Sandwiches can grant you some incredible buffs in Pokémon: Scarlet and Violet, but you must ready your roll carefully to reap the best rewards. The base game rated the best sandwiches with three stars, but The Indigo Disk DLC introduc??ed the coveted new f?our-star rank to challenge aspiring chiefs.

Preparing a four-star sandwich isn't easy, but they're worth the hassle, especially if you're trying to complete all the Blueberry Group Quests. Here are all the four-star sandwich recipes in Pokémon: Scarlet and Violet.

Making Four-Star Sandwiches in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet comes down to the synergy of your ingredients

To whip up a four-star sandwich in Pokémon: Scarlet and Violet, you need to follow a recipe th??at uses ingredients worth one hundred points in each of the game's five flavor types: Bitter, Salty, Sour, Spic??y, and Sweet. Since there are several ways to reach this number, dozens of recipes can net you a four-star sandwich.

You'll also want to ensure you're playing with at least one other player. As far as I know, it's impossible to make a four-star sandwich alone. Collaborating with other players can keep the time you'll spend grinding/amount of money you'll pay for rare ?ingredients to a minimum. One of you will probably have the ingredients you need for the recipe you're using, and you can work together to get any ingredient you might be missing.

Herba Mystica are a four-star sandwich recipe's best friends

One of the most reliable ways to make a four-star?? sandwich is to follow a recipe that uses Herba Mystica as an ingredient. All five Herba Mystica varian??ts are the best ingredients of their respective flavor, so you're almost guaranteed to get a four-star sandwich if you use one.

Unfortunately, Herba Mystica is also the hardest ingredient to get in Pokémon: Scarlet and Violet. The only way to get them is to partake in five-to-six-star Tera Raid Battles, which pit you against powerful and even Legendary Pokémon. We've got some great tips on how to beat top-tier raids, but each Herba Mystica is a ra?re drop, so you won't always get one if you beat the raid.

Here are all the four-star sandwich recipes that use Herba Mystica in Pokémon: Scarlet and Violet.

How to make four-star sandwiches without Herba Mystica in Pokémon: Scarlet and Violet

You can still make four-star sandwiches even if you don't grind out Tera Raid Battles for Herba Mystica. There are a few four-star sandwich recipes that don't use them. Unfortunately, ??they require more than a few ingredients.

With four-star sandwich recipes, quality and quantity are equally important. You and your friend/friends will have to add a few of each ingredient to get one hundred flavor points. There's no limit on how many ingredients you can put on your sandwich, but putting on too many will hurt your f??inal ranking. You'll need to hit that sweet spot of not too much but not too little.

Here's every four-star sandwich recipe that doesn't use Herba Mystica in Pokémon: Scarlet and Violet. T??here may be some variation in the specific type and number of ingredients you need, but these combinations worked more times than they didn't.

The post Four-star Sandwich re?cipes in Pokémon S?carlet and Violet appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokémon Home regularly allows trainers to get their hands on rare Shiny Pokémon. T??he app's latest update has given users a brief window to add a Shiny Keldeo and a Shiny Meltan, two hard??-to-get Pokémon, to their collection. However, it isn't handing them out for free.

If you want to get these two Shinies, you'd best be ready to hop back into some old Pokémon games to complete a few of Pokémon Home's Pokédexes. It won't be easy, but catching Shinies never is. Here's how to get Pokémon Home's Shiny Keldeo and Shiny Meltan.

How to get Pokémon Home's Shiny Keldeo

Keldeo, the Colt Pokémon, is the adoptive ward of the Swords of Justice, a trio of Legendary Pokémon introduced in Pokémon: Black and White. As a Mythical Pokémon, Keldeo is usually only catchable during limited-time giveaway events (although there is an obscure way to catch it Pokémon: Sword and Shield's Crown Tundra DLC). This is the first time its Shiny variant has been av?ailabl??e, making it an irresistible prize for Shiny hunters.

Here's how to get the Shiny Keldeo from Pokémon Home.

• Download the Nintendo Switch version of Pokémon Home.
• Complete the Galar, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra Pokédexes for Pokémon: Sword and Shield and its Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra DLCs
• Transfer the required Pokémon from Pokémon: Sword and Shield into Pokémon Home through your Switch to register them on the app's Galar, Isle of Armor, and Crown Tundra Pokédexes.
• Download the Pokémon Home app on iOS or Android and link your mobile Home account to your Switch Home account.
• Use the Mystery Gifts feature in your Pokémon Home mobile app to receive your free Pokémon.

How to get Pokémon Home's Shiny Meltan

Meltan, the Lugnut Pokémon, is one of my all-time favorite Pocket Monsters. How can you not love this little guy? Look at his little wheel nut head! Unfortunately, you can only catch Meltan in Pokémon Go, the only game where it ca??n evolve into its second form, the roided out Melmetal.

Here's how to get the Shiny Meltan from Pokémon Home.

• Download the Nintendo Switch version of Pokémon Home.
• Complete the Kanto Pokédexes for Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu or Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu.
• Transfer the required Pokémon from Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu or Pokémon: Let's Go Pikachu into Pokémon Home through your Switch to register them on the app's Kanto Pokédex.
• Download the Pokémon Home app on iOS or Android and link your mobile Home account to your Switch Home account.
• Use the Mystery Gifts feature in your Pokémon Home mobile app to receive your free Pokémon.

Before making room in your menagerie for Shiny Keldo and Shiny Meltan, don't start thinking you can trick the system. Pokémon Home can tell which game you got the Pokémon you're transferring in from, and it won't count any Pokémon that weren't caught in the games I listed above. There are no short??cuts here; if you want these Pocket Monsters, you've got to put in the work and fill in those Pokédexes the old-fashioned way.

The post How to get Pokemon Home’s Shiny Kel??deo and Shiny Meltan appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokémon Sleep features a quirky way to catch Pokémon, and it all revolves around two things?: how well you sleep (which mean?s I’ve never done particularly well) and your ability to boost Snorlax’s Drowsy Power. 

Every week, a fresh new Snorlax will appear, giving you the chance to boost its Drowsy Power with recipes that can ??be cooked up and fed to it at regular intervals throughout the day. Increasing this Drowsy Power (and cultivating good sleeping habits) is definitely worth it, because the higher the power, the more Pokémon will be drawn in for you to capture and befriend, including some rare ones with potentially new Sleep Styles. 

There are a huge variety of different Recipes to cook in Pokémon Sleep. Here’s how to unlock the ability to cook, and every Recipe you? can eventually put together. 

How to cook in Pokémon Sleep

Until you’ve unlocked 12 unique different Sleep Styles, you’ll only be able to poke Snorlax and select the “Auto Cook�?function. However, after witnessing 12 Sleep Styles, you’ll be able to start using a variety of ingredients to cook specific d?ishes. 

You can cook at any time by simply tappin?g on Snorlax, which will open up the Cooking Pot. Here, you can either Auto Cook or cook spec??ific recipes. It’s worth always making specific recipes that suit your current Snorlax’s taste, which are different every week. 

Ther?e are also possible boosts on offer whenever you cook, and you always have a chance to create somet??hing known as an “Extra Tasty�?meal. From Monday to Saturday, there is a 10% chance that any meal could be Extra Tasty, while on Sunday this chance is boosted to 30%. 

As you begin to find more unique Sleep Styles, you’ll be able to upgrade your Cooking Pot. This will enable you to use more ingredients,?? which can then be used to create recipes with a higher base strength. All of these upgrades cost Sleep Shards, and certain upgrades can only be unlocked after finding a certain number of Sleep Styles.

Here are all of the Cooking Pot upgrades in Pokémon Sleep:

You can also use a Good Camp Ticket to increase the number of ingredients that can be used in the Cooking Pot? by 50%, allowing you to cook certain?? recipes that require more than the base number for each level. 

When to feed Snorlax in Pokémon Sleep

Snorlax is a big?? ol�?hungry Pokémon, and seeing as your progress pretty much depends on its satisfaction, you’ll need to know when to feed it.&nbs??p;

Once you’ve figured out what your Snorlax of the week wants, here’s when you’ll need to check back in and give? it another meal:

• Breakfast (8 a.m. - 12 p.m.)
• Lunch (12 p.m. - 6 p.m.)
• Dinner (6 p.m. - 6 a.m.)

Outside of these three main meals, you ?can also regu??larly feed Snorlax with Berries that your Helper Pokémon has discovered. This won’t give much of a boost to Snorlax’s Drowsy Power, but every little helps. 

All recipes in Pokémon Sleep

Recipes in Pokémon Sleep can be broken down into three major subsections. Here are all of the recipes, along with their base strength level. More recipes are added with updates and events, and included below is the latest batch added as part of the Valentine's Day 2025 event.

Curries and Stew recipes

Salad recipes

Dessert and drink recipes

The post All Pokémon Sleep Recipes appeared first on Destructoid.

Picking y??our favorite Pokémon can be tough enough with so many to choose from. But you also need to ensure you've got the right balance for your team. Types are the center of the gameplay, and knowing type strengths and weaknesses is important.

Pokémon Go's type comparison chart is identical to the base games. If you're not familiar with that it, there are a lot of details to remember. It's basically a complicated version of Rock, Paper, Scissors, so we've created a chart to help you identify when to use the best possible Pokémon.

How to find your strengths and weaknesses

The chart below shows each single type of Pokémon in the central column. A Pokemon's weaknesses and resistances are to the left. To the right are recommendations on what attacks to use. Some Pokémon have two type??s, however. The result is a unique mixture of weaknesses and resistances, with too many combinations to put into a clean chart??.

There's some math involved, and it's slightly different from how the mainline games calculate damage. Beneath the chart is the exact math Pokémon Go uses. If you're not great at math (like me), remember t??hese general rule??s:

• If a Pokémon's two types share a weakness or resistance, the effect is stronger. For example, Water and Ground types share a weakness to Grass. So if a Water/Ground Pokémon is hit with grass, it's even more effective.
• If a Pokémon's types have opposing strengths and weaknesses, they cancel each other out. For example, a Water/Dragon type is both weak and resistant to Electric-type attacks. Therefore, Electric-type attacks are neutral against Water/Dragon-type Pokémon.

The more complex math below will help you to find th??e specific amount of damage you'll do against any given Pokémon. Keep in mind that the damage numbers you'll see may vary due to ot?her factors, but this is the majority of the calculation.

• A Super Effective move multiplies your attack's power by 1.6.
• An attack that hits a resistance reduces its power to 62%.
• A move that normally has No Effect on a Pokémon in the main games still does 24% damage.
• If both of a Pokémon's types share a weakness, a move that hits will do 2.56 times the damage.
• If both types share a resistance, that attack will be at 39% power.

A note about passives

In the base Pokémon games, there's a mechanic called Abilities. These are passive powers that Pokémon have to help give them unique advantages in combat. These Abilities, however, are missing from Pokémon Go. You may be used to Gengar being immune to Ground-type attacks if you've played other Pokémon games. But he doesn't possess the Levitate ability in Pokémon Go. That m??eans he is weak to Ground type?s due to being part Poison type.

The post Pokémon Go: Weakness chart for all types appeared first on Destructoid.

February will have some cozy offerings for all Pokémon Sleep players as part of the Valentine's Event 2025, which will take place durin??g the middle of the ??month.

The latest event will be strictly themed around the season of love, and there's plenty to enjoy for fans. During the eve??nt, players will be able to get some unique bonuses, along with the chance to experience two new monsters. Let's take a look at all the essential information you need to keep in mind in preparation for the event.

Pokémon Sleep Valentine's Event 2025 dates

The Pokémon Sleep Valentine's Event will begin on February 10 at 4 a.m. local time and will be a week-long saga. You'll have until February 17, 3.59 a.m. local?? time, to fully enjoy the event?? and all its offerings. The event will be available on all islands, making it easier for you to maximize your rewards.

Pokémon Sleep Valentine's Event 2025 bonuses

Different bonuses will go live during the event.

• Between February 10 and February 15, all dishes will receive a 1.5x strength boost, and Extra Tasty dishes will receive a 3x bonus (the usual amount is 2x).
• On February 16, the Extra Tasty dish bonus will increase to 4.5x, and pot capacity will be doubled on Sundays.

Every dish has a random odd for it to be Extra Tasty. Each dish will have an additional 10% chance of being Extra Tasty on Sunday. If you us?e a Pokemon with a Tasty Chance S skill, you'll have a higher chance of cooking an Extra Tasty dish. Additional??ly, all featured Pokemon (explained in the next section) will offer chances to appear as a Shiny variant.

Pokémon Sleep Valentine's Event 2025 featured Pokemon

The Pokémon Sleep Valentine's? Event 2??025 will have featured Pokemon, which includes two new debutants.

• Psyduck
• Pinsir
• Pichu
• Absol
• Ralts
• Fuecoco
• Grubbin
• Mimikyu
• Paldean Wooper
• Clodsire

The two names at the bottom will be debutants during the Valentine's Event. Among the other names, Bulbasaur, Jigglypuff, Slowpoke, Pinsir, Chikorita, and Absol. If you want to maximize your chances of grabbing a Shiny, completing two sleep sessions per day will be necessary. The event will also have basic missions you can complete to get more?? rewards.

Pokémon Sleep Valentine's Event 2025 missions

It's more?? than likely that we will also get special event missions du?ring Valentine's Week, so make sure to be on the lookout for them.

The post Pokémon Sleep Valentine’s Event 2025: dates, bonuses, and 2 Pokémon debut appeared first on Destructoid.

The pride and joy of every player lucky enough to get them, the Crown Rarity Gold Cards are the rarest finds in Pokemon TCG Pocket, and believe me, they are worthy of the title.

But how many of them have been released? And more importantly, is it still possible to get all of the ultra-rare cards? Here are all Crown Rarity Gold Cards in Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket and how to get each of them.

• Table of Contents:

  • Full Pokemon TCG Pocket Crow?n Rarity Gold Cards List
  • How to Get all Crown Rarity Gold Cards

Full Pokemon TCG Pocket Crown Rarity Gold Cards list

You can currently acquire a total of six Crown Rarity Gold Cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket, featuring Pikachu, Charizard, Mewtwo, Mew, Palkia, and Dialga. As you can see below, all cards will be variants of the Pokemon's regular ex cards. You can also check out wh?ich packs house each of them by heading further down.

