A new version of Pokémon Masters EX, version 2.37.0, is now available to download. Together with this update, the monthly message from the producers of Pokémon Masters EX has revealed details on the new Skill Gear, and on Akari and Rei, the protagonists of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, who after having first been teased earlier today will make their Sync Pair debuts later this week together with a brand new story event, Together in an Unknown Land. A new Egg Event focused on Normal- and Fairy-type Pokémon is also launching in-game today.

Updates to the official Pokémon website and social media channels have revealed that Pokémon Scarlet and Violet will be receiving new retail releases worldwide from November 3rd, bundling the original game together with The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC.

The Pokémon Company revealed earlier this month that its newest Pokémon Center will be coming to Taipei, Taiwan, the first in the country. The grand opening event in December is expected to include special events and commemorative products for sale to celebrate the new store. The exact location of the new Pokémon Center has now been revealed, along with its unique logo. The new store will be located on the third floor of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, a department store in the Xinyi District of Taipei. Pikachu and Dragonite serve as Pokémon Center Taipei’s mascots, making Dragonite the first Pseudo-legendary to hold the honor.

Millennium Print Group, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company International (TCPi), confirmed on Monday, September 25th that 800 temporary positions have been cut at their facility in Morrisville, North Carolina. This facility, which specializes in printing trading cards and associated materials, has been printing Pokémon cards for distribution worldwide (besides in Japan and Portugal), since partnering with TCPi in 2015. Millennium Print Group was then acquired by TCPi in April of last year for an undisclosed amount of money, with the intention to scale the company to become a larger trading card printer with a higher output capacity. An unnamed spokesperson for The Pokémon Company International assured local media outlets that there are no plans to include full-time workers in the layoffs.

After accidentally spilling the beans with the announced PokéStop Showcases in the recent October Content Update, Niantic has officially confirmed that the Muscular Pokémon, Timburr will be the featured Pokémon for Pokémon GO's Community Day for October 2023. During this event, Timburr will be appearing more frequently in the wild, together with its Shiny variant. The event will be held on October 15th, from 2:00pm to 5:00pm local time.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) reported over the weekend that they have seized 1,465 products from a single traveler arriving from Thailand to the Perth International Airport, over concerns the products breach intellectual property rights laws. ABF officers conducted a baggage search after the traveler declared they were carrying commercial products. The holders of the intellectual property rights (namely, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company International) are being consulted by the ABF to investigate the items’ authenticity, and as of yet, no charges have been filed.

A range of information on upcoming events in Pokémon UNITE in October has been revealed via an update to the Japanese official website, including the release date of Mimikyu, who was first revealed as an upcoming playable Pokémon during the closing ceremony of the Pokémon World Championships in August, and the game's next in-game tournament. This week, Blaziken, who was revealed in that same announcement, has joined the fray as an All-Rounder, while Mewtwo has also received a new Pokébuki Style Holowear.

Pokémon Sleep will enter a maintenance period tomorrow on September 26th, from 1:00am (UTC), ahead of a planned update of the software to Version 1.0.9. This maintenance period is expected to last for roughly 4 and a half hours, until 5:30am (UTC). The Version 1.0.9 update implements several quality of life changes for app users on both Android and iOS devices, as well as resolving several minor gameplay bugs.

First announced in an update to the official Scarlet & Violet website following the August 8th Pokémon Presents video presentation, Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet's first Mass Outbreak Event featuring Clefairy will commence on September 29th at 00:00 (UTC) / September 28th at 17:00 (PDT), running through to October 1st at 23:59 (UTC) / 16:59 (PDT).

The next Online Competition for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet has been announced. Registration for the Kitakami Prologue will open on October 2nd, at Midnight (UTC), with the competition itself scheduled to run from October 6th, at Midnight (UTC), running through ton October 8th, at 11:59pm (UTC).

A few days ago, Niantic announced details on upcoming events and activities in Pokémon GO across October, with an infographic posted to their social media accounts. The infographic includes a variety of events between now and the beginning of November, including several events which have not yet been fully announced.

Sygna Suit Serena & Zygarde are returning to Pokémon Masters EX today in a special Master Fair Scout alongside the usual collection of regular events and presents on offer in Pokémon Masters EX for the Pokémon Masters Day monthly celebrations. All players who log in today will receive a special present of 500 gems from Pikachu, and have the opportunity to take advantage of special events and co-op battles. As always, several Sync Pairs are also receiving upgrades alongside this monthly event.

I realise that so far in this series it probably seems as though I dislike Scarlet and Violet, and that, in general, I have nothing positive to say about those games. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. While I am dubious of the insane release schedule for new Pokémon games, and the subsequent detriment that was caused due to the overambitious goal of creating the first fully open world Pokémon game, there are many redeeming qualities about the games themselves. Let’s start with the basics. I really love a lot of the characters introduced in these games. Standout characters for me are Nemona, Arven, Clavell, Hassel, and Larry, but there are plenty of other characters that I love as well. I could probably write an entire article for each character, just gushing about how much I like them, but I’ll settle for just doing a single article on them all together and just hit the highlights.

Pokémon Horizons has been great so far, but if I were name one glaring flaw for this series, it would be that scenes that should be considered important are shoved onto off-screen land. Frustrations aside, the rest of this episode was rather straightforward, but I liked it. Liko deduces that Galarian Moltres’s emotions are out of control as Hatenna was crying when it roared, and they manage to come up with a plan to calm it down.

The dates for Pokémon Sleep's second ever Good Sleep Day event have now been confirmed. The event will run from Thursday September 28th through to Saturday September 30th. These events are planned to be held in Pokémon Sleep once every lunar month, starting the day before the full moon, and ending the day after. Though no official confirmation has yet been given, it is presumed that this Good Sleep Day event will follow the exact same format as the previous event.

Rivals return this week in Pokémon Masters EX, with a rerun of the Revel in Rivalry Story Event, together with a Poké Fair scout featuring Bede, the focal character of this event. Also launching today is a new Flying-Type Gear event. These events and scout will all run through until October 5th, at 10:59pm (PDT).

Pre-orders for the upcoming Pokémon Trading Card Game Classic, first revealed during the Pokémon Day presentation in February this year, were shadow dropped earlier on the U.S. and Canadian Pokémon Center Online stores. While these pre-orders were rapidly sold out, eager fans can still get their hands on the set at participating retailers from November 17th, with sets retailing for an MSRP of $399.99 USD. Also revealed today were the new cards that will see their first release together with this classic set, including Lugia ex, Ho-Oh ex, and Suicune ex, as well as a Mr. Mime card that had previously only been available as part of the so-called Vending Machine Series in Japan in 1998.

The Pokémon Company’s collaborative project with the airline industry, Pokémon Air Adventures (called Flying Pikachu Project in Japan), has been thinking up themed jets, in-game events, and exclusive merchandise since 2021. The newest addition to the project, the “Pokémon Welcome Wall,” will greet international travelers arriving at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. Passengers arriving on international flights to Terminal 2 of the airport will be welcomed in English and Japanese by the three Kanto starters, Pikachu, and Mew.

Niantic has announced details regarding the next Pokémon GO Hatch Day, which features the Polka Dot Pokémon, Azurill. During this event, which will be held on September 30th, from 2:00pm to 5:00pm local time, Azurill will hatch more frequently from 2 km eggs, and Trainers will have an increased chance of hatching Shiny Azurill.

Niantic has announced details regarding the upcoming Out to Play event, coming to Pokémon GO from September 27th, at 10:00am to Monday, October 2nd, at 8:00pm local time. Shiny Hisuian Growlithe will be making its Pokémon GO debut as part of this event.