30 Years of Pocket Monsters
Pokémon has been celebrating 30 years with numerous events and releases across the franchise and in person. Here’s a look at many of the exciting activities and celebrations during this period!
In the realm of Pokémon games, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen re-released for Nintendo Switch, Pokémon GO added the What’s Your Favorite? feature to GO Snapshot, Pokémon Masters EX ran a "Run-Up to Double Anniversary" series of events, and TCG Pocket ran a "30 Days of Gifts" event, among many other fun updates and additions across various games to celebrate the milestone.
Manga
The short manga series My 30 Years with Ampharos was released via the @poke_times Twitter account as a countdown to Pokémon Day and the twelfth Pokémon Presents. The manga told a tale of a Trainer and her Ampharos.
TCG
The TCG released the Pokémon Day 2026 Collection, which included a stamped Pikachu promotional card from the Temporal Forces set, three booster packs, and a metallic coin.
Merch
A multitude of merchandise was released in celebration of the anniversary, including the Pokémon 30th Anniversary Collection by Uniqlo, the first LEGO Pokémon sets, new figures for the Pokémon Kids toyline by Bandai - which also celebrated its 30th anniversary, various merchandise by Takara Tomy, themed plush and figures by Jazwares, and a collection of TCG-inspired boards by Santa Cruz Skateboards.
PokémonCenter.com also released its own merchandise collection in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as a TCG-focused merch titled "Opening Movie" based on the battle between Gengar and Nidorino from the opening of Pokémon Red and Green. A 30th Anniversary Pikachu plush and keychain has also been announced, including a monochrome version based on its original Red and Green sprite, and a brand new merchandise collection titled Pokémon Timeless Adventure was announced as well (perhaps YOU could create the page for this one!).
Two songs from the Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku Project VOLTAGE collaboration have been released for the anniversary, with "Departure Song" celebrating the core series games and their mascot Pokémon and "Spiral Melodies" featuring a Relic Song-inspired tune alongside Meloetta.
The Game Boy Jukebox, a music player themed after a Game Boy, was also released featuring 45 cartridges containing songs from the Pokémon Red and Blue soundtrack.
The Shinjuku Station display in Tokyo, Japan featured variants of the 30th anniversary logo depicting every Pokémon in order from Generation I to Generation IX, alongside background music from the featured generation on the screens. These logos were also released as part of a campaign via the @poke_times Twitter account, and were later uploaded on the official website. We’ve catalogued these logos on the Bulbagarden Archives here!
Other real-world events included Play! Pokémon hosting TCG Pokémon League locations, the Tokyo Luminous Night lightshow, the Nippon Professional Baseball collaboration, the All Nippon Airways collaboration, and the Pokémon 30th Anniversary Drone Show. A special edition of TIME magazine also released, and various promotional videos, commercials, and other media was also posted online, including the highly anticipated Pokémon Presents that aired on Pokémon Day, which ended with the reveal of Pokémon Winds and Waves.
Bulbagarden
Here at Bulbapedia, we celebrated the 30th anniversary with a cheeky main page design by Rustle harkening back to the 1990s Internet, including a message as if the wiki was first created in 1996, written by Landfish7 and Storm Aurora. We hope you liked it, especially if you’ve been a fan of the series since the beginning!
Special thanks
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the Pokémon 30th Anniversary page and related content - an event as big as this definitely benefitted from all the help available, so we truly appreciate everyone coming together to catalogue the many announcements, reveals, updates, and additions to the franchise, including all those we weren’t able to include in this overview. Here’s to 30 more years!
Main article: Pokémon Winds and Waves
The twelfth Pokémon Presents has rang in the tenth generation of Pokémon with the announcement of Pokémon Winds and Waves. The trailer revealed the first partner Pokémon of this as-of-yet unnamed new region, meet Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua! Additionally, we’ll encounter two special Pikachu named Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu on our journey - I wonder what surprises they’ll bring?
We'd like to share our appreciation to the many editors that, fast as the wind, have already added the first wave of information for these games: thank you to Buddy002, Chaogotchi, Crummymummy, DarkMatterMan4500, Ensoleillee, Gboy10, GeneralVarbronx, Hewer, HeroponSuperT2, MegumiMakoto, Paintspotinfez, Pikcahu, Serpi, Shinka, SquirtingSquirtle, SylveonFan700, Toucannon733, Vienna Waltz, WOLKsite, Abcboy, anzasquiddles, C.Ezra.M, Coffee, Frozen Fennec, and SuperPikaPool13, and several more. Great work everyone!
Main article: Pokémon Pokopia
The release of Pokémon Pokopia is upon us! We’re already fast at work building up everything there is to know about the mysterious world that will soon become your very own lush paradise and town. There’s also plenty of new faces to meet, such as the mysterious new Stereo Form of Rotom named DJ Rotom, and the chef Greedent known as Chef Dente - we give our thanks to SuperPikaPool13 for creating their pages, and anzasquiddles and RotomAmiti for adding details about their names in English and across languages!
