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| Peter Triezenberg |
It's the series' 20th anniversary, and Game Freak intends to celebrate.
01.13.16 - 9:33 PM
Attention all trainers — this year, Pokémon will be 20 years old. That's right, we've been training, battling, and trying to catch all these little buggers for 20 years now. How the time flies! Nintendo and the Pokémon Company have since announced their plans for the series' 20th anniversary, starting with some sweet 3DS bundles.
North American fans will be able to get a New 3DS bundle that comes pre-loaded with Pokémon Red and Blue, along with two faceplates based on the original box art for each Version and a Home Menu theme. It will be released on February 27th. But despair not, European fans, because remember those sweet 2DS bundles that were coming to Japan? You get those on the same day, with a translucent red, blue, or yellow 2DS and the corresponding game. These bundles feature classic packaging reminiscent of the Game Boy games, a sheet of stickers for decorating the 2DS, and a download code for a Home Menu theme.
European Pokémon fans can also nab a Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon cover plate on February 19th (when the game launches), and another featuring classic Pokémon on the 27th. There will also be special Mythical Pokémon distributions beginning in February, with one for each month until the end of the year. Keep in mind that these are for North America at the moment and some of the specific distribution details for Europe may change. They are as follows:
- February: Mew (Gamestop)
- March: Celebi (Nintendo Network)
- April: Jirachi (Nintendo Network)
- May: Darkrai (Gamestop)
- June: Manaphy (Nintendo Network)
- July: Shaymin (Nintendo Network)
- August: Arceus (Gamestop)
- September: Victini (Nintendo Network)
- October: Keldeo (Nintendo Network)
- November: Genesect (Gamestop)
- December: Meloetta (Nintendo Network)
Pokémon fans around the world are encouraged to share their memories of the series on social media, using the hashtag #Pokemon20. The original Pokémon movies are also being digitally remastered and released digitally on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon, and there's also a ton of TCG merchandise coming out around that time as well — visiting a Toys R Us on February 27th will net you a special foil Pikachu and Magikarp card from the Generations expansion.
Last, but not least, there will be a special Pokémon TV spot during the Super Bowl on February 7th that will encourage fans to "train on." I'm sure we will! What else could Nintendo and Game Freak have in store for us? Keep an eye on RPGFan to find out. Speaking of which, the Retro Encounter crew will have something of interest to Pokémon fans in the near future, so stay tuned!