Card	Name / Type / HP	Attacks / Abilities
	Charizard ex / Fire / 180 HP	Slash (60 DMG) / 1x Fire + 2x Colorless-type energy Crimson Storm (200 DMG): Discard 2x Fire energy from this Pokémon / 2x fire + 3x Colorless-type energy
	Pikachu ex / Lightning / 120 HP	Circle Circuit (30x): Deals 30 DMG for each of your benched Lightning Pokemon / 2x Lightning-type energy
	Mew ex / Psychic / 130 HP	Psyshot (20 DMG) / 1x Psychic-type energy Genome Hacking: Allows you to copy and perform any attack from your opponent's active Pokemon / 3x Colorless-type energy
	Mewtwo ex / Psychic / 150 HP	Psychic Sphere (30 DMG) / 1x Phychic + 1x Colorless-type energy Psydrive (150 DMG): Discard 2x Physchic energy from this Pokémon / 1x Phychic + 1x Colorless-type energy
	Dialga ex / Metal / 150 HP	Metallic Turbo (30 DMG): Take two Metal Energy from your energy zone and attach it to any Benched Pokemon / 2x Metal-type energy Heavy Impact (100 DMG) / 2x Metal + 2x Colorless-type energy
	Palkia ex / Water / 150 HP	Slash (30 DMG) / 1x Water-type energy Dimensional Storm (150 DMG): Discard 3x Water energy from this Pokemon. Also deals 20 DMG to each opposing benched Pokemon after attacking. / 3x Water + 1x Colorless-type energy

How to get all Crown Rarity Gold cards

Considered to be the apex of their respective expansions, you can get each of the gold crown cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket as a chance drop by opening their respective packs. That means that while Charizard, Pikachu, and Mewtwo are exclusive to their Genetic Apex variants, Mew, Palkia, and Dialga ca??n be acquired by opening Mythical Island and Space-Time S??mackdown packs, respectively.

Keep in mind, however, that each of the Gold Crown cards will boast a drop rate of below 0.2%. The latter will then be raised to 5% if you manage to score a Rare booster pack, also known as a God Pack. If you are li?ke me and have yet to get a single Gold Crown, you can also acquire all of the cards by exchanging 2.500 of their re??spective Pack Points. But be ready to pull, as you will get a staggering amount of 5 points per opened pack.

The post Pokemon TCG Pocket: Crown Rarity Gold Cards list appeared first on Destructoid.

Space-Time Smackdown is now live in Pokemon TCG Pocket, and its the first major expansion ?since the game's launch back in 2024.

The winter months were pretty busy for the developers, with the release of the base game followed by the Mythical Island mini-expansion. The new expansion is bigger, and includes several regular and promo cards y?ou can get get from the packs.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Space-Time Smackdown release date

The new expansion went live globally on January 30, and the full list of cards is now available.

All Space-Time Smackdown cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket

The Spac??e-Time Smackdown focuses on two legendary crea??tures: Palkia and Dialga. Unlike Genetic Apex, we will get two different types of packs to open in the game.

• Palkia Ex will be a Water type card with 150 HP, and Slash as its first move. It will do 30 damage for one energy, while Dimension Storm will be the second attack. This move will do 150 damage to the Active Pokemon and 20 damage to all your opponents Benched Pokemon for four energy. After the move, Palkia EX will drop three energy.
• Dialga EX will also have 150 HP and Metallic Turbo as its first move. Metallic Turbo will do 30 damage and attach two Metal energy to a benched Pokemon, while Heavy Impact will do 100 damage for four energy.

Here's the list ??of all ?the other Pokemon who are visible in the trailer.

• Oddish
• Gloom
• Tangela
• Yanma
• Roselia
• Burmy
• Wormadam
• Combee
• Mow Rotom
• Slugma
• Heat Rotom
• Swinub
• Buizel
• Finneon
• Snover
• Wash Rotom
• Magnemite
• Voltorb
• Electabuzz
• Shinx
• Togepi
• Ralts
• Kirlia
• Duskull
• Drifloon
• Gligar
• Hitmontop
• Nosepass
• Wormadam
• Riolu
• Murkrow
• Poochyena
• Stunky
• Skorupi
• Croagunk
• Bronzor
• Eevee
• Aipom
• Ambipom
• Bidoof
• Bibarel
• Buneary
• Lopunny
• Fan Rotom
• Skull Fossil
• Palkia EX
• Dialga EX
• Yanmega EX
• Pachirisu EX
• Gallade EX
• Darkrai EX
• Team Galactic Grunt
• Volkner
• Dawn
• Tangrowth
• Combee
• Shaymin
• Mamoswine
• Shinx
• Drifloon
• Mesprit
• Lucario
• Croagunk
• Heatran
• Bidoof
• Regigigas
• Leafeon
• Magnezone
• Electivire
• Luxray
• Togekiss
• Dusknoir
• Rampardos
• Bellossom
• Roserade
• Vespiqueen
• Magcargo
• Piloswine
• Floatzel
• Lumineon
• Abomasnow
• Magneton
• Electrode
• Luxio
• Togetic
• Dusclops
• Difblim
• Uxie
• Azelf
• Gliscor
• Regirock
• Cranidos
• Honchkrow
• Mightyena
• Skuntank
• Drapion
• Toxicroak
• Skarmory
• Registeel
• Bronzong
• Probopass
• Pokemon Communication
• Giant Cape
• Team Galactic Grunt
• Volkner
• Dawn
• Roselia
• Turtwig
• Kicketot
• Kricketune
• Burmy
• Chimchar
• Piplup
• Buizel
• Shellos
• Finneon
• Snover
• Wash Rotom
• Frost Rotom
• Misdreavus
• Rhyhorn
• Nosepass
• Hippopotas
• Sneasel
• Poochyena
• Gible
• Lickitung
• Eevee
• Porygon
• Starly
• Staravia
• Gameow
• Chatot
• Fan Rotom
• Armor Fossil
• Infernape EX
• Mismagius EX
• Weavile EX
• Lickilicky EX
• Cyrus
• Cynthia
• Mars
• Carnivine
• Gastrodonn
• Manaphy
• Giratina
• Cresselia
• Rhyperior
• Spiritomb
• Garchomp
• Staraptor
• Glameow
• Torterra
• Magmortal
• Empoleon
• Glaceon
• Bastiodon
• Porygon-Z
• Shieldon
• Probopass
• Gabite
• Purugly
• Rocky Helmet
• Lum Berry

We will be adding more names as we explore the update more. Do ?note that some of the Pokemon m??entioned on this list have more than one version, so make sure to try and obtain the rarer promo art versions as well.

The post Complete Space-Time? Smackdown Pokemon TCG Pocket card list and release date appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokémon TCG Pocket's latest Mass Outbreak is all about Psychic Pokémon. From January 23, 2025, to January 29, you can get numerous Psychic-type Pokémon cards during bonus wonder picks with ??no cost and complete missions to obtain hourglasses and shop tickets.

Alongside these mission rewards, you can also claim a Mass Outbreak-exclusive Mew ex flair and rare Psychic-type cards that are normally extremely difficult to obtain. Here's a complete breakdown of Pokémon TCG Pocket's Psychic Pokémon Mass Outbreak e?vent, including details on its missions, rewards, and the Mew ex flair.

Pokémon TCG Pocket Psychic Pokémon Mass Outbreak event missions and rewards

Pokémon TCG Pocket's Psychic-type Mass Outbreak event, starting on January 23 at 10 p.m. in your local time zone, features missions focusing?? on Wonder picking and collecting Psychic-type cards. Here's ??every mission and their rewards:

By completing all six missions, you can obtain up to 14 Wonder Hourglasses and 20 Shop Tickets to use however you wish. Any Wonder Pick type counts towards these missions, and any method of obtaining Psychic-type cards, including Booster pack opening and Wonder Pick rewards, contributes to your card-collecting objectives. Do everything you can to collect some new Psychic-type cards and make the mos??t of this Mass Outbreak.

All Pokémon TCG Pocket Psychic Pokémon Mass Outbreak Bonus Pick and Rare Pick cards

Here's the complete list of every Psychic-ty?pe card that'll appear during the Mass Outbreak event:

• Ralts
• Kirlia
• Sigilyph
• Elgyem
• Beheeyem
• Flabébé
• Floette
• Florges
• Swirlix
• Slurpuff

You can also claim several rare cards from Rare Picks during the Mass Outbreak??, including Mew ex, which you can outfit with a special flair. Below is every card that can appear in Rare Picks:

• Mew ex
• Mewtwo
• Kirlia
• Gardevoir
• Sigilyph
• Florges

The Psychic Pokémon Mass Outbreak's Bonus Picks h?ave no cost, while Rare Picks cost three stamina.

How to get the Pokémon TCG Pocket Psychic Pokémon Mass Outbreak flair

You can also obtain a new blue flair for Mew ex besides new ??Psychic-type car?ds and Rare Picks. It appears as a shimmering, bubbly, light blue flair that'll appear when you use it during card battles. You can obtain it by going into My Cards, selecting Mew ex, and picking Obtain Flair before exchanging your cards.

The post Pokémon T??CG Pocket Psychic Pokémon Mass Outbreak?? event missions, rewards, and flair appeared first on Destructoid.

The Steeled Resolve event should be high on the priority list of all Pokemon Go players, and it can benefit? you with ??amazing rewards.

The latest even??t will have a fresh set of field research tasks that will be available for all. These tasks will center around Pokemon that feature in the event. Additionally, we'll see timed research tasks as well. One set will be available for all, while the other will be only available to those who opt for the paid option.

All Pokemon Go Steeled Resolve free timed research tasks

The ?free timed r?esearch path will involve plenty of tasks for you to grind. The first step will be the same for all, and the missions are rather simple.

• Catch 15 Pokemon: 5x Ultra Ball
• Spin 5 Pokestops or Gyms: Bunnelby
• Explore 2 KM: Paldean Wooper
• Complete all the Tasks: 1000x Stardust, and 1000x XP

Once you complete the first step, you'll have to pick between Cliff and Blanche. You can only align with one trainer, and the tasks are id??ent??ical. But the rewards you get from some of these tasks will be completely different. Naturally, you'll want to make the choice based on what rewards you're after.

Here are all the rewar??ds and tasks ??available with the second and third steps of siding with Blanche.

Step 2

• Use 5 Supereffective Charged Attacks: 500x Stardust
• Power up Pokemon 5 Times: 2x Fast TM
• Battle in Go Battle League 5 times: 2x Charged TM
• Complete all tasks in this step: 2000x XP, Marill

Step 3

• Catch 25 Pokemon: 10x Ultra Ball
• Power up Pokemon 10 times: 1x Silver Pinap Berry
• Win a Trainer Battle in Go Battle League: Steelix
• Complete all tasks in this step: 3000x XP, 2000x Stardust, 1x Magnetic Lure Module.

Here are all the rewards and tas??ks available from the second and third steps if you ch?oose to side with Cliff.

Step 2

• Use 5 Supereffective Charged Attacks: 500x Stardust
• Power up Pokemon 5 Times: 2x Fast TM
• Battle in Go Battle League 5 times: 2x Charged TM
• Complete all tasks in this step: 2000x XP, Shadow Machop

Step 3

• Catch 25 Pokemon: 10x Ultra Ball
• Power up Pokemon 10 times: 1x Silver Pinap Berry
• Win a Trainer Battle in Go Battle League: Marowak
• Complete all tasks in this step: 3000x XP, 2000x Stardust, 1x Magnetic Lure Module.

All Pokemon Go Steeled Resolve paid timed research tasks

If you want to obtain even more rewards for your grind, you'll have to pay $5 to buy ?a ticket for the following add?itional quests and rewards.

• Power up Pokemon 5 times: Rookidee
• Power up Pokemon 10 times: Diggersby
• Win a Raid: Inkay
• Win 2 Raids: Pancham
• Win 3 Raids: Clodsire
• Battle in Go Battle League: Jumpluff
• Battle in Go Battle League 2 times: Azumarill
• Battle in Go Battle League 3 times: Galarian Weezing
• Complete all tasks in this step: 5000x XP, 20,000x Stardust, 1x Elite Charged TM

Pokemon Go Steeled Resolve Field Research tasks

There are four Field Research tasks associated ??with the Steeled Resolve event. You can?? complete them by spinning Pokestops until January 26, 2025.

• Catch 5 Pokémon: Clefairy, Jigglypuff, or Togetic
• Power up Pokémon 5 times: Hoppip, Dunsparce, or Barboach
• Spin 5 PokéStops or Gyms: 5x Poké Ball, 3x Super Potion, or 2x Revive
• Battle in the Go Battle League: Cubone, Marill, or Inkay

That'??s all you have to keep?? in mind about the latest event.

The post All Pokémon Go Steeled Resolve research tasks appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokémon has launched some fantastic promotional events, but one of the most popular is their McDonald's Happy Meal Pokémon Trading Card promotions. For over a decade, McDonald's has released exclusive sets of Pokémon trading cards, and they're renewing the tradition with a new set of D??ragon-the??med cards.

Pokémon fans get excited w?henever McDonalds rolls out a new set ?of cards, and they have a good reason to. Not only do McDonald's cards feature unique art, but they're never reprinted after the promotion ends. Once they're gone, they're gone.

Thanks to this, McDonald's exclusive Pokémon cards inevitably become some of the rarest cards in their owner's decks and some of the most expensive in the collecting circuit. Here are the most valuable McDonald's Pokémon promo cards of all time, ranked by price.

Top 10 most valuable McDonald's Pokémon promo cards of all time

2002 Japanese McDonald’s Holo e-Card Sneasel

• eBay Cost: 399.99

Sneasel i??s a fantastic representative of the Dark type. It's a mischievous egg thief who loves to play with its food, and that personality shines through in its 2002?? McDonald's card.

Snea??sel's McDonald's card costs around $399.99. A few other McDonald's cards cost the same, but I thought Sneasel was the coolest in this category, vague as it may be.

