Anniversary of Pokemon ‘catching ’em all’

Emma Nicholson, Reporter

For years fans have watched the shows, played the games (card and video alike), and attended conventions on their quest to catch them all. With the 20th anniversary of Pokémon on Feb. 27, people are celebrating in new ways.

Nintendo released new Nintendo 2DSs in four different colors—red, blue, green, and yellow—in conjunction with the 20th anniversary. Each color corresponds with a different version of the game.

The game and 2DS are bundled, and players will be able to wirelessly connect to other players to battle and trade Pokémon.

Abbey Cottingham, junior, recently got into Pokémon, and although she hasn’t played any of the games, she wants to.

“I played almost every single game ever and I still play some of the new ones,” Aadric Dowdy, junior, said. He got into Pokémon at a very young age.

Pokkén Tournament, a game mash up of Pokémon and Tekken, which had previously only been an arcade game in Japan, will be available for the Wii U. A tournament will be held later this year as well.

Cottingham hasn’t played any of the games, but she wants to get Pokémon Sapphire or Red.

Nintendo’s first app Pokémon GO will allow iOS and Android users to catch and train Pokémon in the real world.

Pokemon GO Plus is a device players wear, and it will alert the user when a Pokémon is near. The Plus device allows the player to catch the Pokémon without using one’s phone.

Both Cottingham and Dowdy want to get the app.

This year a different mythical Pokémon will be distributed each month via the video games. They will only be available in certain games.

Older movies will be remastered for the anniversary, and new movies will be released later this year.

On Twitch, a streaming service, a 24-hour marathon of the Pokémon animes was held.

“I still watch the show! I’m still on Indigo League,” Cottingham said.

The merchandise is likely to be popular due to the franchise having sold 275 million Pokémon games worldwide and the 21.5 billion cards shipped to 74 counties over the last 20 years.

Cottingham did not buy any of the special merchandise released for the anniversary.

Dowdy already owns a lot of the products, so he didn’t buy any new items.