Pokemon Scarlet & Violet sales numbers are in

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From the journal of Cooltrainer Ace:
February 8, 2024 - Victory Road, Floor 2

The cold bites deep even here underground. Only the sounds of battling Rhydon and Machoke break the silence. Sleep and comfort allude me. I huddle near my Magmar’s tail for both warmth and light as I write these words. It’s not easy being the guardian of Indigo Plateau, but I will continue wiping trainers and writing killer emails until the name Cooltrainer Ace is known across Kanto and beyond.

Here’s this week’s rundown (estimated read time, 4 minutes):

PSA: A 40-minute Nintendo Direct is happening TODAY (Feb. 8 ) at 2 p.m. Pacific.

• Guess who cracked the top 3 most-selling Pokémon games?

• The season of love lands in Pokémon GO

• Two new Pokémon debut in GO Raids this week

• We’re throwing it back for the Card of the Week

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet sales numbers are in

Koraidon is red, Miraidon is purple.
And now they’ve sold third best in the world (sort of).

That’s right youngsters and lasses, Scarlet & Violet cracked into the top three highest selling Pokémon games of all-time just 13 months after release. Nintendo released updated numbers in their latest quarterly report and we’ve got our pals at Serebii to thank for the tallying

Here’s the top ten. Numbers next to the name are total units sold.

1. Red/Green/Blue - 31,380,000

2. Sword/Shield - 26,170,000

3. Scarlet/Violet - 24,360,000

4. Gold/Silver - 23,700,000

5. Diamond/Pearl - 17,670,000

6. X/Y - 16,720,000

7. Sun/Moon - 16,320,000

8. Ruby/Sapphire - 16,220,000

9. Black/White - 15,640,000

10. Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee -15,070,000

Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl comes in at #11 and by some travesty of the universe, Legends Arceus is all the way down at #12.

According to Serebii founder Joe Merrick, here are how other mainline Pokémon games sold worldwide in their first 13-14 months of release

• X/Y: 13.7 million

• Sun/Moon: 16.05 million

• Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee: 11.76 million

• Sword/Shield: 20.35 million

• Legends Arceus: 14.83 million

From a sales standpoint, these numbers make the likelihood of another Let’s Go or Legends game slim. Especially consider the third-party (is that the right term?) developed Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl outsold Legends and has only sold 10,000 less copies of Let’s Go at 15,060,000.

Pokémon GO’s Carnival of Love

Bust out the balloons, chocolates, and roses. Love is in the air this week in GO. Literally. I can’t stop coughing from the pink fumes. Starting Tuesday, February 13, at 10 a.m. to Thursday, February 15, at 8 p.m. local time, Pokémon GO is all-in on Valentine’s Day.

Don’t miss the chance to change your Natural Form Furfrou to Heart Trim Furfrou!

Event Bonuses:

• Increased chance of receiving Candy XL when walking with your buddy

• Two guaranteed Candy XL for evolving Pokémon

Field Research Encounters: Snubbull, Roselia, Spinda with a heart pattern, Clamperl, Luvdisc, Furfrou, Stufful (all shiny unlocked).

Wild Encounters: Snubbull, Luvdisc, Skitty, Furfou, Stufful, Quaxly (all shiny unlocked), and shiny locked Quaxly. Rare encounters include Roselia (also shiny locked).

All types of Oricorio and Flabébé are set to appear more frequently in the wild, color depending on where in the world you are.

For Oricorio Wild Encounters (all shiny unlocked):

• Baile Style Oricorio: Appearing in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

• Pom-Pom Style Oricorio: Appearing in the Americas.

• Pa’u Style Oricorio: Appearing in African, Asian, Pacific, and Caribbean islands.

• Sensu Style Oricorio: Appearing in the Asia-Pacific region.

For Flabébé Wild Encounters (all shiny locked):

• Red Flower Flabébé: Appearing in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

• Blue Flower Flabébé: Appearing in the Asia-Pacific region.

• Yellow Flower Flabébé: Appearing in the Americas.

• White Flower Flabébé and Orange Flower Flabébé: rare encounters anywhere in the world.

Hisuian Decidueye & Incarnate Forme Enamorus

It’s a season-long celebration of the Hisui region as Hisuian Decidueye will be making its GO debut this week. On Sunday, February 11, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. local time, players will get the chance to encounter the ninja owl in three-star raids.

Event Bonuses:

• Receive up to five additional free Raid Passes from spinning Gym Photo Discs.

• The Remote Raid limit will be increased to 20 on Saturday, February 10, from 4 p.m. to Sunday, February 11, 7 p.m. local time.

• Increased chance to encounter Shiny Hisuian Decidueye.

• Hisuian Decidueye will appear more frequently in raids.

Incarnate Elite Raids

Incarnate Forme Enamorus also makes its GO debut on Valentine’s Day through Elite Raids. Remember, each Raid Boss only appears for 30 minutes and can only be battled in person.

• Wednesday, February 14, at 12 p.m. local time

• Wednesday, February 14, at 1 p.m. local time

• Wednesday, February 14, at 5 p.m. local time

• Wednesday, February 14, at 6 p.m. local time

Elite Raid Battle–Completion Bonus Encounters: Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Snubbull, Taillow, Woobat, Rufflet, Fletchling, Spritzee, Swirlix (all shiny unlocked) and Emogla (shiny locked).

Card of the Week

In honor of Mewtwo’s birthday on February 6, our card of the week is throwing it back to this black star promo from Pokémon: The First Movie. This was one of four cards (Pikachu, Electabuzz, and Dragonite are the other three) that movie-goers could receive at theaters.

Forget diamonds, Ken Sugimori art is timeless.

Random encounters around the internet

• 💖 3 & 5-star Fairy-Tera Luvdisc are appearing in Tera Raids from Sunday, February 11, at 4 p.m. PST to Thursday, February 15, at 3:59 p.m. PST. That’s it. That’s the message.

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Obscure Pokémon Fact (from u/Mx_Toniy_4869)

Until next time,
Cooltrainer “Legends is the real bestseller” Ace