Pokémon 25th Anniversary facts for kids
Official logo in the shape of Pikachu's head with "25" represented as its red cheeks; this logo is derived from the franchise's 20th anniversary logo.
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| Date | January 1 – December 31, 2021 |
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| Type | Anniversary event |
| Organized by | Pokémon, Nintendo |
The Pokémon 25th anniversary, officially branded as Pokémon25, is an ongoing celebration during the entire year of 2021 in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, which began with the original Japanese release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green for the Game Boy on February 27, 1996. The franchise is being celebrated through various media of the franchise including video games, the anime, the manga, toys, clothing, music, and events.
The anniversary saw the announcements of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, set to release in late 2021, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, set to release in early 2022. They are remakes and a prequel of the 2006 games Pokemon Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo Switch, respectively.
Background
The Pokémon franchise began as Pocket Monsters Red and Green (later released outside of Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue) for the Game Boy, developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, on February 27, 1996. The Pokémon franchise is divided into groupings known as generations. In each new generation, a new set of Pokémon and a new region are introduced for the first time. The first generation began in Japan with the release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green on February 27, 1996. As of 2021, there are currently eight generations of main series video games.
Pokémon has since become the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, with $90 billion in total franchise revenue. The video game series is the second-best-selling video game franchise (behind Nintendo's own Mario franchise, which had recently celebrated its 35th anniversary) with more than 368 million copies sold and one billion mobile downloads, and it spawned a hit anime series that has become the most successful video game adaptation with over 20 seasons and 1,000 episodes in 169 countries. In addition, the Pokémon franchise includes the world's top-selling toy brand, the top-selling trading card game with over 30.4 billion cards sold, an anime film series, a live-action film, books, manga comics, music, merchandise, and a theme park.
Timeline
The first official mention of the anniversary celebration was on November 26, 2020 at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Pokémon Company presented the logo for the anniversary in front of a giant balloon of Pikachu, who has made a regular appearance at the parade since 2001. This was followed by news that Pokémon would be collaborating with Japanese Space Exploration Agency, JAXA to celebrate the new year. The collaboration involved seeing Pokémon in augmented reality aboard the International Space Station.
- January 13: news revealed about the celebration, involving that American singer Katy Perry was collaborating with Pokémon on a new music program for its 25th anniversary.
- January 14: The Pokémon Company announced that New Pokémon Snap would be released worldwide on April 30, 2021.
- February 9: McDonald's released an exclusive collection of Pokemon Trading Cards from the official TCG that were included in McDonald's Happy Meals for a limited time.
- February 15: Pokémon collaborated with Levi Strauss & Co., launching the ‘90s-inspired Levi's x Pokémon collection to celebrate the anniversary.
- February 19: Pokémon Day website in Japan launched which displayed live results of a Twitter hashtag-based fan vote that ran from February 19 to 22, for favorite Pokémon, with final results to be revealed afterwards. The website includes a Pokémon trivia and information on each generation. February 19 also began Pokémon's official 8 day countdown to Pokémon Day (with each of the eight days representing the eight generations of starter Pokémon) on their social media accounts.
- February 25: a special Pikachu knowing the move Sing (a move it normally can't learn) will be distributed to the Pokémon Sword and Shield games to tie in with the Pokémon 25th anniversary musical motif.
- February 27 (Japan & Korea) / 26 (international): a Pokémon Presents presentation occurred. It showed new information about New Pokémon Snap, and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus were announced.
- February 27: the Pokémon 25th Virtual Concert featuring American rapper Post Malone was held as part of the P25 Music Program that was first announced on February 11.
See also
In Spanish: 25.º aniversario de Pokémon para niños
