LONDON — 22 July 2025 — Today, The Pokémon Company group hosted a special Pokémon Presents streamed online to fans around the world. The video presentation featured new announcements and reveals from across the globally popular entertainment franchise. Highlights include new details for the upcoming video games Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Pokémon Champions; the launch of Pokémon Friends; a teaser for ‘Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu,’ the highly anticipated collaboration between The Pokémon Company International and Aardman; and more.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A
New details have been announced for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, launching 16 October 2025 on Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch.
Explore Lumiose City
During the day, Trainers can explore the vibrant city and find Pokémon in wild zones, where they may encounter strong wild Pokémon known as alpha Pokémon. These Pokémon are larger than their regular counterparts, have glowing red eyes, and are particularly powerful and difficult to catch.
At night, players can also compete in the Z-A Royale and aim to climb the ranks, with battles against even more powerful Trainers awaiting as the player advances. One of those Trainers the player will face in a promotion match is Corbeau, the boss of an organisation operating in Lumiose City called the Rust Syndicate.
All kinds of encounters await the player in Lumiose City. Emma is a detective who asks the player to track down missing Pokémon, locate missing items, and occasionally take part in Pokémon battles. Trainers can also assist Mable, the acting director of the Pokémon Research Lab, who analyses Pokémon habits and the reasons behind their growing populations. In return, players can receive TMs and other rewards for their help.
Team MZ
Upon arriving in Lumiose City, players will be invited by either Urbain or Taunie to join Team MZ, a crew dedicated to keeping Lumiose City a peaceful place. In addition to Urbain or Taunie, Team MZ includes Naveen, an up-and-coming fashion designer partnered with Scraggy, and Lida, an aspiring professional dancer who battles alongside her partner Staryu.
Rogue Mega Evolution
A strange phenomenon is happening in Lumiose City—some wild Pokémon are Mega Evolving on their own and going on rampages. Quasartico Inc., the corporation driving Lumiose City’s redevelopment, will task the player and the rest of Team MZ to investigate these strange occurrences. Together, they will battle and calm a variety of Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon. Trainers who succeed will obtain Mega Stones as rewards.
Newly Discovered Mega-Evolved Pokémon
Mega Dragonite is a newly discovered Mega-Evolved Pokémon with distinctive Dragonair-like features, including wings on its head and a pearl on its tail. Mega Dragonite can also fly faster and farther than ever before.
Please visit the official Pokémon Legends: Z-A website for more information.
New Details Revealed for Pokémon Champions, Coming 2026
In Pokémon Champions, Trainers can recruit Pokémon to join their teams and battle other Trainers. Trial Recruitment allows Pokémon to join the player’s team for a limited time—letting them try out a Pokémon in battle straight away and test strategies[1]. Permanent Recruitment uses Victory Points (VP)—which are gained from various methods such as Ranked Battles—to add Pokémon to the player’s team permanently. Players can also use VP to train Pokémon according to their own preferences, including altering their stats and Abilities.[2]
There are three different battle modes available in Pokémon Champions, which can be played in both Single Battle and Double Battle formats.
- Ranked Battles: Players can test their skills against other Trainers from all over the world. Trainers are divided into tiers based on their skill level.
- Casual Battles: Trainers can test how their teams perform against Pokémon Trainers from around the world in a relaxed environment.
- Private Battles: Players can battle against friends or family in the same in-game room.
Teaser of ‘Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu’
Pokémon and Aardman have partnered to create a new stop-motion animated series coming in 2027—a series that offers a unique look into the Pokémon world with the signature Aardman sense of character, comedy and craft. A new teaser for the highly anticipated series can be seen on the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
Pokémon Friends, a New Puzzle Game, Available Today
Available today on Nintendo Switch (also compatible with Nintendo Switch 2) and iOS and Android devices, Pokémon Friends is a puzzle game where Trainers can enjoy untangling their minds by solving brainteasers that draw inspiration from the unique world of Pokémon. Players solve puzzles to earn yarn, which can be put into the Plush-O-Matic to create Pokémon plush in the game. The plush-loving residents of Think Town will ask for help via friend quests, and the player can help them out by bringing them plush. Plush toys can also be used to decorate the player’s customisable in-game plush rooms—with options to rearrange furniture and wallpaper to switch up each room’s look and feel.
Developed in collaboration with Wonderfy Inc., Pokémon Friends features over 1,200 puzzles that were designed to bring out the fun in critical thinking. Trainers can also complete friend quests, track daily progress with stamps in their calendar, and collect up to 150 different plush.[3] With up to five separate save files, the game encourages daily play for the whole family to enjoy the fun together. For more information, check the official Pokémon Friends website.
New Cards Coming to the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG): Mega Evolution Expansion
In anticipation of the 26 September 2025 launch of the Mega Evolution expansion for the bestselling Pokémon TCG, The Pokémon Company group offered a look at more new cards that players can look forward to playing with and collecting, including Mega Lucario ex, Mega Kangaskhan ex, and Mega Gardevoir ex. In addition, the Mega Evolution expansion includes cards featuring Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Mega Venusaur ex that reveal a larger image when connected.
Promo Cards and Prizes for Pokémon World Championships Participants
Trainers from around the world will battle across various Pokémon titles at the 2025 Pokémon World Championships from 15 to 17 August in Anaheim, California. Following the previous announcement of the Worlds celebratory Pikachu card, artwork for the Paradise Resort promo card—given to those competing in the World Championships (while supplies last)—was revealed during the Pokémon Presents. For more information, please visit the official 2025 Pokémon World Championships website.
New experiences and updates were also announced for additional Pokémon titles, including the Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet video games, Pokémon GO, Pokémon Sleep, Pokémon UNITE, Pokémon Masters EX, Pokémon Café ReMix, and ‘Pokémon Concierge.’ Fans can learn more about the latest announcements by viewing the Pokémon Presents in its entirety on the official Pokémon YouTube channel.
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About Pokémon
The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children’s entertainment properties in the world. For more information, please visit www.pokemon.co.uk.
About Nintendo:
Nintendo Co., Ltd., headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, has been providing a wide range of entertainment products and experiences since its founding in 1889, beginning with the manufacture and sale of Hanafuda playing cards. Since the 1983 release of the Family Computer (Famicom) system in Japan, and continuing through Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo’s focus has been the development, manufacturing, and sale of its gaming systems and software. To date, Nintendo has sold more than 5.9 billion video games and over 860 million hardware units globally, and has created franchises such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, The Legend of Zelda™, Pokémon™, Metroid™, Kirby™, Animal Crossing™, Pikmin™, and Splatoon™. Nintendo strives to expand the number of people who have access to its characters and worlds. Its continuing mission is to put smiles on the faces of everyone it touches with unique entertainment experiences, centered on its integrated video game hardware and software products. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Frankfurt, Germany, serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in Europe. For more information about Nintendo of Europe, please visit the company’s website at https://www.nintendo.com/eu