Pokémon news (March 17) – Pokémon: 201 million units sold / Pokkén Tournament

Today’s Pokémon news:

• Pokémon series
• Pokkén Tournament
• Pokémon Center
• Battle competition

Pokémon series

Today, The Pokémon Company sent a press release in order to make a pretty big announcement. It revealed that, as of February 29th, cumulative sales of the mainline Pokémon series have topped 201 million units worldwide. This includes not just the mainline entries (such as Pokémon Red / Blue, Pokémon Black and White, or Pokémon X and Y), but also all the remakes (such as Pokémon HeartGold / SoulSilver), and the Virtual Console releases.

In total, 25 mainline Pokémon games have been released since February 27th, 1996 (including the remakes and third versions). That means that each version has sold, on average, 8 million units worldwide: a pretty impressive result! Of course, the original mainline entries have sold more than remakes or third versions, but that number is a great way to see how popular the series has been.

If we add the many spin-offs that have been released since 1996 (such as Pokémon Mystery Dungeon), then the amount of games sold rises all the way to 279 millions: an even more impressive number.

With Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon coming out later this year, sales of the Pokémon series are not going to slow down any time soon. What’s more, that latest entry will be translated in Chinese (Traditional / Simplified) for the first time ever, and The Pokémon Company expect even stronger sales due to this.

Source: 4Gamer.net

Head after the break for the rest of this post!

Pokkén Tournament

Here’s the announcers for the Pokkén Tournament Early Access Competition finals, which will take place later today:

The livestream for the tournament will be on Twitch, and will start at:

• Europe: 9PM
• UK: 8PM
• North America (ET): 4PM
• North America (PT): 1PM
• Japan: 5AM (March 18th)

And don’t forget that Nintendo UK will also showcase the game later today. Click here for the livestream, which starts at:

• UK: 5PM
• Europe: 6PM
• North America (ET): 1PM
• North America (PT): 10AM
• Japan: 2AM (March 18th)

The two Pokémon to fight during the livestream are those who won all their battles during the Pokkén Tournament Countdown Clash. And we finally know who they are thanks to the video below:

For those who can’t watch the video, the winners of Battle 5 and 6 are Gengar and Garchomp!

Pokkén Tournament (Wii U) comes out on Friday, worldwide.

Source: Nintendo

Pokémon Center

To celebrate the opening of the new Pokémon Center in Japan (located in Kyoto), Famitsu features an interview about Pokémon Centers in general. In it, we learn that The Pokémon Company has plans for more Pokémon Center stores in Japan… but also abroad. Unfortunately, there is no way to know which country/city the company is looking into right now.

Source: Famitsu
Via: Serebii

Battle competition

Earlier this month, a new battle competition for Pokémon Omega Ruby / Alpha Sapphire was announced: the 2016 International Challenge March. Registration has now open: you have until March 24th to register!

Here’s the rules:

• Battles: Double Battle
• Rules: VGC rules
• Legendary Pokémon allowed (only two from that list): Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Xerneas, Yveltal, and Zygarde.
• Registration: from March 17th to March 24th
• Battles: from March 25th to March 27th.
• Reward: 2000 PokéMiles (all entrants) + the top players will also receive Championship Points (which will allow them to qualify for the Pokémon World Championships 2016, in Boston).

Source: Serebii