2002 Japanese McDonald’s Holo e-Card Slowpoke

• eBay Cost: $400.00

I like Slowpoke, and I think most people do, too. This Water/Psychic-type is so chill they don't even mind it if you cut their tails off, and both its evolutions, the bulky Slowbro and the more offensive Slowking, are solid editions to most teams. The 2002 e-card's art puts Slowpoke's innate charm on a pedestal, wrappi?ng the Dopey Pokémon in a halo of radiant light.

The most expensive 2002 holographic e-card slowpoke I found is being?? sold for $400.00, but I saw others priced b?etween $100 and $200.

2023 McDonald's Silver Border Holo Pichu

eBay Cost: $500.00

Pichu is adorable, and it's easily my favorite baby Poké??mon. While it's often over-shadowed by its evolution, Pichu ranks pretty high on most "cutest Pokémon lists," and its 2002 McDonald's? card hammers that home with some sweet artwork.

This card cos?ts $500.00. Not bad for such a little guy, is it?

2002 Japanese McDonald's Holo e-Card Donphan

• eBat cost: 549.99

Thanks to its appearance in Pokémon: The First Movie, Donphan was many Pokemon fans' introduction to Johto, and it remains one of my personal favorite Gen 2 Pokemon. The artwork on the 2002 holographic e-card, which shows Donphan sitting in confusion after he smashed through a wall,?? sums up the Armor Pokémon's personalit??y pretty well.

Donphan's 2002 holographic e-card is currently selling for $549.99. At halfway to $1000, this card is more valuable ?than many ivory products, ??which is good because why would you want to buy stuff like that, anyway?

2002 Japanese McDonald’s Holo e-Card Squirtle

• eBay Cost: 830.00

Squirtle was many Pokémon fans' first-ever Starter Pokemon, and its fully-evolved form, Blastoise, remains one of?? the best pure Water types in the series. The 2002 hologra??phic e-card shows Squirtle sitting back and blowing a bubble, which aligns well with the personality of Ash's Squirtle in the anime.

2002 hologra??phic e-card Squirtles vary in price pretty wildly, even by Pokémon trading card standards. EBay's most expensive card variant sells for $830.00. People love their holographic turtles.

2002 Japanese McDonald’s Holo e-Card Charmander

eBay Cost: $1,000.00

Charmander is one of those Pokémon everyone knows. Its final evolution, Charizard, is the most popular Pokemon ever, and it is many players' starter of choice in Pokémon Red and Blue. With?? a snazzy flaming background, McDonald's 2002 Charmander card is one of the best.

The cost of this ??card fluctuates widely, but in mint condition, it's selling for $1000.00. It's not as expensive as some original holographic Charizards?, but that's still an impressive price tag.

2002 Japanese McDonald’s Holo Umbreon

eBay Cost: $1,238.

Umbreon has always gotten it good in the trading cards department. The a?rtwork on its cards is always stylish and expressive, and the 2002 McDonald's card is no exception. The sight of Umbreon sunning itself on the roof of a seaside city is as charming as it is imposing.

I found many 2002 McDonald's Umbreons on the Internet, and they had many different price tags attached to them. The highest, listed above, was a mint-condition card ?priced at $1,238.60. When you shoot for?? the moon, bring a thick wallet.

2002 Japanese McDonald’s Holo e-Card Pikachu

• eBay Cost: $1,250.00

Even people who aren’t Pokémon fans know about Pikachu, and its trading cards are always one of the most appealing. The 2021 McDonald�?�s card is an excellent example of this. Look at that smug little mug! He knows how cute he is!

At $1,250.00, the 2021 Pikachu Mcdonald�?�s card is one? of the most expensive pieces of Pikachu merchandise I’ve ever seen. Electric mouses aren't cheap.

2013 French McDonald’s Holo Umbreon

• eBay Price: $1,999.99

McDonald's brought some awesome Pokémon cards to France in 2013, but none were as impressive as the Umbreon card. Umbreon and the night sky have always gone together like peanut butter and chocolate, and this card is the perfect union of Pokémon and backdrop.

French Pokemon cards are a rarity, and this one��s g??ot the price to prove it. At one ce??nt short of $2,000, only one other card beats this one in value.

2005 Japanese McDonald’s Holo e-Card Mew

• eBay Cost: $2,000.00

Mew is on?e of the most beloved Legendary Po??kémon. Its cute design, status as the genetic ancestor of all Pokemon, and the gestalt of rumors that there's a legitimate way to catch it in the original Pokemon Red and Blue have helped the New Species Pokémon reach cult status among Pokemon fans. Mew's 2002 holographic e-card artwork represents its mysterious aura perfectly.

The most expensive mint 2005 holographic Mew e-card I found cost $2,000. If your budget can handle it, this card's a?? great collectible for any Mew enthusiast.

The post The most valuable McDonald Pokemon promo cards? of all time appeared first on Destructoid.

It was a rush. The Pokémon Regional Championships in Birmingham was buzzing with energ??y as? crowds of people played their matches, watched the main stage, and surged the stores to the side of the action.

After almost ??becoming Frozen Solid by waiting in wintry weather at Wolverton station for 48 minutes because of a delayed train, I was finally at the NEC in ?Birmingham. After going to many conventions, I'm used to long lines to enter the premises, but after waiting behind just one person, I finally received my armband to get in and experience the organized chaos of the Pokémon Regional Championships.

Everyone knew their places

Despite the mass of people in front of me, everything was timed and prepared for each entrant of this event. The most popular tournament was for the Trading Card Game, with lines and lines of players battling it out for a win. There was a website that everyone used on their phones that told them which table they were seated at and what time. My cousin was told to go to a match around every 40 minutes. He had eight rounds to go through. Unfortunately, he only won one, and t??hat was because his opponent didn't show up.

On a random chance, I encountered the adorable Pikachu and Eevee meet-and-greet. These two Kanto Pokémon bobbed their heads up and down fast and created such adorable poses for the people who came to see them. Kids in the middle of the room had papers to color with their favorite Pokémon designs, and in the back section, past games from the series were available, even Pokémon Battle Revolution for the Nintendo Wii. It was cool to see the original hardware and their controllers as a Nintendo 64 played Pokémon Stadium.

There was a speedrun challenge that tasked fans with catching a Jigglypuff the fastest in the original Pokémon Red & Blue. The setup looked comfy, as the organizers placed beanbags on this section. The main stage was also a great place to hang out as you watched the best players duke it out or get interview?ed on an adorable set. It was a bit perplexing that we couldn'??t hear the announcers on the audio setup, however. I didn't have much context as to what was happening in front of me.

A heavy air of competition

In the midst of all the fun, there was an air of serious competition and fandom. My cousin said the experience felt more casual when he was a child, but now there are certain metas to follow. He was also told by fellow competitors to have legendaries on his team. It feels odd that powerful Pokémon like Miraidon and Chien-Po were allowed into the mix; it doesn't seem fair to everyone and limits whi??ch of these pocket monsters get chosen, making it less interesting for spectators.

Even the stores took the merch seriously. One store insisted the Japan-imported plush were "collectibles, not toys," with a 17+ tag at the end, which seemed silly to me, especially for a franchise usually geared towards a family audience. Some signs said they were purchasing Pokémon cards for 70% of their worth for credit. Shopkeepers toiled through massive folders of cards as they were mak?ing deals with customers. It's certainly wildly different from when I experienced the series f??or the first time as a kid.

Despite the air of competition, my cousin still enjoyed the experience. Even though he lost almost every game, he managed to win a few rounds, a??s it was a three-round-win system.

A thrill to experience

Overall, the Pokémon Regional Championships in Birmingham was a thrill to experience. It was the most organized event I've ever been to, as the competitors routinely got into the spots they needed to go without much fuss. The 40 minutes also gave them enough time to get food, drinks, etc, before the next battle. Despite there being so many people in at once, I moved around the NEC convention area very well, not bumping into anyone. If you're a Pokémon fan, you?? should head to one of these events one ?day. The £10 entry fee for spectators was worth it.

Despite the miserable experience of "travelling across the land" to Birmingham NEC and then h??eading back on a coach because of railway issues, it was indeed worth "searching far and wide."

The post The Pokémon Regional Championships in B??irmingham was organized chaos in the best way appeared first on Destructoid.

It doesn’t matter how old you are or at what point you hopped on the Pokémon hype train; there’s one thing that all players have in? common �?the joyful experience of picking their first starter. 

Whether you began your Pokémon journey back in the 90s with Red, Blue, or Yellow, or you’re either younger or were late to the party and began your journey later with Sun or Moon, there’s a starter for every player. If you’re dedicated to a certain type of Pokémon, the choice is easy, but if you’re pulled in more by appearance, then the decision gets a lit?tle more complicated. 

Regardless, your starter is likely to be by your side every step of the way, so the decision is definitely a weighty one. Catching them all is one thing, but your best bud??dy will support you through evolutions and you’re inevitably going to end up p??retty attached to them, it’s a tough choice.

All Pokémon starters by Generation

There are a total of nine generations of Pokémon. If you’re old like me, you’ll remember a time when there were a total of 151 Pokémon, but those ??days seem like a different age now. These days, there are 1,025 Pokémon in total, and my aged brain can’t even begin to remember them all. My four-year-old shamefully has me beat on that front. 

But I can remember all of the starters from each generation. Starter Pok??émon are always one of three types (Grass, Fire, or Water), and end up being the face of each new era, the stars of trailers, and beloved by their trainers. 

Back in the 90s, Pokémon stole the hearts of youngsters, and it hasn’t ever stopped. The first-ever starters are still beloved to this day, and even in later games, you’ll find that players of a certain age will always strive to have them as part of their Pokémon party far outside the bounds of the Kanto region. Even almost 30 years later (ouch), these three still act as the face of Pokémon and are instantly recognizable to any player. 

This iconic trio were the starters for the following original ??games:

• Pokémon Red
• Pokémon Blue

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Pokémon Yellow, but we’re going to circle back to that one.

With the Kanto region and its 151 specimens of Pokémon thrusting the series into worldwide acclaim, Game Freak surged ahead and added the Johto region with an additional 100 Po?kémon to find, capture, and train, including these adorable three starters. I??f you’d already pinpointed a favorite type in the previous games, then this choice was simple, but the cute designs and badass evolutions definitely complicated things somewhat. 

Chikorita, ??Cyndaquil, and Totodile were available as starters in these games:

• Pokémon Gold
• Pokémon Silver
• Pokémon Crystal

With the addition of Hoenn, Orre, and Sevii Islands, another 135 Pokémon were added to the Pokédex, bringing the total number of Pokémon to 386. I?f I’m totally honest, this is where I started to lose track of who was who and where I was supposed to find them, but I do have fond memories of the three starters from this generation.&n??bsp;

Previously always favoring Fire types, this is where I moved over to Water types thanks to Mudkip’s adorably derpy design, although Torchic’s eventual badass chicken evolution was definitely temptin??g. And we can’t forget about Treecko, who eventually evolves into Sceptile, dishing out huge damage if you’re up against a Water, Rock, or Ground type Pokémon in battle. 

Anyway, here are the games th??at give you the choice between these three start??ers:

• Pokémon Ruby
• Pokémon Sapphire
• Pokémon Emerald

Generation 4 added the Sinnoh region to the world of Pokémon, and all of its additional 107 Pokémon, making the overal??l total number of Pokémon a slightly daunting 493. There are many fan-favorite Pokémon from this era, including Lucario, and two additional Eeveelutions in Glaceon and Leafeon. 

However, while there are many memorable Pokémon from generation 4, the starters are considered by some to be where things began to go wrong, although I disagree wi??th this deeply, but we’ll get there in good time. Turtwig and Chimchar are absolutely adorable, each turning into their own badass evolutions, but have you seen Piplup? It?? was the first Pokémon that I was almost tempted to prevent evolving purely because of how utterly adorable it is. Almost. 

This very cute trio was ava??ilable as starter Pokémon in the following games:

• Pokémon Diamond
• Pokémon Pearl
• Pokémon Platinum

Generation 5 brought players to the new region of Unova and added 156 new Pokémon, the l?argest addition since the original games, bringing the total up to 649. 

Okay, look, I know some people think that this is where Game Freak began to lose their way. The designs of the starter Pokémon for generation 5 weren’t q??uite their best ideas, but I don’t think it’s fair to discount them completely. Oshawott might look like a creepy little clown-cross-otter, but I think that’s part of its appeal, and while Snivy is guilty of a co??nstant side-eye and Tepig looks overly happy, they’re all undeniably cute in their own ways. 

If you think even the weirdos deserve love too, you can pick between t??hese three in the following games:

• Pokémon Black 
• Pokémon White
• Pokémon Black 2
• Pokémon White 2

Generation 6 took players to the region of Kalos, with its European aesthetic, and added in the most recent new Eeveelution, Sylveon. It was among 72 new additions,? bringing the total number of Pokémon up to 721. 

I’ll admit it, generation 6 was a weird time for me. I abandoned my now long-running dedication to Water type starters due to Froakie’s bizarre fluffy frog appearance (I mean, imag??ine a fluffy frog and tell me that you don’t get slightly perturbed by the idea, I dare you), and rather t??han switching back to Fire types, I shifted entirely to Grass. 

C??hespin stole the show in terms of the cutest generation 6 starters, but all of them had their strengths, and you?? can find them in the following games:

• Pokémon X
• Pokémon Y

Players were we??lcomed to the Hawaii-inspired area of Alola in generation 6, which added a whole new 88 Pokémon to the ever-expanding Pokédex, bringing the total up to 809. 

Generation 7 saw a huge number of people making the switch (or switching back, in my case) to a Fire type starter, all thanks to the ?adorable little kitty cat Litten. With most starters, Rowlett and Popplio included, their cute original form is somewhat lost as they evolve, but Litten somehow manages to remain cute even as it transforms into its final badass Incineroar form. 

Rowlett, Litten, ??and Popplio take center stage in the following titles:

• Pokémon Sun
• Pokémon Moon

Traveling to the regions of Galar and Hisui, generation 8 added 96 new Pokémon, dragging? that total number up to 905. We’re nearing the 1,000 Pokémon mark at this point, and a long way from the very memorizable original 151. 

