New information about Pokémon Sleep will be announced every day this week, alongside the first half of the First Anniversary Fest event. Today's announcement was a preview of a new update that will be released sometime in early August, bringing the first changes since February's 1.3.0 update to max levels for Research ranks, as well as Pokémon, main skills, and recipe levels. Alongside this announcement, a selection of First Anniversary Bundles have now also been released.

The Australian speedrunning community will be coming together for the 2024 edition of the Australian Speedrun Marathon (ASM) event, which is being held live out of the Adelaide Rockford Hotel between July 16th and 21st. Among the runs in the event will be an Any% race of both Generation III remake games, pitting Omega Ruby against Alpha Sapphire. The event can be watched from the AusSpeeruns Twitch channel.

New information about Pokémon Sleep will be announced every day this week, alongside the first half of the First Anniversary Fest event. Today's announcement was the reveal of the new Ultra Biscuit item. This new biscuit makes Pokémon much more friendly to Sleep Researchers, increasing their friendship points by 5, or by as much as 15 if the Pokémon is hungry.

Avery & Slowking make their Pokémon Masters debut today in a limited-time Poké Fair Scout, running alongside the continuing Isle Disciples, Arena Tycoon Story Event. This scout is available in-game now, and will run through to August 6th at 10:59pm (PDT). As normal for Poké Fair Scouts, 5★ sync pairs have a 10% chance of appearing in this scout.

The American footwear brand Crocs is expanding their collaboration with the Pokémon brand this year, previewing four new Gen I designs coming sometime in 2024, though no specific date has been given. Following the Pikachu design from earlier this year, Jigglypuff, Charizard, Gengar, and Snorlax will each feature on Crocs’ Classic Clog, with the Pokémon’s colors in a swirled design on the upper and a monochrome sole.

Did you know that the events of this week's episode were foreshadowed all the way back in Episode 21? I like how they added in continuity from a very obscure piece of dialogue, which shows how detail oriented Pokémon Horizons can be.

From July 27th onwards, the Pokémon Center official storefront in Japan will offer seven new plush toys as part of their 'Comfy Cuddlers' line. The Comfy Cuddlers collection debuted in July of 2022 in Japan, and consists of mini 'pocket plushes'—versatile toys than can serve as side-by-side collection displayables, desk toys, or as the name suggests, cuddling. Each Comfy Cuddlers plush is hand-washable, and features a soft, easy-to-clean design.

Pokémon Centers in Japan are adding some new sleepy plushes to their lineup inspired by the first anniversary of Pokémon Sleep. The app’s mascot Snorlax will feature as a plushie with Pikachu asleep on its belly for ¥6,930 ($43.90 USD), and the sleeping Gengar, Eevee, and Larvitar plushies come in at ¥3,520 ($22.30 USD) each. These four will be available at Pokémon Centers across Japan beginning July 20th, and at the Pokémon Center Online beginning July 18th.

A press release from The Pokémon Company International earlier today has announced a collection of Pokémon activities, displays, and distributions that will be taking place at the upcoming Comic-Con International 2024, which is being held later this month from July 25th-28th, with a special preview night being held on July 24th. These include an interactive booth where attendees can learn more about Pokémon Horizons: The Series, and a special early distribution of Roy's Fuecoco for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. A variety of other Pokémon-related activities and attractions, including TCG tournaments, will also be running during this event.

Gelato Pique, the Japanese loungewear retailer that launched their first Pokémon Sleep collection shortly after the app’s launch last year, is back with a second round of cozy apparel in an even larger collab. The new 43-piece collection features men’s, women’s, kids’, and infant apparel, plus accessories and bedding. It will be available at Gelato Pique, MASH, and Usagi stores across Japan on July 26th, as well at Gelato Pique, MASH, and Usagi’s websites, and Gelato Pique’s US website.

The second chapter of Pokémon Adventures’s Scarlet & Violet arc is a charming setup to the story to come. While it may not have as much energy and excitement as the first one, it gives us a lot to think about for the future of the arc. Many characters and their dynamics are explored a bit deeper, giving us some insight into how they will grow with the series itself.

The Pokémon Company is showing off lots of new merch coming to Pokémon Centers in Japan over the coming weeks, with the largest collection being the new “Secrets of Might,” which stars Palafin in its Hero Form. The new collection is styled after American comic books and features Lokix, Boltund, Kingambit, and more Pokémon in action-packed poses. “Secrets of Might” will arrive at Japanese Pokémon Centers on July 20th and at the Pokémon Center Online on July 18th.

As previewed earlier this week, Klara, the minor division Gym Leader from Galar, is making their Pokémon Masters EX debut today alongside the new Isle Disciples, Arena Tycoon Story Event. The game's app logo has also received a Klara and Avery themed makeover.

Today's updates on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese homepage and YouTube channel have revealed most of the remaining new cards from the upcoming Stellar Miracle expansion for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which will be released in Japan at the end of next week on July 19th. Cards from Stellar Miracle will be released internationally on September 13th as part of the Stellar Crown expansion.

July 10th marked the start of reservations for the 2024 Worlds Pokémon Center Pop Up Store this August 14th to 18th in Honolulu, Hawaii. The announcement was made via Play Pokemon's social media channels, where they shared that those who register may have "the opportunity to purchase exclusive merchandise" at the 2024 Pokémon World Championships, which will kick off on August 16th and end on August 18th. However upon the website's release, many users reported that they were unable to register, or that they had to continually refresh the page in order to secure a reservation.

The Pokémon Company International have announced that the latest batch of Pokémon Horizons: The Series episodes will make their debut in the United States on August 9th, exclusively on Netflix.

Today's livestream on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese YouTube channel has revealed the SR version of the Briar Supporter card, which will be released in Japan at the end of next week on July 19th as part of the Stellar Miracle expansion for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Cards from Stellar Miracle will be released internationally on September 13th as part of the Stellar Crown expansion.

A special trailer posted to Pokémon Masters EX's official social media accounts today has revealed that Klara and Avery, the minor division Gym Leaders from Galar, and Greta, the Frontier Brain and leader of the Battle Frontier's Battle Arena, will each be making their Pasio debuts in separate Poké Fair Scouts commencing over the next 5 days. Welcome Klara, Avery, and Greta Sweepstakes have also been launched on the official English and Japanese language accounts on X.

As previewed late last week, Pokémon Sleep is celebrating its first anniversary on Saturday July 20th with a special two-week long First Anniversary Fest event commencing Monday July 15th, at 4:00am local time, running through until Monday July 29th at 3:59am local time. Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly, along with their evolutions, will all be making their Pokémon Sleep debuts as part of this event. The game's developers have also stated that they will be making additional announcements about Pokémon Sleep every day during the first week of this event.

A limited-time event featuring Audino has gone live in-game today in Pokémon Café ReMix, July 10th. Audino's Cooking Drills is a points event, where players can earn rewards by completing any puzzles and collecting points. This event will be available only for a very short time, until July 12th, at 10:59pm (PDT).