Pokémon Presents
Pokémon Presents is the current name used for the periodical presentations from The Pokémon Company, in which news and updates about the Pokémon franchise are shared. Originally, news about upcoming events, updates and games was shared via the Nintendo Channel on the Wii and Nintendo Video on Nintendo 3DS. In 2011, Nintendo launched their Nintendo Direct series, which provided news via pre-recorded video presentations. An offshoot of this, titled Pokémon Direct, began in 2013 and along with occasional live press conferences this format continued until 2020, when it was replaced by the Pokémon Presents format.
This article lists all of these Pokémon presentations, and the major announcments made at each of them.
2013
January 8, 2013
On December 29, 2012, a teaser was added to the end of a Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 commercial that revealed there would be a special announcement on January 8, 2013. On January 3, 2013, the international Pokémon websites posted a message to return to their respective site on January 8, 2013 for a special announcement.
On January 7, 2013, it was revealed that the announcement would be a special edition of Nintendo Direct, which would be named Pokémon Direct, and that it would be broadcast simultaneously around the world (Japan 8pm JST, United Kingdom 11am GMT and United States 6am EST).
The Pokémon Direct was presented by Satoru Iwata who began with the history of the franchise and was concluded with the reveal of Generation VI with two new games for the Nintendo 3DS, called Pokémon X and Y. A trailer was shown, introducing the three starters, Chespin, Froakie and Fennekin, snippets of both overworld and battle gameplay, and ending with the reveal of two legendary Pokémon, later revealed to be named Xerneas and Yveltal, respectively. In addition, Iwata also stated that, for the first time in the franchise's history, the games would be released simultaneously worldwide in October 2013.
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September 4, 2013
A second edition of Pokémon Direct was announced on September 3, 2013 and aired the following day on September 4, 2013 (Japan 8pm JST, Europe 1pm CEST, United Kingdom 12pm BST and United States 7am EDT).
It revealed a new service called Pokémon Bank and an associated transfer service called Poké Transporter. Besides the aforementioned features, the opportunity of the player to receive one of the Kanto starters from Professor Sycamore was revealed, along with their respective Mega Evolutions (in Charizard's case, only Mega Charizard Y was revealed, though it was referred to as simply "Mega Charizard" at the time), and with the Mega Ring, an item associated with such evolutionary phenomena. The give-away of the main Kalos starters, on the other hand, was revealed to be made by Tierno, one of the player's friends. The release of two special Pokémon-themed editions of the Nintendo 3DS XL was announced for both the United States and Europe.
A new Pokémon, Furfrou, was also accidentally revealed for a split second, which is part of 15:18 on the official video from the Nintendo Direct website, and at 15:11 on Nintendo's YouTube upload.
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2015
September 10, 2015
The Pokémon GO Press Conference (Japanese: 新事業戦略発表会 New Business Strategy Announcement) was was a live press conference announced and held on September 10, 2015, revealing the smartphone game Pokémon GO as a collaboration between The Pokémon Company, Niantic, and Nintendo. It was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara, John Hanke, Junichi Masuda, and Shigeru Miyamoto.
The conference was presented in Japanese and English with consecutive interpretation and streamed on Niconico. A video of the conference was later uploaded to the official English and Japanese Pokémon YouTube channels.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
2016
February 27, 2016
A third edition of Pokémon Direct was announced on February 24, 2016 and was scheduled for midnight on Pokémon Day in Japan for the Pokémon 20th Anniversary (Japan 12am JST, Europe 4pm CET, United Kingdom 3pm GMT and United States 10am EST).
The presentation was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company. A retrospective trailer was broadcast, culminating in a developmental preview and the announcement of the Nintendo 3DS videogames Pokémon Sun and Moon. It was indicated that a worldwide holiday 2016 release was planned for the games. Additionally, the games of Pokémon Sun and Moon were also stated to incorporate playability in nine languages - the returning languages include Japanese, English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Korean from Pokémon X and Y, while Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese are set to make their debuts as language options.
The 2016 re-releases of Pokémon Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow on the Virtual Console platform were also reiterated. Subsequently, connectivity capabilities of handheld consoles were reviewed: the Game Boy's Link Cable, the Game Boy Advance's Wireless Adapter, and the worldwide Internet-based interactions of the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS. It was later revealed that Pokémon who originate from the Virtual Console variants of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow Versions (as well as the Japanese editions of Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue, as mentioned in the Japanese broadcast) will be able to be transferred to Pokémon Sun and Moon by way of Pokémon Bank.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
2017
June 6, 2017
A fourth edition of Pokémon Direct was announced on June 5, 2017 and aired on June 6, 2017 (Japan 11pm JST, Europe 4pm CEST, United Kingdom 3pm BST and United States 10am EDT).