The starters from this generation are definitely an odd mix, with a little green monkey, an overly sporty rabbit, and a tadpo??le that looks like it got stuck in its transition ??to frog and adopted a permanent “shocked Pikachu face�?as a result. However, you can’t deny that all of them are cute, and although their evolutions might leave something to be desired, their original forms are definitely memorable. 

If you want to choose betwee?n them, you can in the following games:

• Pokémon Sword
• Pokémon Shield

We’ve finally caught up to the present era of Pokémon, and generation nine has taken us to Paldea and Kitakami. With these new regions, the total number of Pokémon in the Pokédex rises to that eye-watering number of 1,025, forcing many of us to forget that some even exi??st, but the starters ??remain in our memories forever. 

It’s obvious why Sprigatito quickly became the fan-favorite starter in Generation 9. I mean, the little grass cat is utterly adorable, but the other two are just a little odd-looking, although no less charming in their own ways. Fuecoco is perpetually happy and looks like it would be happy to set fire to anything to keep its trainer happy, and Quaxly is just utterly fabu??lous with an enviable hair structure. 

These three are y??our choice when playing the following titles:

• Pokémon Scarlet
• Pokémon Violet

Was Pikachu ever a starter Pokémon?

If you can remember a time when you were handed Pikachu as your starter Pokémon and felt like I was trying to gaslight you with this list, I promise you that’s not the case. When the original two games (Blue and Red) were released in 1996, the trio listed at the start of this list were ??the basic starter choices. 

However, the success of the game provided the baseboard for the now beloved and long-running TV animation series, and that then turned into an opportunity for Game Freak to capitalize on the love for Pikachu by releasing a third generation 1 title in 1998 �?Pokémon Yellow.

Rather than having a choice, Pokémon Yellow thrusts Pikachu at you as your starter Pokémon, much like Ash’s own Pikachu was thrust ?upon him in the series. You could still get your hands on Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle as you progressed through the game, but Pikachu definitely took center stage and Yellow has become a favorite game for many of that generation's players. 

Sadly, Pikachu has only ever been a starter again once, in Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu, with the trusted Grass, Fire, and Water choice remaining steadfast through every other ga?me.

The post All Pokémon Starters by Generation appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has laun?ched a new booster set, Mythical Island, alongside its first major update. Mythical Island adds more than 80 cards that players could grab. More Step-Up Battles are also i??ncluded as part of the update, along with some all-new missions and rewards.

The new update is available immediately, and it is a permanent one, unlike the Genetic Apex Wonder Pick Event, which will only continue running for the next couple of days. Although fans are happy to see new cards added to the game, as that is ultimately what any tradin??g card game is all about, it is a little disappointing compared to the massive 286 cards introduced as part of Genetic Apex.

Pokémon TCG Pocket launched at the end of October.  Within a month of launch, it had racked up more than $200 million in revenue and already become the third most profitable Pokémon mobile title behind Pokémon Masters EX and, of course, Pokémon Go.

The main aim of the trading card game is to open packs and build a card collection. Battling and playing the card game is almost meant as a secondary aim for players. That said, TCG Pocket does give players the a?bility to battle locally and online using the decks they have built.

What’s part of the update?

• 86 total cards �?68 new cards and 18 rare versions that include one immersive card and one crown card.
• New Dex missions have been added as part of the update, with tickets available for completing multiples of five unique Mythical Island cards.
• Rental Decks can be used to collect some of the new cards, including Celebi ex, Mew ex, and Pidgeot ex.
• Mission rewards are granted for completing themed collections of cards, such as the Florges flower Pokémon.
• Eight Step-Up Battles enable players to battle against some of the most powerful new decks.
• And, as well as 12 Pack Hourglasses included as standard for all players, a further seven are rewarded for each Expert Battle tier.

Unfortunately, immediately following the release of the new update, many players reported game crashes due to the download. Users ?reported seeing messages s?tating “server authentication process failed,�?although the problem did not affect all users.

Pokémon TCG Pocket is a free-to-play game. However, one expert has calculated it would take almost two years of continuous playing to complete the game without making any purchases. Alternatively, those with bottomless pockets would ne??ed to spend approximately $1,500. Most players would likely fall somewhere between these two figures.

TCG Pocket in 2025

According to an official letter from The Pokémon Company, many developments are planned for the game in 2025 and beyond. In January, players can expect some form of card trading to be enabled come January, and the Pokémon team has said that the range of cards th?at can be traded will expand throughout the year.

Away from TCG Pocket, Pokémon is set to launch Pokémon Legends: Z-A in 2025, taking players to Lumiose City. The game will launch around the world on Nintendo Switch. Meanwhile, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are still embroiled in a patent battle with Palworld maker Pocketpair.

The post Pokémon TCG Pocket launches Mythical ?Island booster set and first? major update appeared first on Destructoid.

Mythical Island went live in Pokemon TCG Pocket on December ??17, and it's the first major expansion since the game's launch at the end of ??October 2024.

Over 80 cards have ?been released as part of? the latest expansion, and we have a full list of all the cards that are now present in the new pack. You'll need this knowledge if you're planning to open the new packs and build meta decks.

All Pokemon TCG Pocket Mythical Island cards

Mythical Island is now live in Pokemon TCG Pocket, and we have confirmed news ?about all the Pok??emon who are present in this expansion.

• Exeggcute
• Snivy
• Morelull
• Ponyta
• Larvesta
• Salandit
• Salazzle
• Magikarp
• Finneon
• Chewtle
• Cramorant
• Pikachu
• Joltik
• Dedenne
• Elgyem
• Swirlix
• Flabebe
• Floette
• Slurpuff
• Mankey
• Primeapa
• Geodude
• Koffing
• Purrloin
• Liepard
• Venipede
• Whirlipede
• Pidgey
• Pidgeotto
• Eevee
• Chatot
• Old Amber
• Mew
• Serperior
• Volcarona
• Vaporeon
• Raichu
• Golem
• Marshadow
• Tauros
• Exeggutor
• Servine
• Shiinotic
• Dhelmise
• Rapidash
• Magmar
• Lumineon
• Drednnaw
• Electabuzz
• Galvantula
• Sigilyph
• Florges
• Beheeyem
• Graveler
• Stonjourner
• Weezing
• Scolipede
• Druddigon
• Mythical Slab
• Pokemon Flute
• Blue
• Budding Expeditioner
• Leaf

Of course, some of the new cards have pre-existing variants in the game. For example, Pikachu ??was available as a Basic and EX card during Genetic Apex. That said, the new cards have different stats and abilities from their older variants, which can shape the meta in a different way.

All Mythical Island promo cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket

These are the new full-art cards that are available ?as part of the Mythical Island promo. Some of the Pokemon have more than one full-art card, so make sure to be on the lookout for al?l of them.

• Marshadow
• Dedenne
• Vaporeon
• Salandit
• Serperior
• Exeggutor
• Aerodactyl EX
• Mew EX
• Leaf
• Budding Expeditioner
• Blue
• Pidgeot EX
• Gyarados EX
• Celebi EX

The new pack is available in Pokemon TCG Pocket right now, and you can try out your luc?k with two free packs every day.

The post Complete Myt?hical ?Island Pokemon TCG Pocket card list appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokémon TCG Pocket's upcoming Mythical Island expansion is set to bring a wide array of new cards to the game, including an EX Mew. But when will the expansion arrive? Here's when the Mythical Island set will arrive in Pokémon TCG Pocket, as well as which cards will be part of it.

Pokémon TCG Pocket Mythical Island Set Release Date and All Revealed Cards

As an early Christmas present for both Pokémon TCG Pocket fans and avid collectors, the Mythical Island expansion and its new cards will arrive on December 17, 2024. You can check out the official tr?ailer for the expansion belo?w.

All Revealed Cards

Although most of the new set has yet to be officially revealed, the trailer above and the latest TCG Pocket press release shined a light on the visual of more ??than a handful of cards. You can check out a quick overview of each of them below.

Card	Card Name / Type / HP	Attacks / Cost	Abilities / Effects
	Mew (EX) / Basic (Psychic) / 170 HP	Psyshot (20 DMG) / 1x Basic Psychic Energy Genome Hacking: Choose 1 of your opponent's Active Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack. / 3x Colorless Energy	�?/td>
	Aerodactyl (EX) / Stage 1 (Fighting) / 140 HP	Land Crush (80 DMG) / 1x Fighting + 1x Colorless Energy	Primeval Law: Your opponent can't play any Pkémon from their hand to evolve their Active Pokémon.
	Vaporeon / Stage 1 (Water) / 120 HP	Wave Splash (60 DMG) / 1x Water + 2x Colorless Energy	Wash Out: As often as you like during your turn, you may move a Water Energy from one of your Benched Water Pokémon to your Active Water Pokémon.
	Dedenne / Basic (Lightning) / 60 HP	Thunder Shock (10 DMG) / 1x Lightning Energy Flip a coin. If heads, your opponent's Active Pokémon is now paralyzed.	�?/td>
	Snivy / Basic (Grass) / 70 HP	Vine Whip (40 DMG) / 1x Grass + 1x Colorless Energy	�?/td>
	Morelull / Basic (Grass) / 60 HP	Ram (20 DMG) / 1x Grass	�?/td>
	Blue / Supporter (Trainer)	�?/td>	During your opponent's next turn, all of your PoKémon take -10 damage from attacks from your opponent's Pokémon.
	Tauros / Basic (Colorless) / 100 HP	Fighting Tackle (40+ DMG) / 3x Colorless Energy If your opponent's Active Pokémon is a Pokémon ex, this attack does 80 more damage.	�?/td>
	Magmar / Basic (Fire) / 80 HP	Fire Blast (80 DMG) / 2x Fire Energy Discard two Fire Energy from this Pokémon.	�?/td>
	Exeggcute / Basic (Grass) / 50 HP	Growth Spurt: Take a Grass Energy from your Energy Zone and attack it to this Pokémon / 1x Colorless Energy	�?/td>
	Larvesta / Basic (Fire) / 80 HP	Combustion (30 DMG) / 1x Colorless + 1x Fire Energy	�?/td>
	Dhelmise / Basic (Grass) / 100 HP	Energy Whip (20+ DMG) / 1x Grass Energy If this Pokémon has at least 3 extra Grass Energy attached, this attack does 70 more damage.	�?/td>
�?/td>	Leaf / Supporter (Trainer)	�?/td>	During this turn, the Retreat Cost of your Active Pokémon is 2 less.
�?/td>	Marshadow / Basic (Fighting) / 80 HP	Revenge (40+ DMG) / 1x Fighting + 1x Colorless Energy If any of your Pokémon were Knocked Out by damage from an attack during your opponent's last turn, this attack does 60 more damage.	�?/td>

Now that you know when the set will arrive, as well as more regarding some of its flagship cards, don't forget to check out how to get Pack Hourglasses in Pokémon TCG Pocket.

The post Pokémon TCG P??ocket Mythical Island Set: release date and new cards appeared first on Destructoid.

The free-to-play Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket has surpassed $200 milli??on in revenue in its first month since launch. It has now amassed $208 million in revenue, making it the third most popular mobile title in the f??ra??nchise.

It still has some way to go to reach the $6 billion revenue Pokemon Go has made over its lifetime, but looks likely to surpass the revenue of Pokemon Masters EX?, which reached ??$300 million at the start of this year.

The enduring popularity of Pokemon

Pokemon started as a role-playing game on the Gameboy in 1996 with the physical trading card game launching later in the same year. Nearly 30 years later, m??illions of people still collect the original cards. Rare examples make headlines for the staggering values they achieve at auction.

The most expensive card is widely considered to be the Pikachu Illustrator Card, of which only 40 were made. Although questions have been ??raised about its authenticity, one such Illustrator card was bought by celebrity YouTuber turned wrestler Logan Paul, for $5.275 million. Ignoring this likely publicity stunt, highly graded ?Illustrator cards fetch over $500,000.

While the rarity and value of physical cards have proven a massive draw to some players, this same appeal doesn’t exist in TCG Pocket. Cards cannot be sold or auctioned off in the same way, wh??ich means, that unless things change, the digital cards will ne??ver hold the same value.

Pokemon TCG Pocket picks up the mantle

However, th?at hasn’t stopped fans from downloading the free-to-play ??title. The game had been downloaded 10 million times within the first 48 hours of launch and went on to surpass 30 million downloads in its first week. And, despite being free to play, this massive number of downloads has also led to some impressive revenues.

Players can buy Poke Gold which can then be used to buy booster packs, pay for stamina, or buy in-game accessories. Alternatively, players can also buy premium passes. A premium pass gives a free booster pack every 24 hours and access to special missions and other perks, representing the most affordable way to get extra boosters.

Between passes and Poke Gold, the game, which is developed by Creatures Inc. and DeNA, and distributed by The Pokemon Company, has racked up more than $200 million in revenue in its first month. This has seen it overtake all but two Pokemon mobile games. It surpasses Pokemon Sleep, which has proven a surprise hit for a sleep tracker app, and has Pokemon Masters EX in its sights.

In January 2024, it was announced that Masters EX had generated $300 million in revenue, so it seems likely that TCG Pocket will overtake this in the c??oming mont??hs. However, it remains to be seen whether the digital trading card game can achieve the unprecedented success of Pokemon Go.

Pokemon Go is an augmented reality game that launched in 2016 and allowed players to catch Pokemon virtually anywhere in the world while attempting to take over gyms and battle other trainers. Since its launch, Go has amassed nearly $1 billion a year in revenue and it is still going strong today, even eight ?years after its original launch.

Pokemon in 2025

Next up for Pokemon fans will be the 2025 launch of Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Pokemon Legends: Z-A is the second in the Legends series, after 2022’s Legends: Arceus. The action takes place in Lumiose City, which is loosely based in Paris, France. The game is being developed by Game Freak and was annou?nced ?in February 2024.

No firm release date has been set as yet, but it will enjoy a global simultaneous launch on the Nintendo Switch and, if previous Pokemon titles are anything to go by, it will likely be??come a huge hit.  