All hands on deck! If you own Pokémon Pokopia and are interested in helping complete our content for this new release, feel free to make an account and add details you discover during your journey, or hop in to the Bulbagarden Discord server and help plan our content additions in the dedicated Pokopia editing channel. See you there :)
Main article: Paldean Wonders (TCG Pocket)
TCG Pocket's latest themed booster pack, Paldean Wonders, is all about - you guessed it - Pokémon from the Paldea region! This set introduces 93 regular cards featuring Pokémon from the Paldea region. As usual, our tremendous volunteer editors have been hard at work documenting everything, from the expansion card list and theme decks, to the new drop and emblem events for the expansion. Big thanks to Cipher, NaMroz, Apopheniac, SuperPikaPool13, Nescientist, HeroponSuperT2, and everyone else who helped cover content from this and previous expansions. Wonderful job!
You can keep up to date on all of your TCG Pocket needs via our very own Pocket Portal, powered by our TCG Pocket team.
More additions set the tone
Like in Pokopia, the world of Mystery Dungeon showed us what Pokémon might be saying if they spoke our language, as well as the varied personalities they might have. But with hundreds of Pokémon, how was this accomplished? While Red and Blue Rescue Team had a few lines for each species, Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky (as well as the WiiWare games) took it a step further with the "tone" system. Each Pokémon has a personality type assigned to it, depending not just on species, but also on form and gender. Pokémon important to the main story also have unique personalities. Read more about it in the new List of Pokémon by tone article, thanks to research by Eridanus and writing by RRad!
Previously, we covered all of the skills in Pokémon Picross in a single dedicated page. 252 Pokémon (plus forms and Megas) were represented, but that page was the only place to see it! Now, thanks to Picross pro Boblers, this info is also available on the species pages for all 252 of those Pokémon! So the next time you look for info on spin-offs like Ranger, Battle Trozei, or Shuffle, there might also be a pixel-perfect Picross portrait there to greet you~
Fans of POKÉTOON may appreciate the new pages by Shinka related to the animated shorts Bonding with Kangaskhan and Another Day with Gardevoir. Check out the page on Karimna, her Kangaskhan, and Yurado, the page for the Butterscotch Cup competition, as well as the page for Yugo. Thanks for filling out these pages so readers can find out all there is to know about the wonderful world of POKÉTOON!
And hey, while you're here, check out the short Another Day with Gardevoir below.
Pokémon had a brief string of Pinball games from 1999-2003, with the last one releasing all the way back on the Game Boy Advance. But now, 23 years later, Pokémon Pinball returns as an actual physical pinball machine! Made by Stern Pinball, the table features 182 catchable Pokémon (with more to come in updates!), battles against Gym Leaders and rivals, a multiball challenge against the Team Rocket trio, and a final battle against Giovanni. This is a long journey, so it also has a save-and-load system using QR codes. To add to the atmosphere, the table has a screen showing clips from Ash's adventures in Pokémon the Series, speakers that play the Pokémon Theme, and new voice lines from the announcer (Ted Lewis reprising his role!), Pikachu, and Giovanni. If you're able to break open the penny bank, it’s $6000 USD for the base version, or up to $13,000 USD for versions with upgraded hardware. Best bring that Amulet Coin to your next Pay Day… Thanks to Pinball pro CrownMyFries for writing this article!
I'm sure most of you are familiar with those devious warp panels that villainous teams love to use in their secret hideouts. Clever Trainers are able to outwit those labyrinths, but let's say you wanted to relive that experience with a little more spice: shuffle the warp tiles around occasionally, and compete against 3 other players to see who can defeat the hideout's villain first - that's what the board game 3D Expanding Adventure Series: Silph Co. Game is all about! Sporting a 3D game board with 3 floors, players need to battle random encounters, each other, and finally Giovanni at the summit of Silph Co. to secure victory. Board game buff CrownMyFries wrote this article as well - nice!
Bulletin Board highlights
Each issue we show our appreciation to those who contribute to the community Bulletin Board. We have two contributions to feature today!
- Dougbro1 completed the table in the new Pokémon Local Acts article listing out the various prefectures of Japan promoted by the initiative, the dates they were each promoted, as well as the ambassadorial Pokémon for each and how they are connected to them. Thanks Dougbro1 for helping bring this article one step closer to completion!
- We’re also thanking Misaxx99 for uploading an image of the move Flash being used in a dark cave in Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! Good job illuminating this mechanic’s appearance in those games, Misaxx99.
The Bulbapedia team is able to bring this special edition thanks to the contributions of our dedicated community volunteers. We're always welcoming new editors as we continue to expand and enhance our shared knowledge of the Pokémon franchise. If you'd like to help out, check out our guide on getting started, or come chat with us on the Bulbagarden Discord server. We look forward to seeing you!
- Sources
- Special thanks to @Boblers and @SuperPikaPool13 for helping write parts of this article.
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