Great Glittering Gardens! (in Pokemon GO)

Scarlet & Violet climb the bestseller ranks

Author

Cooltrainer Ace
August 03, 2023 • Estimated Read Time: 6 minutes

Good morning from your favorite email writer, the one and only Cooltrainer Ace. If you follow the Pokémon rumor mill, you may have seen hints/promises/guarantees from social media “experts” about a Pokémon Presents next Tuesday, August 8. As of Thursday morning, August 3, this remains an unverified rumor. I’ll be sure to keep you posted if/when a Presents appears.

Here’s this week’s rundown (estimated read time, 3.5 minutes):

  • The Glittering Garden event begins this Saturday in GO.

  • Scarlet & Violet close in on #3 bestselling Pokémon games of all time.

  • Changes to the 2024 Pokémon Championship Series.

Get you some grass-types during Glittering Garden

Starting August 5, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, August 8, at 8:00 p.m. local time, grass and fairy types are taking over Pokémon GO.

Mandatory “show me around, Old Man” comment: When I was your age, we didn’t HAVE fairy types!

Here are the event details:

  • Shiny Petilil available for the first time.

  • Increased Encounters: Bulbasaur, Jigglypuff, Oddish, Hoppip, Seedot, Cacnea, Petilil, Ferroseed, Spritzee, Swirlix and Dedenne (all shiny unlocked).

  • 2 km Eggs: Budew, Cherubi, Petilil (all shiny unlocked) plus Sewaddle, Bounsweet, and Larvesta (no shinies ☹️).

  • Field Research Encounters: Tangela, Roselia, Petilil, Foongus (all shiny unlocked).

  • Timed research is focused on exploration & hatching eggs.

  • Event Bonuses: 1/2 distance to earn hearts with your Buddy Pokémon, Increased chance of earning Candy XL when walking with your Buddy Pokémon, 1.5× Candy for hatching Pokémon, 1.5× Stardust for hatching Pokémon.

Scarlet and Violet: moving up the bestseller ranks

Nintendo just released its Q2 financial reports, and as of June 30, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has sold 22.66 million units. This means it’s sitting at #4 on the most-selling Pokémon games of all-time list.

With Gold & Silver at #3 (23.10 million units sold) and Sword & Shield at #2 with 25.92 million units sold, the DLC releases will easily bring S/V into the #3 spot and possibly give it a chance to hit #2 all-time.

I’m not sure anyone can objectively say Scarlet & Violet is better than Sword & Shield but I think marketing S/V as the first-ever open-world Pokémon game was likely a factor in its success. (Whether this was a hit or not is open for interpretation).

The hype train is certainly picking up steam for a massive Gen 10 release, likely in 2025. Let’s hope Gamefreak delivers.

The 2024 Pokémon Championship Series announces changes to qualify

Hard to believe it, but the 2024 is underway and there are new changes this season for competitive players trying to be the very best like no one ever was in the TCG, VGC, and Pokémon GO.

The biggest difference is that GO will now join the Championship Points system. (Points you earn for placing in qualifying tournaments that help to earn you an invitation to the World Championships if you get enough of ‘em. The only other way to get in is by placing high enough to earn a direct invite).

Points have been adjusted to ensure players that reach the “top cut” always earn points and more players overall should earn points in the 2024 season. Players can now also qualify for World Championships by winning a “major event.”

Players who win a Pokémon TCG, Pokémon Video Game, or Pokémon GO Regional Championships, or reach the finals of an International Championships, now automatically qualify for the Pokémon World Championships, regardless of their total Championship Points at the end of the season. If a player who becomes a Regional Champion earns a Worlds invitation through another method, such as accumulating enough Championship Points, the automatic invite will not be passed down to the next available player.

Card of the Week

Revavroom ex (illustrator: Souichirou Gunjima) is one of the new cards coming next week in the Obsidian Flames expansion. Are you chasing it?

Random encounters around the internet

  • Raid Reminder: This weekend is your last chance to take on 7-star Normal-Tera Type Rillaboom in Scarlet/Violet ( runs Thursday, August 3 at 5:00 p.m. PDT to Sunday, August 6 at 4:59 p.m. PDT.)

  • August 2023 Community Day: Froakie is coming next Sunday, August 13 (more details in next week’s issue).

  • 🔥Obsidian Flames, the latest TCG expansion arrives August 11. Here’s an early look at a few of the cards.

  • 😬 We’re on Day 34 of fusing every Gen 1 Pokémon together on Reddit.

  • 📺The third season of the Pokémon Anime, The Johto Journeys, will soon be free to watch on the Pokémon TV app and watch.pokemon.com.

  • Outside the Pokéverse: Post Malone recently bought the PSA 9 one-of-a-kind Magic the Gathering card of “The One Ring” for $2.6 million.

Obscure Pokémon Fact of the Day (from u/Mx_Toniy_4869)

Until next time,
Cooltrainer “Fairy Types are for the young” Ace