The post Pokemon Trading ??Card Game Pocket reaches $200m in its first month appeared first on Destructoid.

Video games are a pretty darn profitable industry. As it turns out, a lot of people are willing to pay a lot of money to press buttons and receive dopamine in return. But only a select few button-pressing facilitators can claim to have made the most money. And an even m?ore select few can claim to actually be good.

High sales don't always translate into high quality. That's not a secret �?there's a reason the fine folks at the British Film Institute don't factor box office take into the Sight & Sound poll (I like Avengers: Endgame, but it's not standing side-by-side with 2001: A Space Odyssey). Still, the Top 10 best-selling games in history have turned a lot of copies, an?d there's got to be some reason they connec??t with so many players.

So let's look at that Top 10 list and see which o?f these games are worth playing, and which are collecting dust on many millions of shelves. Before we get started, I'd like to clarify �?there are a lot of different metrics by which one can measure the "best-selling games of all time," but for the purposes of this ?ranking, we'll be looking at various sources to create the most comprehensive list we humanly can.

10. Overwatch

Per Bloomberg, Blizzard Entertainment's hero shooter Overwatch sold somewhe??re around 50 million units during its time on the market. That means that it has slipped from seventh to tenth on the list given some games that have now overtaken it.

If you've never taken a dive into this world, that ship has sailed. You can no longer play Overwatch.

It might be a little higher on this list if it was still playable. Unfortunately, it's been replaced by a free-to-play sequel, Overwatch 2. While the second game isn't dramatically different from the first, most of the changes made to the formula have made the game less entertaining. Pay-to-win battle pass progression, heroes locked behind heavy grinding, a team comp overhaul that feels more like a downgrade, making Overwatch 2, in its current state, less than pleasant.

But the legacy will live on through its younger counterpart, as it looks to remain on this list for a little while longer, even though Human Fall Flat is nipping at its heels. This latter mention is still available for purchase, so it's only a matter of time before the final overtake happens and Overwatch fades from out list forever.

9. Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros somehow feels like the game that started it all. Just about every gamer has fond early memories of this title, and it shows with well over 50 million copies sold, estimated to be around 58 million.

Despite its advancing age, Super Mario Bros still feels all too relevant and still features in pop culture on the regular. However, it has slipped a spot in this list's latest update, falling to Terraria, which is up next.

When a game has been so foundational to a genre, going back to it can feel like visiting a museum �?it's interesting, sure, but there's other, more fun stuff you could do. That's not the case with Super Mario Bros. The game may have laid the groundwork for 2D platformers to come, but it also mastered its own mech?anics, with level?? layouts that are still fun and clever nearly 40 years later.

8. Terraria

I used to be a huge Minecraft fan (is that subtle foreshadowing?) �?and Terraria always felt to me like a light version of Minecraft, where I was having plenty of fun. Hence, I ne??ver really got into it, but I was pretty much alone in that, apparently.

This game's enjoyed a flurry of sales in the last couple of years to rocket into the top 10 best-selling games, with a whopping 58.7 million copies moved. This is an outstanding achievement that kind of blew my mind while I was researching thi?s list.

Perhaps the core reason for its success is the sandbox nature of the title. In Terarria, you're not limited by anything, you can right ahead and explore wherever you ?want. You can also build, craft, and a whole lot more.

See why I thought back then that it was just a lite version of Minecraft?

Another contributor to this ga??me is the studio itself, which has showered this game with significant updates throughout the years, keeping players playing and promoting their game by word-of-mouth.

I would question its placement here myself, but given that it's a platformer (of sorts) just like Super Mario Bros, I guess it makes sense.

7. Red Dead Redemption 2

Despite its age, Red Dead Redemption 2 remains ??one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. Often times I'd completely forget about quests of any sort and just ride out on my horse and go fishing, hunting, or even just sight-seeing. It truly is a work of art.

It also just so happens to fall in seventh on our list, having sold 67 million copies since release.

Red Dead Redemption 2 can be slow, monotonous, and long, even by AAA game standards. But that meditative quiet is in service of one of the best narratives in high-budget gaming history. Red Dead Redemption 2 is ponderous and quiet, which has left it saddled wi??th the descriptor of "boring" by folks? who prefer their action a little hotter and heavier. Regardless, it's an uncommonly thoughtful game in a field often dominated by bright lights and flashing colors.

Apart from the amazing story, there's also the allure of Red Dead Online, which gives you the opportunity to join a possie and navigate the Wild West? with your friends while fighting off other possies. You could al?so try to befriend them, but given the hours I've got in this game I wouldn't recommend it unless you enjoy being gunned down on the regular.

You ?could always just chill out in the swamps and hunt alligators,? the choice is yours, and the freedom is one of the many things that make this game amazing.

6. Mario Kart 8

Nintendo's financial reports put Mario Kart 8, across its two editions, at over 72 million units sold, making it the sixth highest-selling game of all time. It seems p?retty staggering that a Wii U game, of all things, could climb so high in the rankings, but I guess that's the power of the Nintendo Switch port.

The first thought that comes?? to mind upon discovering these figures is... "boy, that's a lot of ruined f?riendships."

Mario Kart?? is a competitive racer and while it can be fun, there are certainly many fights to be had. Luckily we're adults now and we c?an all handle it, right?

Right?

5. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

According to The Verge, PUBG sold about 75 million units before going free-to-play, making it the fifth best-selling game ever. There's a good reason for that: when it came out, PUBG was a bit of a revelation. There had been battle royale mods and modes for various other games before, but a game designed from the ground up with 100-person death matches in mind was an uncommon sight. And PUBG was a solid first foray into a budding genre.

In 2024, you can't toss a twig without hitting a battle royale. They aren't all as good as PUBG, but, well, free-to-play PUBG isn't quite as good as 2017 PUBG either. If you really want to play a battle royale game, you're pretty spoiled for choice, and while PUBG isn't the worst option, it is a bit stale.

What's impressive is that PUBG has managed to hold o??n to its spot in this latest update, even ?without being eligible to have more copies sold. However, given the impressive speed at which Mario Kart 8 is selling, I don't think it has long left.

4. Wii Sports

Wii Sports was bundled with the Nintendo Wii at launch in all territories except Japan, which certainly helped its incredible Nintendo-reported 82.9 million unit sales. That figure makes it the fourth highest-selling game of all time. Honestly, though, I have a feeling that even without the pack-in numbers, Wii Sports could've made this list.

There's simply no better proof-of-concept for the Wii than Wii Sports. Every included sport demonstrates a different use for the Wiimote, and while no other game really found the same level of versatility in the device, Wii Sports was a shining reminder of what motion controls could be. It was the perfect pack-in game, yes, but it was also an excellent game in its own ri??ght.

I think a big contributing factor to this success was likely that we could stay indoors and still exerci??se. No going to the gym, no leaving the house, you know �?the kind of things we gamers don't like to do.

3. Grand Theft Auto V

Publisher Take-Two Interactive says Grand Theft Auto V has sold more than 205 million copies as of September 2022. That's a pretty hefty figure, one that makes it the third-highest seller in the medium. To be completely fair, though, it's not like GTA fans are spoiled for choice. There hasn't been a fully new GTA game in nearly a decade, and Rockstar just keeps porting GTA V.

The game is solid! It's a Grand Theft Auto game. It's a pretty incremental series, and the incremental improvements made in V are good. The writing is decent (if a little cynical for my taste), the open world is fairly compelling, and the primal joy of ramming cars into civilians has remained potent for many years. But, well... it's not really special at this point. Once again, we've seen an awful lot of great open-world games in the last nine years, and GTA V is getting a little long in the tooth.

The main thing is, the GTA VI hype machine pretty much roared into life the moment players made that final, fateful decision to conclude the storyline of GTA V. Sure, we had GTA Online to tide us over for a good long bit, but you can bet that tens of millions of players are eagerly a??waiting this latest en??try into this long-running series.

We're very likely to? see VI on this list at some point in the future.

2. Minecraft

The first time I played Minecraft, I probably wouldn't have guessed that it was fated to become the second highest-selling game of all time. And yet, this unassuming survival sandbox turned proto-Metaverse has sold a staggering 300 million units.

In some ways, calling Minecraft? one video game is a little unfair. In addition to having nearly two dozen editions across different platforms, it's also more of a host for games than anything else. The single-player survival mode is still a lot of fun, and creative mode is a good way to bang out some architectural concepts, but mul?tiplayer servers and mods are where the real party is at.

There are so many different things that can be done with the foundations of Minecraft, and that adaptability i??s the game's greate?st strength.

Type the name of your favorite series into a Minecraft mod website, and you'll likely find something. The same goes for movie worlds, and other popular game franchises �?you name it, it'??s probably there.

I haven't played in a fair while, but back when I did, Pixelmon was making its way to fame and there was a Walking Dead mod where you could meet the cast and have some fun with each one's weapon of choice. Just ?one example of the vast array of possibilities.

1. Tetris

Sometimes bright lights and flashing colors are good. Quickly, throw a stick somewhere in your room. Good money says you just hit a copy of Tetris. According to The Tetris Company, somewhere in the area of 520 million copies of Tetris have been sold, making i?t the highest-selling video game in history. It might also be the single best video game in history? if block puzzles are your criteria, I guess.

Tetris is one of those concepts that just works. Trying to fit things together in a tight space is satisfying on a primal level, and Tetris is a masterful piece of design work. It's almost silly to praise Tetris. Because? everyone already knows it's great. Because everyone has already bought it.

The post The t??op 10 best-selling video game? titles of all time, ranked by quality appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokemon Unite is a free-to-play MO??BA, freshening up a famil??iar formula with everyone's favorite pocket monsters.

There are currently 69 playable Pokemon in Pokemon Unite. I reckon this is a lot for one broad tier list, so we'll separate them by their Battle Types. This should give you a better idea of which Pokemon are best for which role in Pokemon Unite.

Each tier for the Pokemon is determined by their effectiveness in battle. The difficulty of playing the Pokemon doesn't come into the equation - if you're good enough, you can make the S? Tier Pokemon on these lists work.

Pokemon Unite All-Rounder tier list

All-Rounders in Pokemon Unite offer a little of everything. Solid attackers who can take their fair share of damage, too. They're the jack-of-all-trades of Pokemon Unite, but master of none. For ??new players learn?ing the ropes, All-Rounders are perfect.

S Tier

• Ceruledge
• Mimikyu
• Zacian

A Tier

• Aegislash
• Blaziken
• Gyrados
• Mega Mewtwo X

B Tier

• Buzzwole
• Charizard
• Lucario
• Metagross
• Tsareena
• Urshifu

C Tier

• Azumarill
• Dragonite
• Falinks
• Garchomp
• Machamp
• Scizor
• Tyranitar

Pokemon Unite Attacker tier list

Pokemon Unite attackers are focused on dealing tons of ranged damage. You wouldn't necessarily count on these guys in close-quarters combat due t?o their overall weak cr?owd control and low endurance, but from a distance, they can be menaces.

S Tier

• Armarouge
• Mega Mewtwo Y
• Mew
• Miraidon
• Pikachu
• Venusaur

A Tier

• Chandelure
• Espeon
• Gardevoir
• Inteleon
• Sylveon

B Tier

• Alolan Ninetales
• Cinderace
• Delphox
• Dragapult
• Glaceon

C Tier

• Cramorant
• Decidueye
• Duraludon
• Greninja

Pokemon Unite Defender tier list

Defenders are probably the slowest type of Pokemon in Pokemon Unite. They're there to cause problems with?? their large amounts of crowd control, and are great for stopping enemies in their track??s so the real damage-dealers can step in and do their thing.

S Tier

• Ho-Oh
• Slowbro
• Umbreon

A Tier

• Blastoise
• Crustle
• Trevenant

B Tier

• Greedent
• Mamoswine
• Tsareena

C Tier

• Goodra
• Lapras

Pokemon Unite Speedster tier list

Pokemon Unite Speedsters are the definition of a "glass canno??n." High movement speed and solid damage, while having extremely low durability. If you're a jungler, you'll likely be playing as a Speedster to farm wild Pokem??on.

S Tier

• Darkrai
• Leafeon

A Tier

• Meowscarada
• Zoroark

B Tier

• Absol
• Dodrio
• Gengar

C Tier

• Talonflame
• Zeraora

Pokemon Unite Supporter tier list

Supporters in Pokemon Unite aren't there to do damage. They're there to, well, support. Supporters focus on healing teammates, making them perfect as the ??second top or bottom laner to help out the Pokemon in other roles l?ike Attacker or All-Rounder.

S Tier

• Blissey
• Psyduck

A Tier

• Clefable
• Comfey

B Tier

• Eldegoss
• Hoopa

C Tier

• Mr. Mime
• Sableye
• Wigglytuff

The post Pokémon Unite tier list appeared first on Destructoid.

The Pokémon Company, along w??ith 30 other European content creators, has won a Guinness World Record this month. In a 24-hour marathon, the group opened more than 1,500 booster packs and contributed to t??he longest unboxing live stream video ever.

The Pokémon Company explained that hundreds of products were unboxed, and over 20,000 cards were shown off during the live stream. The content cre?ators also sported Pokémon Center and other products from the franchise over the course of the event. After the 24-hour mark was reached, the adorable Pikachu showed up and helped the streamers accept the Guinness World ??Records certificate.

A cool gesture, after this Pokémon Company world record was achieved, is that these thousands of cards have been donated to charities ahead of the holidays, including Bernardo's, a UK organization which helps children and families living in poverty. They have been "carefully curated into binders to create incredible collections of Trading Card Game cards," said the press release.
 
The expansion Scarlet & Violet - Surging Sparks - just launched earlier this month, and this event was a way to help promote it. It includes the Stellar Tera Pokémon ex, which includes a cool Pikachu with the powerful Topaz Bolt attack. Some cards are themed around the Terarium, a location from The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk DLC for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. One of the cards includes the?? Aloolan Exeggutor as a St??ellar Tera Pokémon ex as well.

You can get the cards physically or digitally through the TCG Live app. The press releas??e says you'll be able to receive in-game bonuses while logging into it.

