Gotta catch ‘em all… again: Everything revealed at Pokémon Presents!

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By Theresa Raine De Guzman

Recently Pokemon held a highly anticipated Pokémon Presents and here’s all the news that has excited fans.

Set within Tokyo’s Yomiuriland in Japan, PokePark Kanto is a major step forward in bringing the world of Pokémon to life.

The park is about to  feature over 600 pokemon along with two distinct areas for visitors to explore: The Pokemon Forest and Sedge Town.

The Pokemon Forest is teaming with wild pokemon for you to find and Sedge being a social hub with attractions such as a Primarina Fountain, parades and familiar locations from the games like a Pokemon Center, Poke Mart and even Sedge Town’s very own Gym.

Unfortunately fans will have to wait a little longer for this fantastic immersion experience as the park isn’t set to open til 2026.

Animation

Pokémon has announced two stop motion animated projects, new episodes of Pokémon Concierge and Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d and Pichu.

Pokémon Concierge follows the lives of Haru, a Pokémon Concierge working in a Pokémon resort, and a whole host of guests, co-workers and Pokémon!

The show’s cozy and slice-of-life vibes were a huge hit with fans and critics alike, offering a slower pace than the usual world of battling and travelling we’re used to.

It’s even been honored at the 2024 Annie and 2024 Annecy Awards. The new episodes are set for release on September 4 only on Netflix!

Meanwhile, little is known about Pokémon Tale: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d and Pichu, other than that it’s set in the UK-based Galar region, will focus more on Pokémon than people, and will center around a Sirfetch’d and a Pichu.

Pokemon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d and Pichu is set to release sometime in 2027 and it will hopefully be as charming as the legendary studio Aardman’s other animated projects like Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit.

Pokemon Champions

Pokemon Champions looks like it’s everything competitive players have been hoping for, except for one thing.

Pokémon Champion is an upcoming title set to launch in 2026 for mobile devices, the Nintendo Switch, and the next-generation Switch 2.

The game focuses on Pokemon battling and it allows players to face off against each other in ranked matches or in private servers against friends and family.

The game lets you battle in singles and double battle formats. You can also transfer pokemon from Pokemon Home or recruit from a limited selection in game.

Meanwhile, the features that have competitive players most excited are the addition of HP bars displaying percentages instead of traditional hit points—which is a game-changer for damage calculations—and the ability to fully customize your Pokémon’s movesets, stats, and abilities.

However, one detail has players concerned: Victory Points (VP). VP are earned through ranked battles and various other game modes.

VP are required in order to recruit new Pokémon and customize the Pokémon you already have.

It is hard to say how easily you can earn VP in game so there are concerns that the game can quickly turn pay-to-win.

Pokémon Legends Z-A

Last, but not least is the latest news from Pokémon Legends Z-A, the second game in the fan favorite Pokémon Legends franchise.

New information revealed us joining Team MZ in order to protect the peace in Lumiose City.

Depending on your chosen gender, you will be partnered with either Urbaine or Taunie, along with two new companions: Lida, a wanna be professional dancer, and Naveen, an inspiring fashion designer.

We can take missions from NPCs all over Lumiose, but two stand out from the rest.

First is Emma, the city’s best detective who you might recognize from Pokémon X and Y’s post game looker missions.

Secondly we have Mable, the acting director of the Pokémon Research lab and former Team Flare member.

Speaking of evil teams it looks like Luniose has a new one: the Rust Syndicate. Not much is known aside from their boss, Corbeau using primarily poison types.

Alpha Pokémon is also shown making a return from Pokémon Legends Arceus so we can once again experience the terror of running for our lives.

Though our main mission aside from the Z-A Royale is to calm the wild Pokémon that have been randomly mysteriously mega evolving on their own and discover what is causing such a stable phenomenon.

The trailer also revealed new Mega Evolutions will be coming to the game, though all they’ve shown off so far is Mega Dragonite, which gets giant head wings and a longer tail from its pre-evolution Dragonair.

And with that we have a new theme park, new animation, and of course new games. All in all, not a bad year to be a Pokémon fan.

(Theresa Raine De Guzman is a Bachelor of Science in Interactive Entertainment and Multimedia Computing (IEMC) student at De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), specializing in Game Design and Development.)