Big Pokémon News To Be Revealed January 8th?


Now, many may expect the start if a new year to be a quiet time with very little going on for the first week or so. Well, the world of Pokémon news doesn't agree with that, and it's looking likely that we're in for something quite interesting on the 8th of January.

After a trailer for Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 was aired in Japan recently the teaser was thrown out for news coming on the 8th, however it currently isn't clear just what aspect of Pokémon the news will be about. It could be anything, from game news to something to do with the anime, to just about anything at this point. Either way, whatever it is, it's sure to mark an interesting start to a new year for Pokémon fans.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 3DS US Release Date Confirmed


Last month Japan saw the release of the latest game in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series of games, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Mangagate & The Infinity Labyrinth. Now, for those of you living in the US the official release date and English name have been revealed. Outside of Japan the game will be going by the name of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity and will see its release on the 24th of March 2013. We don't have a release date for Europe just yet, but that's sure to follow soon.

The game is the first game in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series to be released for the Nintendo 3DS, and is the first to include Pokémon from the fifth generation. The last Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game to be released outside of Japan was Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky for the Nintendo DS near the end of 2009.

December CoroCoro Leaks: Movie 16 Details Revealed


The final issue of Japanese magazine CoroCoro for this year has leaked and brought with it some interesting details to do with the 16th Pokémon movie. First off, the title of the movie has now been confirmed as Extremespeed Genesect and as the name suggests it features Genesect as one of the leading characters (another is likely to be revealed closer to the release of the movie), but not only that, we will also get to see the shiny version of Genesect in the movie.

The shiny version of Genesect sees the Pokémon change from being purple to being a bright red. In the movie Genesect will be shown as being red when its in flight and the rest of the time the Pokémon will be the normal purple. This is only the second time a Pokémon has featured a shiny Pokémon playing one of the lead parts, the first was the 13th Pokémon movie Zoroark - Master of Illusions which featured shiny versions of Raikou, Entei and Suicune.

As always, the movie will have a Pikachu short to go alongside it. The short will be going by the name of Pikachu & Eevee Friends and as the name suggests will be featuring Pikachu and the very cute Pokémon Eevee. Extremespeed Genesect will be released in Japan on the 13th of July 2013.

CoroCoro also revealed that for owners of Pokémon Black, Pokémon White, Pokémon White 2, or Pokémon Black 2 another event giving fans the chance to get their hands on Genesect will be running throughout Pokémon Centre stores in Japan.

Edited at 23:19 to include new trailer

Official Pokédex iOS App Released In Europe And The US


Early last month it was revealed that an official Pokédex app would be released in Japan for iOS systems, at the time it wasn't clear if the app would be making it to the US and Europe, but today I'm happy to report that the app has indeed been released in Europe and the US.

The app matches the Pokédex 3D Pro released for the Nintendo 3DS system recently, expect for the fact the iOS app only includes the fifth generation of Pokémon. If fans want a complete Pokédex they'll have to buy each generation. The app can be bought for the more than fair price of £1.49, while the packs including the other generations of Pokémon can be bought for £3.99 each.

The Pokédex app is the first iOS app to be released outside of Japan.

Trailer For N Arc of Pokémon Best Wishes: 2 Revealed



Recently in Japan the Pokémon Best Wishes: 2 anime series may already have stormed ahead to the arc featuring the Unova Pokémon League, but this won't be the end of Ash's adventures in Unova. The first trailer for the next arc has been revealed, along with a few interesting details. The trailer can be seen below.




As we can see from the trailer, this arc will be centred around N and the dragon Pokémon Reshiram, but not only that, the new Team Plasma seen within the latest Pokémon games, Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2, will also be featured. Of course, we can't have Team Plasma without Ghetsis and Colress, and thus those two will also be playing lead parts. For fans old enough to remember Ash's adventures in Kanto and Johto, this arc also has a real treat for us with the return of one of Ash's most loved Pokémon, Charizard.

The first episode of this arc is due to air in Japan on the 17th of January.

Sign-Ups For The 2012 VGCS Winter Battle Tournament Now Open!


We may be drawing close to the holiday season, but that isn't to say Pokémon trainers will be taking any breaks. The latest Pokémon Global Link tournament has been announced going by the name of the 2012 VGCS Winter Battle and sign-ups for the tournament are now open until the 13th of December, with the tournament being played from the 13th until the 17th of December. As always there is a limit on the amount of players who can enter, and this time around the bar is set at 50,000 spaces, separated into a Juniors Division and Masters Division.

The rules will be the VGC13 rules which were confirmed recently. However, this tournament has somewhat of a twist to it, with Championship Points and Regionals byes at stake for the best Pokémon trainers. The tournament will be split into two different age divisions as mentioned earlier, Juniors and Masters. The fact you're only being split into two different age divisions doesn't mean that players who would normally be in the Seniors division won't earn Championship points, as they still will. The players who earn Championship Points will be the the top 128 players in North America and the top 128 players in Europe from each age division Juniors, Seniors, and Masters. While you'll only be playing in the tournament in two different divisions, the championship points still count towards all three of the normal Pokémon Video Game Championship age divisions. The Championship Points count towards you qualifying for the 2013 Pokémon World Championships in Vancouver. It's also worth noting that the top 16 players from North America will receive a first round bye at an upcoming Regional Championship event.

For the rest of us, players who sign-up and take part in 10 battles and make it onto the tournament leaderboards, players only get thrown off for disconnecting so as long as you've played ten or more battles you should still place somewhere, will receive a special berry called the Custap Berry,which is an in-game item that makes it more likely that the holder will strike first on the next turn when its HP becomes low.

If you wish to know more, our friends over at Nuggetbridge have more info and have likely done a better job at explaining all this than I have. All that's left to say is good luck, and may the best trainer win!

VGC13 Rules Revealed


The rules which will be used for the Pokémon Video Game Championships 2013 have finally been revealed through Nugget Bridge getting a heads-up before they rules go live through the official site. The rules actually aren't that different to the VGC12 rules and once again match those used for the GBU.

The only real difference between these rules and those used for VGC12 are Chatot being banned (like for the GBU), and players only being allowed to use copies of Pokémon Black 2 or Pokémon White 2 to ensure players can see the Therian formes of Landorus, Tornadus, and Thundurus and to make it a fair playing field. For those wondering, Kelde, Meloett and Genesect are all added to the ban list.

Now that we have the rules for the year, now all we need are the locations and dates of the events in Europe!

Third PWT Tournament Download Goes Live


The third and final tournament download for the Pokémon World Tournament featuring the top four players from the three different age divisions from this years Pokémon Video Game World Championships has now gone live. This tournament features the top four players from the Masters division who are as follows:

• Masters Division World Champ Ray Rizzo
  
• Masters Division Runner-up Wolfe Glick
  
• Masters Division 3rd Place Finisher Abel Martin Sanz
  
• Masters Division 4th Place Finisher Joe Pulkowski

There is currently no end date for downloading the tournament, so no need to rush. In order to download the tournament use the green computer found in the PWT building in your copy of Pokémon White 2 or Pokémon Black 2.