The post The Pokémon Company breaks world record with European content creators, 20,000+ cards u??nboxed appeared first on Destructoid.

If you’re exploring Paldea in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, you’ll inevitably encounter G?immighouls that give out Gimmighoul Coins.

These little ghosts will often be sitting on rocks or ledges in random places. When you examine a Gimmighoul, you’ll receive between 1 to 200 Gimmighoul Coins. These materials seem to have no purp??ose at first, but there’s a huge reward for?? collecting them.

Since the launch of Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Gholdengo has proven itself to be a serious force to be reckoned with. Not only does it boast a powerful Steel/Ghost-Typing, but its signature move, Make It Rain, can also help you farm Pokedollars. It's useful in both casual playthroughs and competitive play, s??o grinding Gimmighoul Coins to get it is well wo??rth the effort.

Yet how, exactly, are you supposed to farm 999 Gimmighoul Coins when they appear so inconsistently? As it turns out, there are a few strategies to speed up the?? process??.

Where to find roaming Gimmighouls to obtain Gimmighoul Coins

As mentioned above, the roaming Gimmighouls will be your passive source of Gimmighoul Coins. 90% of the time, a roaming Gimmighoul will award you with 1-5 Gimmighoul Coins. If you're really lucky, there's roughly a 2% chance you'll get ??50-200 coins. Never pass by these Gimmighouls if you see one.

If you’re looking to grind roaming Gimmighouls specifically, your best bet is to check ruins. These monsters will be found more commonly here, in addition to other Pokemon who tend to gravita?te towards ruins, like Tinkatink. These Gimmighouls have a 50% chance to reappear daily, so don’t bother t?o double-check the areas you’ve covered until your system’s clock has rolled over to the next day.

You can expedite this process via date-skipping, but I wouldn't reall??y recommend this. Not only is it a hassle to mess with the Switch's clock, but it's not the most efficient way to farm Gimmighoul Coins. Instead, you should be like a classic RPG protagonist and? look for treasure chests.

Where to find Gimmighoul chests

For those looking to actually catch Gimmighoul, you’ll need one in its chest form. These encounters can be reliably found on top of watchtowers across Paldea. Whether you catch or defeat a chest form Gimmighoul, you’ll receive many more Gimmighoul Coins than the wandering Gimmighouls give. This will typically range from 10-50 coins, but you can receive as many as ?777 coins from a chest!

There are 14 watchtowers in total, and they are easy to access since each unlocks a fast travel point when you climb atop them. The one ex??ception is the Leaking Tower of Paldea near Alfornada, which doesn't have a ladder you can climb. You’ll want to mount Koraidon or Miraidon and jump to the top yourself from the nearby cliffside.

Gimmighoul chests can also be found in select ruins, so always keep your eyes peeled.

Each Gimmighoul chest has a 5% chance to respawn each day. A low chance to be sure, but keep checking spots where you found Gimmighoul chests, and you’ll inevitably have the 999 you need. Remember to keep track of your Gimmighoul Coin count in the TM Materials section?? of your inventory!

Best way to farm Gimmighoul Coins

Whether you're unlucky or want a sure shot of getting those 999 coins, yo??u follow your map and likely utilize that date-skipping method we mentioned earlier.

First, find a point on the map where you want to start, then head clockwise or counterclockwise. Try going through each ruins area and tower that you can fly to. Use ??our methods above to collect the Gimmighouls outside of their chests and then proceed to the tops of these towers to find the fightable ones.

To save time, only go to the tops of the towers, as the spawns are more consistent and give you better coin payout??s. If some do not spawn, try looking around a bit before moving on.

Next, as you do a full lap around the Paldea region and you have not collected the 999 you need, save where you started, then exit your game. Follow the steps below to ??change the time:

• Enter System Settings.
• Scroll all the way down to the "System" tab.
• Select "Date and Time".
• Turn off "Synchronize Clock via Internet."
• Manually set your system's time two hours ahead without skipping to the next calendar day.
• Re-open your game.
• Search for all the chests again in the same route.
• Repeat.

This will still be a tedious process, but it's goi?ng to be more reliable than passively farming them, especially if you want quicker results.

How to evolve Gimmighoul in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet

You can evolve Gimmighoul in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet by having 999 Gimmighoul Coins in your backpack and level it up once. It doesn't matter what level your mon is. Once it evolves, it'll use up those s??aid 999 Coins in your inventory to b??ecome Gholdengo.

Is the Gimmighoul Coin farm worth it for Gholdengo?

In short, Gholdengo is a must-have Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet. It may look a bit goofy, but there is more to meets the eye with this?? string cheese-looking mon.

It's a Steel and Ghost-type Pokemon that has pretty decent stats but c??an be a competitive sweeper when specced for Sp. Attack. With the right nature that benefits its highest stat, Gholdengo can easily use self-buff moves to deal some crazy damage.

Paired with the fact that it has the Good as Gold ability, you do not have to worry about status effects like sleep, burn, para??lysis, poison, or freeze.

Though, if you allocate most of its stats to Sp. Attack, you should use proper ??equipment to make i??t more resistant to its weaknesses.

As a raiding Pokemon, Gholdengo is up there in the ranks of other Pokemon like Iron Hands and Azumarill. It may not have the most o??ptimal he?aling properties as its aforementioned counterparts, but it can still deal some serious damage with a Nasty Plot build.

Gimmighoul coin NPC in Medali

There is an NPC in Medali who will give you any excess Gimmighoul coins you've earned past the cap of 999. You can find him at Medali (West), just around the Pokemon Center. He'll be w?earing light green, yellow, and white stripes standing next to a tree.

A yellow dialogue bu??bble will ?appear over his head that reads, "I keep finding these coins..." Simply talk to him, and he'll give you the coins.

Since reaching 999 coins may potentially put you over the limit, you will never truly waste any if you go beyond that. Navigating menus in this game can be a hassle with all the lag. So, if you just farm che??sts and Gimmighouls without constantly checking how many coins are in your inventory, this guy will keep every excess unit in reserve for you.

If he has nothing left for you, he'll tell you, "Lately, I've found a coin or two lying around. Perhaps folks have more than they can hold onto."

How to get Gimmighoul Coins in Pokemon GO

You can get Gimmighoul Coins in Pokemon GO by linking your GO account to either Scarlet or Violet. Upon doing ??so, you'll get a Postcard and a Coin Bag.

When you open the bag, you'll have a 30-minute period where you can find roaming Gimmighouls. Upon catching one, you'll receive som?e coins. Note that they spawn every few minutes, so you may need to repeat the Coin Bag ??opening.

When the 30-minute period is over, you have to wait a day so you can receive another Postcard and repeat the process.

Alternatively, you can earn Golden Lure Modules, which convert PokeStops into Golden PokeStops. O?nce that happens, you can spin them to earn Gimmighoul Coins.

Upon getting 999, you can do the same just as you did in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet to turn your Gimmighoul into a Gholdengo.

The post How to farm? Gimmighoul Coins in Pokémon Scarlet & Viole?t appeared first on Destructoid.

The Pokémon Company just unveiled the next Tera Raid Battle event for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and it's a big one. T??rainers will be able to fight and?? catch a Shiny Rayquaza, from December 19, 2024, to January 5, 2025.

Simply named "Shiny Rayquaza Appears!", this event wa??s revealed with a beautiful animated t??railer of the famous legendary Pokémon flying through the skies of the Paldea region, visiting iconic locations, and appearing alongside several important characters from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, lik??e ??Arven, Penny, Team Star, and the playable protagonist.

It's important to keep in m?ind that Shiny Rayquaza will appear on 5-star Tera Raid Battles inside Tera Raid Cr??ystals scattered throughout the entire Paldea region. This is a high difficulty level, which means that it's not going to be easy to defeat, so players should prepare themselves in advance. Pokémon also recommends teaming up with other trainers for this event, instead of relying on NPCs.

Several other in-game events will run alongside "Shiny Rayquaza Appears!", with the most interesting one being "Search for Dark-Colored Shiny Pokémon", which will make Shiny ?Pokemon with dark coloration appear more often in Mass Outbreaks. The examples listed are Cetoddle in Paldea, Carbink in Kitakami, and Fraxure in Blueberry Academy. These two combined events will run simultaneously and are a great opportunity for fans who enjoy collecting Shiny Pokémon.

Why did Pokémon specifically choose Shiny Rayquaza for this event?

This event is quite a big deal because, even though Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has had a lot of Tera Raid Battle events since its release, having the opportunity to catch a Shiny Legendary Pokémon is not something that happens every day. On top of that, Rayquaza is arguably one of the most powerful and popular Legendary Pokémon, not to mention that its Shiny version is one of the best in ?the entire franchise.

Sometimes named Black Rayquaza instead, The Pokémon Company has heavily featured this Pokémon in recent media: It appeared in Pokémon UNITE as a boss, and it's also a recurring character in the newe?st season of t??he anime, Pokémon Horizons: The Series.

The company didn't state anything official about it, but it most likely released this huge event due to the fact today is the 2-year anniversary of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which are still the most recent mainline games. On top of that, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar, ?which may have also contributed to Rayquaza's frequent appearances over the past few months.

The post Shiny Rayquaza is the star of the next Tera Raid in Pokém?on Scarle??t and Violet appeared first on Destructoid.

Palworld developers Pocketpair has revealed finer details of the lawsuit filed against them by Pokemon-makers Nintendo, and it certainly doesn't l?ook suitable for the latter.

It has long been suspected that Nintendo could move to court against Pocketpair ever since Palworld was released for the first time. It finally happened earlier this year, but the details of the legal proceedings have remained hidden till today. Based on what's been revealed by Pocketpair, they're facing charges of potential infringements of th?ree patents. Surprisingly, all three patents in question appear to have been filed after the game's release.

Palworld makers Pocketpair face a stiff battle with Nintendo

As per Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, Pocketpair's Palworld has reportedly infringed upon three patents - 7545191, 7493117, and 7528390. The exact details of these patents and what they infringe upon remain ??unknown, although it's reported that The Pokemon Company hasn't taken the Pal Sphere system too kindly.

Interestingly, Palworld was released in early access on January 19. The three patents in question here were all filed between February and July and registered a few months later. This does raise a massive question mark over Nintendo's ultimate motives about the entire situation. It could well be that the patents were filed as a reaction to Palworld's huge success in the gaming world.

While players don't need to be alarmed immediately, Pocketpair has confirmed that Nintendo and ?The Pokemon Company are seeking about $10 million yen and an injunction against Palword. While the penalty (approximately $66?,000) might not be huge, the injunction could be a worrying development.

Pocketpair has commented that they will continue to assert their position wi??th future l??egal proceedings, so the next few months could be interesting. One would hope that this battle won't rob the players of the upcoming updates that have been planned for the game.

The post Palworld developer reveals exact patent infringements, and it doesn’t look nice for Nintendo appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokemon TCG Pocket offers you different ways to get c??ards, and Mew is one of those rare items that can be unlocked for free without having to open any packs.

Usually, getting a full art card is very difficult inside the game, as you're relying on your pack luck. That's where the Mew item feels different - it's one of those rare full art cards that have no essence of luck at all. However, the game doesn't exactly tell you on your face about how to get this specific card. That said, it's relati??vely easy, and you can get your hand on the item pretty quickly.

How to get Mew in Pokemon TCG Pocket

Mew's full art card is a reward for completing your Kanto dex. In simpler words, you can find the card by obtaining all 150 Kanto cards that are currently available in Pokemon TCG Pocket. The best way to do this is by opening all three types of Genetic Apex packs available inside the store - Pikachu, Mewtwo, and Charizard.

For more clarification, you'll only want the basic cards of the 150 Pokemon, which are far easier to pull. These cards also have higher od?ds of being pulled from the packs, which will certainly help the cause.

How to get Mew for free in Pokemon TCG Pocket

As the main objective is to complete your dex, you'll want to open as many packs as possible. That means using all the pack hourglasses as well, which can accumulate? by completing different activities. You'll also ?want to open all three packs, as completing the dex otherwise won't be possible.

Make sure to be on the lookout for Wonder Picks as well, as they can help you to c?omplete your collection faster. Sure, you'll still be relying on your luck, but try to use them on packs that consist of more items not present in your collection.

Having the Premium Pass also helps, but I won't consider that as fre?e since you'll need to spend $10 every month to avail yourself of its benefits. But what you can use for free are your Pack Points, and use these items as your trump card. Don't spend them on the cards immediately - wait for how your collection looks like once you've completed 130-140 Pokemon cards. That way, you won't have to depend on your ??luck to complete the remainder of your collection.

That's pretty much it when it comes to obtaining Mew in Pokemon TCG Pocket. While the card looks gorgeous, it can hardly be considered as the cu??rrent meta.

The post How to get the Secret Mission Me?w in Pokemon TCG Pocket for free appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokemon TCG Pocket is not one of those card games where getting a duplicate card holds much merit, but you can certainly add some flair to them to help them stand out (quite literally). Hence you may be wondering how to get flair on your cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket.

Getting multiple copies of a card in digital card games is often considered an essenti?al part, but the new release from The Pokemon Company has a friendlier economy. That said, you'll end up with duplicates of cards that you already have. Doing so will help you make your cards look unique and add a dash of coolness to them.

How to obtain flair in Pokemon TCG Pocket

For start??ers, go to the My Cards section, which has a list of all your available cards.

• Select the "Obtain Flair" button.
• The next step will prompt you to the requirements of duplicate items and Shinedust (you get this resource by pulling duplicate copies of a card you already found in a previous pack).
• For lower Diamond rarity items, you'll need to apply the first cosmetic flair option before you can opt for the battle options.
• Higher star rarity cards will have the battle flair unlocked by default once you have adequate resources in terms of Shinedust and duplicates.

The requirements also change based on the rarity of a card. Those having lower rarity will need more duplicates and less Shinedust. Rarer cards like Pikachu EX will need more?? Shinedust, but?? you'll need only one duplicate. All cards at rarity 3 diamonds or above will need one extra copy to unlock their flair (along with Shinedust).

Once unlocked, you can equip the flair for the card from your deck section. Cards with flair will have a small icon on their screen - just press on it to app??ly the available flair option.

While adding flair to your cards in Pokemon TCG Pocket is really cool, it's purely a cosmetic effect. There are no in-game advantages for cards with flair, so don't stress too much about it. By opening packs regularly, you'll eventually end up with enough duplicates and Shinedust to ??unlock ??flair for several of your favorite cards.

The post How to get flair in Pokemon TCG Pocket appeared first on Destructoid.

There is no doubt that EX cards have a special place in the hearts of Pokemon TCG Pocket players, and some of the??m have unraveled a new way to gain some of these powerful items from their packs.

Based on the available odds, finding an EX card is p?retty tricky, and you'll really need to be lucky to find one inside your pack. However, some players seem to have unearthed a way to increase their chances of finding an EX card reportedly.

Pokemon TCG Pocket players are relying on folded crimped packs to get EX cards

Packs in Pokemon TCG Pocket have the same appearance inside the game as they do in real life. You can turn the pack to see its sides, and there appe??ars to be a technique for you to reportedly improve your chances of getting some of those shiny cards from your packs.

Several gamers are turning the packs to the side to look out for packs with crimped tops. Usually, each lot of pack has one (at least in my own experience), and their top parts have a bend. If you look carefully, they're pretty easy to spot. There are numerous instances where players have found an EX car??d from them. In certain cases, players have ended up with rarer items like Full Art cards, along with Trainer Items.

Here's one such instance where s?omeone ends up with Mewtwo EX from their pack, ?which is one of the best items currently available in the game. Of course, the results are random, and the method doesn't guarantee an EX.

In fac??t, I have tried the method eight times so far, but my luck has been pretty poor as far as getting EX cards is concerned. However, I have ended up finding 4 Full Arts from them, so that's de?finitely better than my usual pack luck.

Of course, there's no way to tell if there's a glitch in Pokemon TCG Pocket? as of writing. For the time being, however, I se??e no harm in trying to look out for the packs with a folded crimp. If it doesn't work, you don't lose anything. If it works like it has for many players, you'll be adding an incredible pack to your collection.

If you've tried this method and found Pikachu EX, make sure to check out this fantastic deck that will give you plenty of wins.

The post Pokem?on TCG Pocket players discover easy way to find EX cards appeared first on Destructoid.

The Premium Pass in Pokemon TCG Pocket is a handy ?choice for those who, like Ash?, want to "Catch 'em all."

But unlike the anime, you'll have to shell out extra money if you want to quicken your in-game progression. To be more precise, you'll have to spend $10 every month if you're look?ing at getting the Premium Pass. Since Pokemon TCG Pocket is a free-t??o-play title, there's always a question of whether spending any real-life money is actually worth it.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Premium Pass content

So, it's clear th??at we have to pay $9.99 per month to get the benefits of th??e pass. But what do we get in return?

• One extra daily pack, totaling 30 if you manage to log in once every day.
• Monthly premium missions.
• Access to the Premium shop, which lets you get special cards and accessories in exchange for Premium Tickets.

If you manage to complete all the premium missions (which is pretty easy to do), you'll get a total of 11 pack Hourglasses, eight Wonder Hourglasses, and 29 Premium Tickets. For comparison, if you were to spend the same money on the "Release Celebration" sal?e, you'd get 72 Poke Gold. One Poke Gold will help to reduce the waiting time for a pack by two hours. Hence, you'll need six Poke Gold to grant a pack and a total of 12 packs.

Hence, spending the same amount on the Premium Pass is a far better way to spend if you want to do so. The only benefit of getting the Poke Gold is immediate access to the extra packs. Unless you're in desperate need of new cards, the Premium Pass is perhaps the best way to spend money on Pokemon TCG Pocket.

That said, you can simply play for free, as Pokemon TCG Pocket isn't your typical digital TCG. While there is PvP, the game doesn't have a ranked mode. The lack of a progression system means that you can enjoy the game casually, and for that, having a?? meta deck isn't necessary.

As long as you remember to log in daily to the game and complete the missions, the Premium Pass is well worth buying inside the game. Opening 30 extra packs over a month can help build up your collection nicely and let you build more decks.

The post Should you get the Premium Pass in Pokemon? TCG Pocket appeared first on Destructoid.

Pikachu is certainly one of the best EX Pokemon to pack in the early days of Pokemon TCG Pocket, and you can build a pret??ty awesome deck with it.

Unlike the traditional formats of paper P??okemon TCG, Pocket is far more streamlined. While this makes deckbuilding easier, you'll still need to strategize based on the cards in your collection. To win consistently, you'll have to prepare a deck that has synergy among each other. The following Pikachu EX deck not only has that, but it also offers you plenty of scope to outthink your opponent.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Pikachu EX deck guide

Packing Pikachu can be a matter of luck as it's an EX card. The odds of finding one aren't very high, but you do get plenty of them if you're opening all your packs regularly. In fact, several cards on this deck can be ??obtained by clearing the tutorial challenges and missions.

Le?t's fi??rst take a look at the cards I have used in my Pikachu deck.

• 2x Blitzle
• 2x Helioptile
• 1x Voltorb
• 2x Heliolisk
• 2x Zebstrtika
• 1x Electrode
• 1x Meowth
• 1x Pikachu EX
• 1x Zapdos
• 1x Potion
• 1x X Speed
• 2x Poke Ball
• 2x Professor's Research
• 1x Sabrina

Note: You can use a card like Chansey in place of Zap?dos, but it's not an essen?tial part of the deck.

The card you'll want to open with is Meowth. It's the only non-electric card on this deck, and his ability to consistently draw cards is fantastic. You'll also chip away your opponent's health, but the main objective ??is to draw as many cards as possible. You can either sacrifice it or retreat it quickly with the help of X Speed.

If y?ou don't get Meowth in your ope??ning hand, don't even put it on the bench. Pikachu EX does 30 damage for every Electric Pokemon on the bench. The idea is to do 90 damage every turn, and Meowth on the bench doesn't help to achieve that.

Blitzle is a great opening-hand option if you can evolve it. Zebstrika's single energy attack might do just 30 damage, but you can apply that on any opposition Pokemon. While your o?pponent might be building up their EX Pokemon's 3 or 4 energy attack, you can take away a couple of creatures on their bench and get a victory.

If you're the type of person w?ho relies on luck, Heliolisk is pretty fun. It's 2 energy attack does 80 damage if you manage to pull a Head. With 90 HP, Heliolisk can usually withstand two attacks (unless it's coming from a top nuker/EX).

As for the items, Professor's Research is an excellent complimentary piece if you don't manage to get Meowth in your opening hand. Sabrina is the ultimate trump, which you should preserve at all costs. It's most useful when you already have two victory points, and your opponent is one step away from buil??ding their EX/last card. It becomes near impossible for them to navigate the involuntary switch, and they will mostly only have options on the bench that can be taken down with a single attack.

As for Poke Ball, its role is to fill the bench with your Electric Pokemon to help Pikachu scale up its attack. While I played with this deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket, drawing Pikach??u wasn't necessary to win. In fact, you could still ?win quite consistently without even drawing Ash's first Pokemon.

Once new cards are relea?sed in the upcoming weeks, I expect this deck to improve even more. For now, you'll really enjo??y this deck, but note that it has its counters, and you're not going to win every game.

The post Best Pikachu EX deck in Pokemon TCG Pocket appeared first on Destructoid.

The best Pokémon game that no one ever was

If you're one of the many who've lived and breathed Pokémon since childhood, it's easy to forget how many Pokémon games have come out since 1996. Even if you don’t count any spinoff titles and lump all dual releases together (i.e., Red and Blue), you still have over twenty games to choose from. If you can’t count the entries in a series on your fingers and toes, there are officially?? too many for a new person to consider.

Fortunately, the Pokémon formula is so timeless that virtually every mainline game is a good starting point. That said, the series has plenty of peaks and valleys, some of which are truly spectacular. Here are the ten best Pokémon games ranked from least spectacular to absolutely amazing. Whether you're a beginner looking for a jumping-in point or a longtime fan on the hunt for an excellent entry to replay, here are the ten best Pokémon games.

10 - Pokken Tournament DX

It’s a shame that the Pokken games didn’t take off more than they should have. Fans had been asking for an official Pokemon fighting game for years before Pokken Tournament hit the Wii U in 2016, and the game has a lot going for it. The character roster is full of iconic Pokémon, and its unique "Field Phase" feature allows the game to shift from a two-dimensional arcade brawler to a three-dimensional fighter seamlessly. Pokken Tournament DX, an enhanc??ed port to the Switch, sweetens t??he deal further by throwing in more characters and beefing up performance.

Unfortunately, the frustrating simplicity of its combat holds Pokken Tournament back. The complex technicality that defines many of the best fighters isn't here, and games can devolve into button mashers quickly. That said, Pokken Tournament is still a good time, and it's a superb choice for Pokémon fans and fighting? game enthusiasts who don't want to sink hours int?o mastering a complex combat system.

9 - Pokémon Snap

Pokémon Snap is a lot different from your conventional Pokémon game. Akin to an on-rails shooter game you’d play in an arcade, you don't catch a single wild Pokémon or battle even one rival trainer in this game. Instead, you're taking photos of the little critters to help Professo??r ??Oak’s research.

At first, it’s a simple and chill concept, riding along a slow-moving track and snapping pictures of Pokémon living in their natural habitats. However, when you unlock gadgets like Pokémon Food and Pester Balls, things get more exciting. By using these items at the right points in your photographic excursions, you'll unlock alternate paths full of new Pokémon to photograp??h.

Playing Pokémon Snap is like taking care of a flower: it's slow and even monotonous at first, but the game opens up ?and grows as you put more time and effort into it. Once you've unlocked some gadgets, snapping the perfect photo of that one Pokémon that's eluded you stops being a frustrating game of chance and becomes an engaging puzzle?? with an intuitive solution. And since you're graded on how clear and well-composed your photo is, completing one satisfying challenge usually leads to you unlocking a new one.

8 - Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu! and Let’s Go Eevee!

As the only generation of Pokémon games to be remade twice, every version of Generation One has its own unique charm. If you’re looking for a breezy way to see where the series began, however, you can’t go wrong with the Let’s Go! games.

Let’s Go! strips away many of the series' standard mechanics to draw in the massive crowd of new Pokémon fans created by Pokemon Go. Luckily, the game makes up for this straightforwardness by implementing some helpful quality-of-life improvements from Go, including Candies you can use to buff a Pokémon's stats and make it battle-ready almost as soon as you catch it. Its inclusion of follower Pokémon and Mega Evolutions also helps it stand out from other Pokémon games on the Switch.

That said, veteran Pokémon fans won't have a great time with Let's Go. The game's decision to replace wild Pokémon battles with Go-style-catching sequences? removes a part of the game that draws in a lot of players, and the exclusion of new evolutions and pre-evolutions of the Generation One game leaves its Pokedex feeling scant. Let's Go is excellent for beginners, but established Pokémon fans will probably want to skip these experimental departures from the norm.

7 - Pokemon X and Y

Being the first fully 3D entries in the mainline Pokémon series, X and Y had a lot of expectations to live up to. Fortunately, it? bore this weight well, emerging from underneath the mountainous pressure as a glittering, polygonal gemstone.

Pokemon X and Y boast one of the biggest regional Pokedexes in the series' history, bringing back many old favorites like Charizard and Lucario while introducing fantastic new Pokémon like Greninja and Aegislash. Introducing mechanics like Su??per Training also made it easier for players to train their Pokémon, making the series' competitive scene more accessible than ever. And, of course, Mega Evolution gave many of the series' best Pokemon fresh forms and insane power boosts.

For all these new bells and whistles, however, Pokémon X and Y suffer from a frustrating lack of content in some areas. The game's primary campaign is a disappointingly lean experience that pits you against Team Flare, who are a major step back from the menacing, challenging antagonists introduced in the previous generation. If you're one of those fans who doesn't put much stock into a Pokémon game's pre-post-game content, though, Pokémon X and Y are pretty fantastic.

6 - Pokemon Stadium 2

The Pokémon Stadium games were like a? supplement to the Game Boy titles that started it all. You transfer your team over to the game via the Transfer Pak and battle through many opponents, whether they are random CPUs in the game's stadium mode or the gym leaders waiting in the game's intimidating Gym Leader Castle.

Even if you didn’t have the Game Boy games and opted for the rentals, Pokémon Stadium 2, in particular, was where it was at. The game lets you pick from all two-hundred-and-fifty-one of the Pokémon ?available at the time of release, and the game's then-impressive graphics allowed players to experience Pokémon battles in an epic new dimension.

Once you grew tired of battling, there were also a handful of score-based mini-games that were so much fun to play. While it's no replacement for Mario Party, Pokémon Stadium's mini-game mode is an excellent time, especial??ly if you can g??et a few friends to play with you.

5 - Pokémon Emerald

While the Generation One Pokémon games launched the world’s most lucrative franchise, Generation Three proved the series had staying power despite Yu-Gi-Oh giving it stiff competition. Though this generation received some impressive remakes in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire for the 3DS, Pokémon Emerald for the Game Boy Advance remains arguably the be??st way to experience one of the series' best adventures.

Between the clean visuals, stellar soundtrack, and the excellent monster variety, Pokémon Emerald has all the fundamentals of an excellent Pokémon game. Yet the feature that elevates Emerald above even the Generation 3 remakes is the Battle Frontier. Diehard fans consider the Battle Frontier to be one of the best examples of post-game content the series has ever offered, and it presents potentially the most significant challenge you'll encounter in a mainline Pokémon game.

While the game relies too much on HMs in the latter half of the primary campaign, the Hoenn region is insanely fun to explore. Even an admitted overabundance of water can't d??ilute the pure feeling of adventure this Pocket Monster Title provides.

4 - Pokémon Platinum (Diamond and Pearl)

Many consider the fourth generation of Pokémon to be the franchise’s best in terms of design, characters, and activities. Pokémon Diamond and Pearl delivered an epic experience by taking full advantage of the leap in hardware between the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS. Pokemon Platinum crank?s everything about these adventures up t??o eleven.