The presentation was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company and Junichi Masuda from Game Freak. Pokkén Tournament DX was announced for Nintendo Switch and Virtual Console releases of Pokémon Gold and Silver were announced for a release on the Nintendo 3DS eShop on September 22, 2017. Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon were announced for a simultaneous release worldwide on November 17, 2017.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
2018
May 30, 2018
The Pokémon 2018 Video Game Press Conference (Japanese: ポケモン新作発表会 Pokémon New Work Announcement) was was a live press conference announced and held on May 30, 2018, announcing the spin-off game Pokémon Quest for the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, the core series title Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! for Nintendo Switch, as well as a future core series title for 2019. It was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara, Shigeru Ohmori, Junichi Masuda of The Pokémon Company, Shinya Takahashi of Nintendo, and Tatsuo Nomura and John Hanke of Niantic.
The conference was presented in Japanese and English with consecutive interpretation and was live-tweeted by the official @Pokemon and @poke_times Twitter accounts. A video of the conference was later uploaded to the official English and Japanese Pokémon YouTube channels, as well as subtitled versions for the official French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Korean YouTube channels.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
2019
February 27, 2019
A fifth edition of Pokémon Direct was revealed on February 26, 2019 and aired on February 27, 2019, Pokémon Day (Japan 11pm JST, Europe 3pm CET, United Kingdom 2pm GMT and United States 9am EST).
The presentation was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company and Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori from Game Freak. Pokémon Sword and Shield were announced for a simultaneous release worldwide in late 2019 on the Nintendo Switch. A trailer showed snippets of both overworld and battle gameplay, ending with a CGI cinematic introducing the three starters, Grookey, Scorbunny and Sobble. Post-trailer, Ohmori revealed the names of the starters as well as a map of the games' region, Galar.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
May 29, 2019
The Pokémon 2019 Press Conference (Japanese: ポケモン事業戦略発表会 Pokémon Business Strategy Announcement) was a live press conference announced on May 27, 2019 and held on May 29, 2019 (Japan 10am JST, Europe 3am CET, United Kingdom 2am BST and United States 9pm EDT). It was presented in Japanese, English, and Chinese with simultaneous interpretation after the initial comments by Ishihara presented with consecutive interpretation and was live-streamed worldwide on Twitch in English and YouTube in Japanese. The stream was initially planned to also be live-streamed in Chinese on bilibili, but was canceled due to network issues.
It announced a Detective Pikachu game for the Nintendo Switch, a new Pokémon Center store in Shibuya, the cloud service Pokémon HOME, the mobile application Pokémon Sleep, the Pokémon GO Plus + device, and the spin-off game Pokémon Masters for mobile devices. It was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company, Hiro Matsuoka of Toho, Yoriomi Uego of Pokémon Center, Ethan Wang of NetEase Games, Junichi Masuda of Game Freak, Kazuhiro Maruyama of Nintendo, and John Hanke of Niantic.
As with the previous live conference, it was live-tweeted by the official @Pokemon and @poke_times Twitter accounts. A video of the conference was later uploaded to the official English Pokémon YouTube channel and the official Chinese Weibo account.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
June 5, 2019
A sixth edition of Pokémon Direct was announced on May 27, 2019 and aired on June 5, 2019 (Japan 10pm JST, Europe 3pm CEST, United Kingdom 2pm BST and United States 9am EDT).
The presentation was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company and Junichi Masuda, Shigeru Ohmori, James Turner, and Kazumasa Iwao from Game Freak. It revealed new information on Pokémon Sword and Shield.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
2020
January 9, 2020
A seventh edition of Pokémon Direct was revealed on January 7, 2020 and aired on January 9, 2020 (Japam 11:30pm JST, Europe 3:30pm CET, United Kingdom 2:30pm GMT and United States 9:30am EST). The presentation was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company and Junichi Masuda and Shigeru Ohmori from Game Freak.
It began with a quick reveal of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX for the Nintendo Switch, a remake of 2005's Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team. The game was given a release date of March 6, 2020, and a demo was made available after the presentation, with progress in the demo able to be transferred to the full game. Following this was the reveal trailer for the Pokémon Sword and Shield Expansion Pass, with the announcement that Game Freak has chosen to expand the original games instead of releasing an updated game like Pokémon Platinum or Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Hiroyuki Tani, the director at Game Freak overseeing the Expansion Pass, gave an overview of the two parts of the expansion, The Isle of Armor, releasing in June 2020, and The Crown Tundra, releasing in Fall 2020. Pokémon HOME was also announced to have a February 2020 release.
