Another year, and another Pokémon Day celebration, means we’ve also been treated to another Pokémon Presents showcase with news and updates on current and upcoming Pokémon games.
Hosted by The Pokémon Company’s CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, and COO, Takato Utsunomiya, this year’s presentation ran for roughly 20 minutes and delivered just about what anyone could have reasonably expected given the company’s current, publicly-known slate. You can watch the full Pokémon Presents in the video just below, or read on for a quick rundown of everything we saw:
Pokémon Legends Z-A Gameplay
Let’s kick off with the good stuff, shall we? Naturally, this one capped off the entire presentation as a final treat, but this is really what we’re all here for – two spankin’ new trailers for Pokémon Legends Z-A.
The main trailer and extended gameplay feature clock in at a combined five minutes, so there’s plenty to see here including a thorough look at the gorgeous locale of Lumiose City in the Kalos region as well as a heap of the included Pokémon and human characters. Lumiose’ urban trappings definitely give it a hugely different vibe to the Hisui region in Pokémon Legends Arceus, but thanks to its ideals of co-living for humans and Pokémon, you’ll have plenty of Wild Zones to explore and catch wild Pokémon in.
Battles have also been given a pretty significant refresh, doing away with turns and having players position themselves and their Pokémon to dodge moves or manage the AoE of their own moves.
And Mega Evolutions are in, baby!
Pokémon Legends Z-A is slated for launch in late 2025, though unfortunately for anyone hoping this might tie into some Switch 2 news – the trailers below still look to be targeting current Switch spec:
Pokémon Champions
What’s this? A brand-new Pokémon game announcement? You’d best believe it! Pokémon Champions looks like it’s taking the core concept of Pokémon Stadium – straight up Pokémon battles with no guff around the outside – and bringing them to modern platforms like Switch and mobile. Players will be able to import their ‘mons from Pokémon HOME and the game will support crossplay.
Along with the reveal of Pokémon Champions, the company also announced that it’s bringing Latin American Spanish translations to Pokémon games going forward, including Legends Z-A and the TCG. Good stuff!
Pokémon Concierge Returns
This is the announcement I was quietly hoping for the most. More episodes of Pokémon Concierge are in production and on their way to Netflix in September 2025. Not a whole lot was revealed about this new season, but from the teaser art shown we can see Shinx and Luxray in the mix, along with Arcanine and Corphish thanks to some adorable behind-the-scenes footage.
And right now, for a limited time until March 9th, the first four episodes of Pokémon Concierge have broken free of their Netflix confines and can be watched on The Official Pokémon YouTube.
The Next Pokémon TCG Pocket Expansion
Despite this one seemingly leaking ahead of time, the news of the next Pokémon TCG Pocket expansion is still exciting, especially as it drops today! Dubbed Triumphant Light, and given the “A2a” designation, this is another smaller, Mythical Island-style expansion with just one booster variant.
The feature card this time is Arceus ex, which debuts a new “Link” ability, offering powerful bonuses to certain cards when they’re in play alongside Arceus ex. Along with the new expansion, a number of Pokémon Day bonuses and missions will also await those who log in today, and we’ve now got confirmation that Ranked matches are coming to the game in March.
For those playing the physical Pokémon TCG, another teaser also showed off some sick-looking new Mega Evolution cards, including Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex.
Updates To Other Pokémon Games
Peppered throughout the presentation were a number of other updates on current Pokémon video games, including new mass outbreak events in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet, a new Pokémon GO Tour: Unova global event for Pokémon GO, two new master sync pairs were revealed for Pokémon Masters EX, three new Pokémon in Pokémon UNITE and new updates for Pokémon Sleep and Pokémon Cafe Remix.
Phew.
What did you think of this new Pokémon Presents? Are you keen for Pokémon Legends Z-A and/or Pokémon Champions? Let us know in the comments below or on social media.
Kieron's been gaming ever since he could first speak the words "Blast Processing" and hasn't lost his love for platformers and JRPGs since. A connoisseur of avant-garde indie experiences and underground cult classics, Kieron is a devout worshipper at the churches of Double Fine and Annapurna Interactive, to drop just a couple of names.