The Pokémon design here was at its peak: from the trio of starters to the newly introduced evolutions to Pokémon from previous generations like Rhyperior, Dusknoir, and Electivire. The Legendaries of the Sinnoh r??egion are especi?ally impressive, being the first Pokemon to truly invoke divinity through their complex, intimidating designs.

The impressiveness of the game's character design doesn't stop at the Pokemon. This game's cast comprises some of the most memorable characters the franchise has ever introduced. Cynthia's elegant, layered design projects the grace and power one would expect from th??e Pokémon League Champion, and Cyrus' stiff pos?ture and soulless glare perfectly capture the Team Galactic leader's heartlessness in a way dialogue never could.

Pair that with the endgame being fun and diverse, especially in Platinum’s case. If you have the third generation of Pokémon games like the Kanto games or t??he Sinnoh games slotted into the GBA slot, you can encounter additional, exclusive mons in your game. Nowadays, this is much harder to do, but this was a nifty feature at the time.

3 - Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver

Many fans consider the Generation Two Pokémon games the most innovative titles in the series. Between the unique day/night system, killer soundtrack, and arguably the best post-game surprise in any Pokémon game, Generation Two offers an experience that even modern titles can’t match. While some criticize the mid-game pacing of these titles, one thing is clear: if you’re going to play Generation 2, play Heart Gold or Soul Silver for the DS.

Heart Gold and Soul Silver?? are hands-down the best remakes the series has ever offered. They give the original Gameboy titles a fresh coat of paint and flesh out the world with new dungeons and events not found in the original, like the addictive Pokeaethlon or the enticing ruins of Alph. The game even adds additional context to the game's story by confirming a long-held fan theory about the identity of the game's rival.

What’s more, the addition of Generation 4 mechanics like the physical/special stat split for attacks and the inclusion of new moves like Earth Power go a long way to keep these games feeling modern. Heart Gold and Soul Silver didn’t need to go as hard as they did, but it’s easy to see why us??ed copies of these games sell for upwards of $70 to?? this day.

2 - Pokémon Legends Arceus

Though Pokémon is a predominately iterative series, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the first mainline game to shake ?up t??he formula that has powered these games for 25 years. Some may call Legends: Arceus a proof of concept, yet nearly every risk this game takes not only succeeds, but flourishes.

The mix of traditional turn-based Pokémon battles, real-time boss battles, and catching mechanics is beautiful here. The difficulty curve is just as accessible as any mainline Pokémon title. Still, the open-world maps and powerful alpha Pokémon add enough optional challenge for longtime fans to sweat if things feel too easy. Legends: Arceus even introduces elegant quality-of-life to the franchise, like the speedy results screen after a battle and the ability to change a Pokemon’s move set at will from the ??menu.

As of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, it looks like mainline Pokémon games will embrace the open-world elements that Legends: Arceus introduced fully. Yet even if that’s the case, Legends: Arceus offers so much that it deserves ??a subseri?es of its own.

1 - Pokémon Black and White (and Black 2 and White 2)

To some, Pokemon’s Generation 5 games are a soft reboot of the franchise. To others, it is a last hoorah of Pokémon’s 2D art style before the series' leap to the 3DS. Regardless of who you are, Black and White are fantastic games that hardly show thei??r age over a decade later.

These games are the total package. The animated Pokémon sprites breathe life and personality into each monster, sometimes more than the 3D models in modern Pokémon games. The soundtrack is stellar, ranging from catchy town tracks to high-energy battle themes. Even the story veers into the thematically captivating territory, pitting players against an evil team who raise valid questions about the innate morality of the series' monster-fighting concept while still being love-to-hate antagonists. Black and White overflow with passion and creativity, and every Pokemon fan owes it to themselves to play them.

Some fans were dismayed upon release that only Pokémon introduced in Generation 5 are usable until the postgame of Black and White. However, even this gripe has a silver lining. In lieu of the usual “special edition�?game that remixes the previous entries and adds some extra content (a la Pokémon Emerald), Black and White received full-fledged sequel games in Black 2 and White 2. These titles add fan-favorite Pokémon back into their main story, and many fans consider these titles to be even better than th?eir predecessors. Perhaps it’s unfair to lump two sets of games together into the number 1 slot. Yet if you judge Generation 5 s?trictly by its quality, you’ll find plenty to love from start to finish.

The post Best Pokémon games of all time, Ranked appeared first on Destructoid.

An easy guide to gathering the Poké-squad together

One of the big draws for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet is the multiplayer. Players can hang out together, fight fearsome Tera Raid battles, or just vibe at a picnic. And the Union Circle is how Pokémon Scarlet and Violet make it all happen.

The Union Circle is the multiplayer hub for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It specifically lets ??????????????????????????players either join each other's groups? or form ones of their own.

It's easy enough to set up and use, and we'll also walk you through some common pitf??a?lls we ran into while playing multiplayer ourselves.

How to use the Union Circle in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

The Union Circle is accessible through both the Pokémon Centers dotted around the map or through your in-game Poké Portal. I've usually opted to go for the physical monitors on the sides of the Centers since you can fast-travel to one and there are a decent number. Just look for the big yellow circle and monitor, and hit the A button to access it.

[caption id="attachment_350910" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

Once inside, you'll see ??a menu. From here, you can either make a group to invite others to or join another group.?? Making a group will give you a code made up of letters and numbers to share with friends.

To get the party going, just have them punch it in on their end and connect. Once everyone is in, you can start it up. From here, you'll be in a shared instance of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, able to explore together.

Some tips for setting up multiplayer

First off, make sure you're connected to the internet. The L button ?is used to connect yourself to the net, and you'll need to be in Online Mode to invite others over from further out than yo??ur living room.

Secondly, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet multiplayer is not drop-in, drop-out. If someo??ne disconnects, you'll need to make a new group to link it all back. Disconnectio??ns won't automatically close the party unless it's the host, though.

[caption id="attachment_626147" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

What can you do in the Union Circle in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet?

Exploring together litera?lly means you can go out in the wild, catch Pokémon with friends, trade, and battle. You can't play the game cooperatively,? but you can help each other out and create a more personalized experience.

If you and your friend(s) have different versions of the ninth-generation game (Scarlet or Violet) and join a Union Circle, you can catch the other version's exclusive wild Pokémon. This will only work if you are within the vicinity of yo?ur friend with a different version. You can't be in two totally different regions of Paldea.

It'll also? be a lot easier to link up and take on all the different Tera Raid battles since you're already in a pre-made group. Players will h?ave their own separate crystals. You'll simply have to coordinate these since invites are only sent out if all players are not currently in a cutscene or battle.

[caption id="attachment_626148" align="alignnone" width="640"] Screenshot by Destructoid[/caption]

You can also do picnics and partake in outbreaks to increase your chances of encountering shinies out in?? the wild. The benefits are shared between players, so you can have someone there to help out or pitch in to find these super rare Pokémon.

Lastly, you can help your friend(s) locate certain items in-game or help physic??ally guide them in finding certain things. You won't share drops, but this can help newer players get up to speed!

If you do have friends who play or want to play Pokémon Scarlet or Violet, join up with them in a Union Circle to have a better overall experience. Experiences may vary based on internet quality?? from all parties.

The post How to use Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Union Circle for multiplayer appeared first on Destructoid.

Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter were both released in 2014 and allowed players to move Pokémon between games. However, it’s been a decade since then, and things have moved on somewhat in that ti??me. 

Now, moving Pokémon between current-gen games is remarkably easy thanks to Pokémon Home, but that doesn’t mean you can’t transfer Pokémon from previous gens if you’ve still got the softwa?re and consoles to hand.

Current status of Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter

Sadly, the ability to download both Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter ended when the Nintendo 3DS store was shut do??wn in March 2023. This means that if you’ve j??ust come into possession of a 3DS and were hoping to utilize the software, you’re out of luck. 

However, if you’ve got an old 3DS that already has the software installed or is ready to re-install it in the library, you’ll still be able to use it by following the steps below. When the 3DS Store closed, Pokémon Bank became a free service rather than a subscription service, so y?ou can now transfer as many Pokémon as you like entirely for free, provided you have the software.

Pokémon Home was released back in 2020, essentially replacing both Bank and Transporter and can work together with the two apps to brin?g past generation Pokémon into more recent games. 

Which Pokémon games are compatible with Bank, Transporter, and Home?

This is where things start to get a little complicated, so you might want to set aside some time if yo??u’re hoping to start moving your Pokémon between games. 

To start with, here’s the full compatibility of all games, including brief details about how the transfer works. Don’t worry,? we’ll go more into detail below:

It’s worth noting that games that require the additional use of either Pokémon Bank or Poké Transporter cannot be transferred back to their original games. Pokémon games that were released for the Nintendo Switch and only require the use of Pokémon Home, however, can be transferred bac??????????????????????????k to t??heir original locations.

How to transfer Pokémon using Bank, Transporter, and Home

For ease of reading and for lack of a better idea, let’s? break this rather long and convoluted process down into individual steps. If a step doesn’t apply to you, then just skip over it until the information becomes relevant. 

Step one: Third gen to fourth gen

This step applies if you’re transferring P??okémon from any of the following third gen ??Game Boy Advance games:

• Ruby or Sapphire
• Emerald
• FireRed or LeafGreen

To complete this step, you’ll need to own one of the following fourth gen games on Ninten?do DS:

• Diamond or Pearl
• Platinum
• HeartGold or SoulSilver

With two of the aforementioned games at your disposal, you’re ready to transfer Pokémon. This step is actually rather easy, and all you need to do is plug both games into the DS in their respective slots. Then, boot up your chosen fourth-gen game, and you’ll have the option to “Migrate from (insert third-gen game name here).”�?/p>

You’ll be here a while, as you can only transfer six Pokémon at once, but you’ll eventually end up with third-gen Pokémon in your fourth-gen game. To find them, head to the Pal Park, which can be found on Route 221 in Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum, or in Fuchsia City in HeartGold or SoulSilver.

Step two: Fourth gen to fifth gen

You’ll need to do this if you’re wanting to get any Pokémon from yo?ur fourth-gen game into your fifth-gen game, including any that you transferred from a th??ird-gen game in the previous step. 

In order to complete this step, yo?u’ll?? need two Nintendo DS or DSi consoles and a copy of one of the following games:

• Pokémon Black or White
• Pokémon Black 2 or White 2

Plug?? your chosen game into one of the DS consoles, and then head to the Poké Transfer Lab on Route 15. Talking to the scientist inside will prompt you to connect another DS through Wireless Communications. 

On the second DS, choose “DS Download Play�?from the menu, and then you’ll be free to transfer Pokémon. There’s a mini-g??ame involved, and you’ll need to capture the Pokémon you want to transfer, with any that are caught ?going to your PC Box. 

Step three: Fifth gen into sixth gen using Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter

This is where the first two apps come into play, and things start to get convoluted. You’ll need both Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter installed on your 3DS to proceed.

First, insert the fifth generation game that you’re hoping to transfer Pokémon from into the cartridge slot, then open it up and place any Pokémon you want to transfer into “Box 1�? Poké Transporter will only transfer Pokémon in this box, so if you’ve got a la??rge collection, you’re going to be here a while. 

It’s also worth noting that items held by transferred Pokém??on will be automatically sent to your bag, but if it’s full, the item will vanish. To avoid losing precious items, make sure that you have enough space in your bag for possible new additions. 

Once you’ve got everything prepared, open up the Poké Transporter and select the game you want to transfer from. Confirm your choice, and Poké Transporter will take all of the Pokémon from Box 1 and move them to Pokémon Bank. 

Step four: Sixth or seventh gen Pokémon directly to Pokémon Bank

Once your chosen Pokémon is successfully transferred into your sixth-gen game, things start to get a little easier. Both sixth and seventh-generation games allow you to transfer Pokémon directly into the Pokémon Bank. 

This includes:

• Pokémon X or Y
• Pokémon Omega or Ruby
• Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
• Pokémon Sun or Moon
• Pokémon Ultra Sun or Ultra Moon

To transfer Pokémon from any of these games, all you need to do is insert the cartridge and then open up the Pokémon Bank app. Onc??e that’s open, you can take your time going through your boxes and transferring any Pokémon you want. 

Step five: Transferring Pokémon from Pokémon Bank to Pokémon Home

To transfer Pokémon between Pokémon Bank and Pokémon Home, you’ll first need to have a paid subscription to Pokémon Ho??me, which costs the following:

• Monthly: $2.99 USD
• Quarterly: $4.99 USD
• Annually: $15.99 USD

As long as you have that, you have two choices:

If you used the same Nintendo Account on both devices, you don’t even need to still own your Nintendo 3DS. Download Pokémon Home, login using your Nintendo Account details, and then press the 3DS icon, then select “No Nintendo 3DS�? The app will search for your corresponding Pokémon Bank account and then instantly transfer all of the Pokémon held there into Pokémon Home. 

If you do have your 3DS but used different Nintendo Accounts for each device, things are a little slower but it can still be done. First, make sure that both devices are fully updated, then open the Pokémon Bank app on the 3DS. Find the option to “Move Pokémon to Pokémon Home�?and open up Pokémon Home on the Switch. 

Select the 3DS icon and then “Begin Move,�?giving you a code that you’ll need to enter on the 3DS before allowing you to transfer any or all Pokémon into Pokémon Home. 

Transferring Pokémon using Pokémon Home

Now we’re all up to date, and Nintendo has given us the gift of simplicity. Any game that was released for the Nintendo Switch allows you to transfer Pokémon directly to Pokémon Home. 

As long as you have Pokémon Home instal??led on the same Switch that you use to play the following games, you’ll be able to transfer Pokémon between them:

• Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee! or Pikachu!
• Pokémon Sword or Shield
• Pokémon Brilliant Diamond or Shining Pearl
• Pokémon Legends: Arceus
• Pokémon Scarlet or Violet

Simply open up the Pokémon Home app on your Switch, select “Pokémon,�?and choose the game you want to transfer from. You’ll find all the Pokémon from that game listed and ready to transfer. 
The worst that can happen here is that you may need to update a game before Pokémon Home allows you to tra??nsfer Pokémon, but once that’s done, it’s as easy as moving Pokémon between boxes.

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