When And Where To Watch

It’s that time of year when The Pokémon Company pulls back the curtain on things it’s been cooking up. Pokémon Day, the anniversary of the release of the original Pokémon Red and Green, is February 27, and The Pokémon Company has announced it will be holding a Pokémon Presents livestream on YouTube at 6 a.m. Pacific / 9 a.m. Eastern that morning to celebrate and talk about future games, updates coming to ongoing ones, and maybe some forthcoming anime or merchandise, as well.

We’ll likely see the first footage of Pokémon Legends: Z-A during the presentation. The Switch game was announced at last year’s Pokémon Day Presents showcase, but we only saw a teaser and got a few sparse details about what the game will entail. Since Z-A is supposed to launch this year, this show is developer Game Freak’s opportunity to finally start the marketing campaign in earnest and show people what they can expect to play later this year. Right now we know the game takes place entirely in the metropolis of Lumiose City, which sounds like a departure from Legends: Arceus’ open zone structure that took you to multiple areas and ecosystems within the Hisui region. If you’re hoping to see the next generation of Pokémon during the stream, it’s probably best to temper your expectations, as Z-A will likely be the focus on the RPG side of things. But hey, both Legends: Arceus and Scarlet and Violet launched in the same year, so crazier things have happened.

Beyond the big RPGs, The Pokémon Company uses these presentations to provide updates on the various live-service games in its portfolio. So expect to hear about the future of the creature-catching app Pokémon Go, the MOBA Pokémon Unite, the card-collecting game Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, and the gacha game Pokémon Masters EX. We’ll also probably hear something new about the anime, whether that be the syndicated show Pokémon Horizons or the limited-run series that the company posts to YouTube. An animated short called Dragonite and the Postman is set to premiere online that day.

Pokemon had a somewhat quiet year in 2024 without a big new RPG, but that also meant it wasn’t as embroiled in controversy as it was in 2023. Well, except for that whole thing with the Game Freak leak and it ruining Typhlosion’s reputation forever.