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June 17, 2020
The first Pokémon Presents presentation was announced on June 16, 2020 and was held on June 17, 2020 (Japan 10pm JST, Europe 3pm CET, United Kingdom 2pm BST and United States 9am EDT). It was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company and was streamed on the official English and Japanese Pokémon YouTube channels.
It revealed Pokémon Smile, Pokémon Café Mix, New Pokémon Snap, the additions of Mega Evolutions and Victini to Pokémon GO, a special Zeraora Max Raid Battle event, and the addition of Galarian and new Isle of Armor-inspired trainer outfits to Pokémon GO.
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June 24, 2020
The second Pokémon Presents was announced at the end of the previous on June 17 and was held on June 24, 2020 (Japan 10pm JST, Europe 3pm CET, United Kingdom 2pm BST and United States 9am EDT). It was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara and Masaaki Hoshino of The Pokémon Company, and Steven Ma of Tencent and was streamed on the official English and Japanese Pokémon YouTube channels.
It announced Pokémon UNITE, a game for the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, developed by TiMi Studios.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
2021
February 27, 2021
The third Pokémon Presents was announced on February 25, 2021 and was scheduled for midnight on Pokémon Day in Japan for the Pokémon 25th Anniversary (Japan 12am JST, Europe 4pm CET, United Kingdom 3pm GMT and United States 10am EST) and was streamed on the official English and Japanese Pokémon YouTube channels.
The presentation was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara and Takato Utsunomiya of The Pokémon Company. A retrospective trailer was broadcast, followed by a trailer for New Pokémon Snap and information on Pokémon Day events in Pokémon Sword and Shield, Pokémon Café Mix, Pokémon GO, and Pokémon Masters EX, culminating with the announcement of the Nintendo Switch video games Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
August 18, 2021
The fourth Pokémon Presents was announced on August 13, 2020 and was held on August 18, 2021 (Japan 10pm JST, Europe 3pm CET, United Kingdom 1pm GMT and United States 9am EST) and was streamed on the official English and Japanese Pokémon YouTube channels.
The presentation was hosted by Takato Utsunomiya of The Pokémon Company. It was focused on video games Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, as well as Pokémon UNITE and Pokémon Masters EX. In addition, Pokémon Café Mix has been revamped into Pokémon Café ReMix.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
2022
February 27, 2022
The fifth Pokémon Presents was announced on February 24, 2022 and aired on Pokémon Day (Japan 11pm JST, Europe 3pm CET, United Kingdom 2pm GMT and United States 9am EST) on the official English and Japanese Pokémon YouTube channels.
Unlike previous presentations, this Pokémon Presents was not advertised for Western regions until 30 minutes before the presentation started, as The Pokémon Company did not heavily promote the event there and were unable to postpone it worldwide in light of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia.[1]
The presentation was hosted by Tsunekazu Ishihara and Takato Utsunomiya of The Pokémon Company. The presentation announced Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the Daybreak update for Pokémon Legends: Arceus, a gift for Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl players that allow them to encounter Shaymin, Generation VII Pokémon for Pokémon GO, the inclusion of Hoopa for Pokémon UNITE, bonuses for Pokémon Masters EX in celebration of that game's 2.5 anniversary, and new special events for Pokémon Café ReMix.
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| This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. | |
Nintendo Direct
Announcements relating to Pokémon games have also been made during other Nintendo Direct presentations:
- November 12, 2015:
- Pokémon Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow (3DS VC; Japan)
- Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow (3DS VC; North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand)
- Pokémon Picross
- Japan release date of Pokkén Tournament; Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card
- Europe release date of Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon
- September 13, 2017:
- New Ultra Beasts (UB Burst and UB Assembly)
- English names of the new Necrozma forms (Dusk Mane / Dawn Wings)
- Splintered Stormshards Z-Move
- More details about the special Rockruff distribution for USUM
- Pre-order bonus of 12 Quick Balls
- Story variations and new locations in USUM
- Celebi distribution for USUM for players who buy the VC releases of Gold & Silver
- September 4, 2019:
- March 26, 2020:
- More details about The Isle of Armor
- September 23, 2021:
- Pokémon Snap announced as a planned future release for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack
External links
- Nintendo Direct (USA)
- Nintendo Direct (Japan)
- Nintendo Direct archive (UK)
