PokéNews (May 19): Magikarp Jump: plenty of details / Pokémon Sun and Moon (anime)

Today’s Pokémon news: plenty of details about Magikarp Jump, but also…

• Pokémon Sun and Moon (anime series)
• Pokémon TV

Magikarp Jump

A few weeks ago, The Pokémon Company announced a mysterious mobile game called Splash Magikarp in Japan. They’re yet to officially reveal the game, but we already have quite a lot of details already, since it was soft-launched earlier this week in Italy, and only on iOS to boot.

Your goal in this game is catch a Magikarp, and then take it on mission. At the beginning, you’re greeted by Professor Karp,  who gives you your very first rod. Each Magikarp you catch has not just a level, but also a motif, and an individual bonus (such as XP boost when training, for example). There’s a level cap, that’s tied to your level.

There’s plenty of different types of Magikarp you can catch, including a Shiny one (naturally, it’s the rarest). As yours level up, it increases in size.

After catching a Magikarp, you don’t immediately bring it to missions: you first need to feed it berries, and then go train it. The berries have different effect: for example, Oran Berries gives +2 XP, while Sitrus Berries give +9 XP. You can also buy Berries in the shop, with more types being added as you level up.

Unfortunately, there’s a catch regarding training: you have to wait 30 minutes between each training sessions (unless you want to pay).

The missions consists in having your Magikarp facing off against other Magikarp, and see which one can jump the highest. By completing missions, you can earn Diamonds and Support Pokémon, such as Pikachu. Once you complete a world, you get a badge, with 6 badges to collect. You also get a rewards, such as 6 Coins, 25 Diamonds, and Pikachu as a friend.

Here’s the list of Support Pokémon:

• Pikachu (gives PM+5 in “battle”)
• Charizard
• Snorlax
• Slowpoke
• Litten
• Rowlet
• Popplio
• Piplup
• Meowth
• Bulbasaur

Wondering what happen if you happen to lose during a mission? Well, your Magikarp will be released into the wild, and you will have to catch a new one and start the world you were in from the start. Sometimes, the released Magikarp will show up in the background.

About the shop mentioned above, it doesn’t sell just berries: you can also find training regimens, decorations for your Magikarp tank (that gives various bonuses), and more.

And since this is a mobile game, and a Free 2 Play one to boot, a shop necessarily means microtransactions. Here’s those available as of writing (only in £ for the moment):

• 50 Diamonds: £0.99
• 250 Diamond: £4.99
• 550 Diamonds: £9.99
• 1,200 Diamonds £19.99
• 2,150 Diamonds £33.99

Some random tidbits:

• you can sometime find items in the water, such as Poké Balls containing money
• sometimes, Manaphy swim past you: if you tap it, many Water-Pokémon will swim by, and more berries will drop down

For more details about Magikarp Jump, make sure to check out Serebii (which is where all the details you just read came from in the first place!).

Pokémon Sun and Moon (anime series)

Here’s the preview for the next episode of the Pokémon Sun and Moon anime series, airing on May 25th in Japan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkZQDUTAbwk

Pokémon TV

Here’s the latest promo video for Pokémon TV: