Pokemon releases a statement about Palworld

Let’s get one thing straight. When you have self-exiled yourself to the depths of a deadly dungeon to become the Coolest Cooltrainer there ever was, sometimes you eat Parasect and fight off angry Geodude with a baseball bat.

The folks at Palworld adopted the monster catching/survival crossover. I was born in it.

Here’s this week’s rundown (estimated read time, 5 minutes):

• Palworld caught Pokemon’s attention

• Get ready for the return of Team GO Rocket

• The latest Scarlet & Violet Tera Raids & Mass Outbreaks

Pokémon speaks out about Palworld

As the saying goes, it’s a Palworld after all. Or at least it has been for the past week as the game has reportedly sold more than 8 million copies.

Cooltrainer Ace ain’t about that drama but there is a lot to unpack here: allegations of blatant Pokémon design ripoff, outright plagiarized models, and the controversial use of AI to develop game assets.

One YouTuber even made a Pokémon mod… that lasted about as long as a Magikarp in a Pidgey pen before Nintendo took it down.

Safe to say, the Pokémon fandom is a house divided this week. There were reports that the Palworld devs received death threats from Poké Heretics. You can’t set foot on Pokémon Twitter/X without finding fans arguing over Palworld being a wakeup call for Gamefreak or the literal destruction of the monster taming genre as we know it.

Longtime Pokémon/Nintendo YouTuber Austin John, came out in support of the game. That lasted about two days before he declared on Wednesday “f*** it, im done talking about palworld if you wanna play it cool, if not cool. i dont care.”

And then, The Pokémon Company released this statement last night:

It’s more than a little on the nose that they talk about ""cherishing and nurturing each and every Pokémon” when referencing a competitor’s game that literally lets you shoot penguins out of bazookas. Well played, Pokémon. Well, played.

We’ll wait and see if any actual legal action unfolds in the coming weeks and months. Chances are 50/50 that this all blows over, or totally blows up. As far me, I’m gonna sip my tea, eat my popcorn and keep writing 🔥fire 🔥 emails for y’all.

Team GO Rocket Strikes Back

Team GO Rocket is making a comeback and Giovanni has some serious drip with Shadow Kyogre in his arsenal. Along with brand-new Shadow Pokémon, Shadow Ho-Oh makes a return too, but this time with some shiny potential (wink, wink).

The invasion begins on Saturday, January 27, at 12 a.m. and runs through Thursday, February 1 at 11:59 p.m. local time.

Event Bonuses:

• Varoom and its Evolution Revavroom make their Pokémon GO debuts.

• Starting with this event, Varoom may hatch from 12 km Eggs.

• Team GO Rocket will appear more frequently at PokéStops and in balloons.

• Use a Charged TM to help a Shadow Pokémon forget the Charged Attack Frustration.

• The last part of the Seasonal Special Research story will be unlocked at the beginning of the event and can be claimed up to the end of the Timeless Travels Season on March 1 at 10:00 a.m. local time. Receive a Super Rocket Radar and chase down Giovanni!

Field Research Encounters: Ekans, Zubat, Koffing, Paldean Wooper, Poochyena, Sableye, Croagunk, Scraggy (all shiny unlocked) plus Hisuian Qwilfish, Mareanie, Bruxish, Nymble (shiny locked)

Field Research rewards also include Mysterious Components, Charged TMs, and Fast TMs.

Shadow Encounters: Shadow Corphish, Shadow Snorunt, Shadow Chimchar, Shadow Piplup, Shadow Croagunk, Shadow Dwebble, Shadow Ferroseed (all shiny unlocked)

Raids:

• One-Star: Alolan Rattata, Alolan Meowth, Alolan Grimer, Galarian Zigzagoon (all shiny unlocked)

• Three-Star: Galarian Weezing, Tyranitar, Bombirdier (all shiny unlocked) plus Weezing (shiny locked)

Shadow Raids:

• One-Star: Shadow Murkrow, Shadow Pineco, Shadow Croagunk (all shiny unlocked) and Shadow Alolan Sandshrew (shiny locked)

• Three-Star: Shadow Scyther (shiny unlocked) plus Shadow Skarmory and Shadow Golett (both shiny locked)

• Five-Star: Shadow Ho-Oh (shiny unlocked) from Saturday, January 27 at 6 a.m. to Sunday, January 28, at 10 p.m. local time.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Tera Raids & Mass Outbreaks

The next 5-star Tera Raid Battle event features Flutter Mane for Scarlet or Iron Jugulis in Violet. The fluttery fiend and techno dragon are here from 4 p.m. Pacific on Friday, January 26 to 3:59 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, January 28. Both will appear in a variety of Tera Types, so happy hunting!

Speaking of happy hunting (not talking about actual hunting, plz don’t cancel me like Palworld) mass outbreaks of Gulpin, Stunky, Skrelp, and Clauncher will appear throughout Paldea beginning at 4 p.m. Pacific on Friday, January 26 to 3:59 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, January 28.

Pokémon encountered in these special mass outbreaks are more likely to have the Uncommon Mark or Rare Mark depending on the version of the game they appear in (though all four can be found in both games during the outbreak event).

Card of the Week

Take a gander at this sparkly Espathra EX. Coming in Paldean Fates (releasing this Friday), this is the stylish ostrich’s debut in the TCG. Glamorous, darling.

Random encounters around the internet

• Pokémon Center has a whole host of new TCG accessories and they are looking fine. My personal favorite is the FR/LG playmat with Kanto sprites on it. The Koraidon and Miraidon mats ain’t half bad, either.

• Pilfering Felt Hat Pikachu? Four employees of the Van Gogh Museum were suspended for misconduct during the Van Gogh x Pokémon exhibition last year. One allegedly stole a box of the highly-sought after promo cards.

• Do not miss these absolute Snorlax masterpieces as part of Project Snorlax.:

Obscure Pokémon Fact (from u/Mx_Toniy_4869)

Until next time,
Cooltrainer “minding my own business” Ace