloo, Eevee, and overall favorite Pikachu are also featured. More seasonal items will be added to the collection in later waves, including Halloween-themed plushies, Haunted Pokémon Village figures, keychains, etc. The first wave of the 2020 Halloween collection is available on PokémonCenter.com.

Pokémon Masters has received a major update for its first anniversary celebration. As part of the update, the game's name has been changed to Pokémon Masters EX and DeNA have released a new 3D animated trailer. The update will include new in-game content and events. There are also new promotional Instagram and Facebook filters.

The Pokémon Company International has announced the next set coming to Pokémon TCG, Sword & Shield—Vivid Voltage. Releasing on November 13, 2020, the set will be made available in all of the forms fans have come to expect: booster packs, theme decks, Elite Trainer Boxes, and special collections. Vivid Voltage will include some highly sought after cards, including Pikachu VMAX, Orbeetle VMAX, Coalossal VMAX, and the debut of Mythical Pokémon Zarude. Additionally, Amazing Pokémon cards—a brand new card type—will be introduced in this expansion.

After they first began being installed last year, there are now a total of 100 different Pokémon manhole covers in Japan. The newest batch (seen below) are located in Serigaya Park, Machida, Tokyo, being the first of these covers to be located in the metropolitan area. Last year, Japan began installing Pokémon manhole covers as part of the Pokémon Local Arts project in an attempt to increase local tourism. Known as Poké Lid (ポケふた Poké Futa), the manholes have been installed in numerous prefectures, including Hokkaido, Iwate, Fukushima, Kagawa, and more. Manhole-spotting is a popular pastime for travelers within Japan: people enjoy checking out the different designs within the country. As more Poké Lids are installed, tourism should experience the expected increase. Curious visitors can use this site to locate the various Pokémon-themed manhole covers across Japan.

A battle-ready East Sea Gastrodon is available in Pokémon Sword and Shield until August 23 at 14:59 UTC by using the universal serial code PJCS2019CHAMP. The code works in all versions of Pokémon Sword and Sword, regardless of region or language. This Gastrodon is level 50, has the Ability Storm Drain, and holds an Expert Belt. It knows the moves Protect, Surf, Ice Beam, and Earth Power. It has a Quiet Nature. It has a fixed IVs, with 31 in HP, Defense, Special Attack, and Special Defense; 2 in Attack; and 0 in Speed. It has EVs, with 152 in HP, 94 in Defense, 252 in Special Attack, 12 in Special Defense, and 0 in every other stat. It is in a Cherish Ball and has the Battle Champion Ribbon. It is Japanese in origin, regardless of the language of the game in which it is received. Its Original Trainer is カ・エール (Ka Ēru) with the Trainer ID number 200822. The code was revealed during the livestream of the Pokémon Japan 2020 Championship Finals. This Gastrodon is based on the...

A battle-ready Porygon2 is available in Pokémon Sword and Shield until August 31 by using the universal serial code PKMNPLAYERSCUP. The code works in all versions of Pokémon Sword and Sword, regardless of region or language. This Porygon2 is level 50, has the Ability Download, and holds an Eviolite. It knows the moves Recover, Trick Room, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt. It has a Sassy Nature. It has a fixed IVs, with 31 in HP and 0 in Attack and Speed. It has 252 EVs in HP and Defense, 4 EVs in Special Defense, and 0 EVs in every other stat. The code was revealed during the live-stream of the Pokémon Player's Cup.

The Legendary Pokémon Heatran will appear in Raid Battles in Pokémon GO worldwide from August 21 to September 10, 2020. Heatran will appear in Level 5 Raid Battles. Players who successfully complete a Raid Battle with Heatran will have a chance to catch it afterwards.

Sword & Shield—Darkness Ablaze, the third major expansion in the Sword & Shield series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, was released on August 14, 2020. It is now available at participating retailers around the world. Sword & Shield—Darkness Ablaze features the debuts of the Legendary Pokémon Eternatus in its Eternamax form. Additionally, Gigantamax Charizard, Grimmsnarl, Butterfree, and Centiskorch also appear as Pokémon VMAX. The full expansion includes: 7 Pokémon VMAX 14 Pokémon V and 9 full-art Pokémon V 17 Trainer cards and 4 full-art Supporter cards 4 new Special Energy Cards

The Pokémon Center Hiroshima was temporary closed due to an employee testing positive for COVID-19. The store closed on August 15 and reopened on August 18, 2020 after it had been cleaned. The store will resume business as normal, albeit with health and safety precautions being taken. On August 12, a Pokémon Center Hiroshima employee began feeling unwell. On August 15, they received a positive result for a COVID-19 test. As a result, the Pokémon Center Hiroshima was temporarily closed at the guidance of health professionals, to disinfect the store. Furthermore, 27 other employees underwent testing—all tested negative, but two employees who had close contact with the employee who tested positive will undergo a two-week self-quarantine regardless. Due to the closure, a TCG Shield Battle tournament scheduled for August 16 was cancelled. This was part of the Charizard HR Contest, an ongoing campaign distributing a limited quantity of Hyper Rare Charizard VMax promotional cards. On...