Andrew Webster is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
There’s a lot going on in the world of Pokémon — and you can play at least one of them right now. During its latest Pokémon Presents presentation, the Pokémon Company surprise launched Pokémon Friends, a puzzle game with daily challenges, an increasingly common style of game. In a cute Pokémon twist, solving puzzles earns you adorable (virtual) plushies you can use to decorate a room. It’s out today on iOS, Android, and the Nintendo Switch.
Elsewhere, we also got looks at a pair of animated adaptations of the franchise. That includes the soothing Netflix series Pokémon Concierge, which is getting a second season on September 4th…
And Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, a stop-motion series from a previously-announced collaboration with Wallace & Gromit studio Aardman. It won’t be premiering until 2027, however.
It’s shaping up to be a big year for the franchise, as it will also be making its debut on the Switch 2 with Pokémon Legends: Z-A, which will be a cross-gen title available on both versions of the Switch when it launches on October 16th. As part of today’s presentation, we got a pair of new trailers, focused on the new location Lumiose City and all the various things players can get up to there.
Meanwhile, there are some notable updates to some of the franchise’s many mobile spinoffs, including Mega Evolutions coming to the trading card game as part of an expansion in September, and a new area coming to Pokémon Sleep in November. And lastly, the Pokémon Company confirmed that the battle-focused spinoff Pokémon Champions will be launching in 2026. It’ll be on both mobile and the Switch.
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