The Pokémon 2019 Press Conference had some big reveals for both mobile and console Pokémon titles.
The Pokémon 2019 Press Conference happened on fairly short notice, but it showed off a lot of new content and even a few new titles during the 30-minute show.
Heading into the conference, the only thing fans knew about was that in previous years, The Pokémon Company and its partners had revealed titles like Pokémon GO and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! at the conference. This year, they focused mostly on new events, games, and a few new projects coming out in the future.
Pokémon Masters
A brand new mobile title developed in partnership with DeNA coming out later this year, Pokémon Masters will let players interact and battle with legendary characters and trainers from the main series Pokémon games.
The announcement video showed off the player talking with Blue, Cynthia, Misty, and other prominent trainers from different games. It seems to focus on short animated scenes with those characters and a brand new, three-on-three battle system created for this game.
Players will team up with two other characters to take on another team of three trainers, each having the ability to use items or have their Pokémon use an attack. This game is being optimized for smartphones, meaning players will likely be able to play everything with one hand.
Pokémon HOME
Arguably the biggest news out of this entire event, Pokémon HOME is going to replace Pokémon Bank as the cloud storage service that allows players to transfer Pokémon between their games and systems.
This new app will be available on mobile devices, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch and will allow players to store Pokémon from all of the 3DS Pokémon titles, Pokémon GO, and any compatible title that comes out on Switch. Players will be able to transfer their Pokémon between games as long as they are compatible versions and can also trade with friends from around the world by using the mobile app, without putting those Pokémon onto a game.
Pokémon HOME is expected to launch in early 2020 across all of the platforms mentioned above, with more features likely set to be revealed in the future.
Detective Pikachu Sequel
With both a successful game and a major hit in the worldwide box office, it isn’t a surprise that a sequel to the Detective Pikachu game on 3DS is getting a sequel on Switch.
Especially since the original title ended on a To Be Continued screen with the main plot point of the entire game remaining unsolved, a follow-up was almost guaranteed even before the movie did so well. Now it will likely have a bigger budget and is being made for a more powerful system, which could truly make this sequel something special.
It doesn’t have a set release date yet, but it will probably release sometime in 2020 since there are no console Pokémon set to come out during that time yet.
Pokémon Sleep
Another out of the blue announcement, Pokémon Sleep is an app that will track player’s sleeping patterns and use that data to effect gameplay.
Select Button is developing the game, the same team that developed Pokémon: Magikarp Jump, another, a completely different mobile title that saw massive success.
Tying into this announcement, the conference also revealed the Pokémon Go Plus +, a device that works as an accelerometer and will track a player’s sleeping habits, such as when they fall asleep, how long they are asleep, and when they wakeup. This accessory will also share the same functionality of the Pokémon Go Plus, meaning players can use it with both Pokémon Sleep and Pokémon GO.
Noth much of the actual game was shown during the conference, but both products are slated for a 2020 release which means they will likely show of a lot more in the months to come.
Snorlax event for Pokémon GO
After talking about the importance of sleep and announcing Pokémon Sleep, there was a little bit of news about Pokémon GO involving a certain sleep loving creature.
For a limited time, players can find Snorlax more commonly in Pokémon GO and will be able to interact with them as they are sleeping. These Snorlax will be asleep during the battle but will wake up once they are captured. They will also know an exclusive move for this event, Yawn, which will put the opposing Pokémon to sleep when used.
Players can also take pictures with a sleeping Snorlax, and the developers are encouraging players to do it before the event ends because this will be their only chance. The event will run until June 3 at 1pm PT so get to catching.
Pokémon Quest in China
The Pokémon Company and its partners continue to push for a stronger presence in China, not only by broadcasting the conference in Chinese along with English and Japanese but also by enhancing Pokémon Quest for the Chinese release.
It was announced in May that NetEase, one of the biggest developers in the world, would be publishing the game in China, but in that time, more than 1.7 million people have pre-registered for download. Those players will get access to the standard game plus a new PvP mode and social features that will let players interact with each other inside of the app, which is great since China has limited options for things like that outside of in-game features.
This will be the first Pokémon mobile game release in China, which will likely open the floodgates for more titles in the future.
Pokémon Center and Shirts
The last bits of news involves Pokémon merchandise and the expansion of the Pokémon Center line of stores.
A new Pokémon Center will be opening up in the new Shibuya Parco shopping center in the Shibuya area of Tokyo. These stores focus on selling almost exclusively Pokémon merchandise, and this new building will feature a prominent display of Mewtwo in the center of the store, which makes sense considering its popularity and big involvement in two Pokémon movies this year.
On top of this, Pokémon Shirts, a service that provides made-to-order designed shirts themed after the original 151 Pokémon will be expanding production to reach both the United States and Europe shortly. It was previously exclusive only to Japan.
Most of what was announced will be available later this year or in 2020, which means fans won’t have to wait long for something that excites them.
