Following hot on the heels of Part 1 earlier this week, 2023's Trainer Files: Kanto Elite Four (Part 2) event is returning to Pokémon Masters EX today, alongside the latest run of the Blissful Bonanza.

Plenty of new merch is coming in at Pokémon Centers across the world this week, including Pokémon Center Japan, where the newest apparel line is themed after the Terastal phenomenon. The “TeraCute” and “TeraCool” lines include apparel, accessories, and lots of jewelry in the sparkly style of Terastallization. TeraCool features icy and elegant Pokémon on its items, like Chien-Pao earrings for ¥1,320 ($8.54 USD), a Dragonair lanyard and card case for ¥2,200 ($14,23 USD), and, interestingly, a Frosmoth wind chime for ¥2,420 ($15.65 USD). Meanwhile, the TeraCute line stars some of the expected cuties, like Tandemaus earrings for ¥1,430 ($9.25 USD), Pikachu, Mew, Dolliv, Tandemaus, and Flittle on an acrylic jewelry box for ¥2,970 ($19.21 USD), or the same Pokémon frolicking on a sheer shirt for ¥4,400 ($28.46 USD). The TeraCute and TeraCool lines will be dropping in-store on April 27th, with preorders online beginning April 25th.

Earlier this week, Niantic announced details regarding the next Pokémon GO Hatch Day, which features the Star Shape Pokémon, Cleffa. The main event will be held on Sunday April 28th, from 2:00pm to 5:00pm local time, with extended bonuses starting two days before on Friday April 26th at 10:00am local time.

Earlier this week, Niantic released full details for the upcoming Sustainability Week event, which will be taking place in Pokémon GO starting April 22nd at 10:00am, and running through to April 26th at 8:00pm local time.

The first volume of Pokémon Adventures: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is scheduled to be available as part of Free Comic Book Day 2024, which will be held Saturday, May 4th. The event, hosted by indie comic shops across North America, offers visitors a variety of free comics and manga and is celebrated “as a way to get customers to visit the comic shops in their local community.” Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire is offered as Gold sponsor title, meaning every shop that is participating in Free Comic Book Day will have them available, though quantities of popular titles like Pokémon are often limited. Customers can find a local participating shop on Free Comic Book Day’s website.

Today's updates on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese homepage and YouTube channel have revealed most of the remaining new cards from the upcoming Transformation Mask expansion for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, which releases in Japan at the end of next week on April 26th. Cards from this set will be released internationally on May 24th year as part of the Scarlet & Violet—Twilight Masquerade expansion.

A new video on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese YouTube channel has revealed new cards for Poliwag, Poliwhirl, and Poliwrath, which will be released in Japan late next week on April 26th as part of the Transformation Mask expansion for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Cards from Transformation Mask will be released internationally later this year as part of the Scarlet & Violet—Twilight Masquerade expansion on May 24th.

2023's Trainer Files: Kanto Elite Four (Part 1) event is returning to Pokémon Masters EX today, alongside a set of Variety Scouts featuring the Kanto Elite Four members.

Today's livestream on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese YouTube channel has revealed an Art Rare print of the previously announced new card for Tatsugiri. This card will be released in Japan at the end of next week on April 26th as part of the Transformation Mask expansion for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Cards from Transformation Mask will be released internationally later this year as part of the Scarlet & Violet—Twilight Masquerade expansion on May 24th.

Pokémon Sleep will enter a maintenance period this week on Thursday April 18th, ahead of a planned update of the software to Version 1.4.0. This maintenance period is expected to go for roughly 4 and a half hours, from 1:00am until 5:30am (UTC). The update includes a variety of balance adjustments, along with some minor content changes, and updates to prepare the game for the Flower Festival event starting on April 22nd.

A brand new hero is arriving in Pokémon Masters EX today, with Selene (Special Costume) & Scizor making their debut in a new set of Costume Scouts alongside the ongoing New Heroes Are Born Costume Event. The Selene Costume Scout and Selene Costume Tiered Scout will run through until May 19th, at 10:59pm (PDT). The associated Selene Costume Featured Ticket Scout and Selene Costume Guaranteed Ticket Scout meanwhile will run through to May 26th, at 10:59pm (PDT).

What I like most about this week's episode of Pokémon Horizons is that so much is given out, and that it's all explained so thoroughly. Instead of having the kids go on a Treasure Hunt like in the game, Liko, Roy and Dot enroll in Naranja Academy’s Terastal Course. It turns out that the school allows students from all over the world to enroll in the course to learn more about the Terastal phenomenon, as permitted by Director Clavell and Chairwoman Geeta.

Saturday marked the first day of the Aichi Champions League, an event where the best Japanese Pokémon Trading Card Game players are pitted against each other to see who the true champion is! The event was livestreamed on the official Japanese Pokémon Card Game channel on YouTube. Several new cards were presented at the end of the first day of the event for the Transformation Mask expansion. A follow-up video summarizing the new cards was also posted to the channel. These cards will be released in Japan later this month on April 26th, and will release internationally as part of the Scarlet & Violet—Twilight Masquerade expansion, which comes out May 22nd.

The Speed Stuff 4 Charity Twitch channel will be hosting their annual marathon over this weekend. This year's event will be to support speedrunners who are financially struggling. A speedrun of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire will be part of the event.

Pokémon fans in the West will find a new line of plush puppets available online now at the Pokémon Centers for the US, U.K., and Canada. The “Bite Buddies” collection is aptly named, featuring toothy favorites Fuecoco, Totodile, Greavard, Gible, and Trapinch. Standing at about 10 to 12 inches tall, each Bite Buddy hand puppet comes in at $29.99 USD. Fans in Japan won’t be left out for new plushies, as Pokémon Center Japan has announced five new favorites from Paldea and Kitikami arriving in-store on April 20th, with online preorders beginning April 18th. Pawmot and Polchageist will be available for ¥2,200 ($14.35 USD), Pawmo and Sinistcha will be available for ¥2,970 ($19.38 USD), while Finizen will be ¥4,400 ($28.71 USD). All five plushes in this drop will be available via Amazon Japan in limited quantities, beginning April 27th.

Yoshihiro Yamakawa, a 36 year old interior designer from the Kyoto Prefecture in Japan, was arrested on April 9th on suspicion of modifying data in Pokémon Violet in order to sell hacked Pokémon online. Between December 2022 and March 2023, the suspect allegedly advertised his illegitimate Pokémon via a website meant for buying and selling items and accounts for video games, and even took custom orders for Shinies and other difficult-to-obtain Pokémon. Modifying save data and providing services that circumvent technological limitations of certain hardware are acts that are illegal in Japan under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

2024 continues to bring regular in-game events to Pokémon Sleep. The game's next week-long event, the Flower Festival, celebrating Spring and the debut of Comfey, has been scheduled to begin later this month on Monday April 22nd at 4:00am local time, running through until Monday April 29th at 3:59am local time.

Following on from the earlier update to the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese homepage today, an additional batch of cards have been revealed in an extra video posted to the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese YouTube channel. These new cards will be released in Japan in two weeks time on April 24th as part of the Transformation Mask expansion for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Cards from Transformation Mask will be released internationally later this year as part of the Scarlet & Violet—Twilight Masquerade expansion on May 22nd.

While we haven't gotten an explicitly Easter-themed event in Pokémon Masters EX, April is still bringing with it a brand new Costume Event, New Heroes Are Born. Also launching today is the first of two new Costume Sync Pairs featured in this event, as well as a Welcome Back Rally for returning players.

An update on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese homepage today has revealed a selection of new cards, including Art Rare variants of Munkidori, Fezandipiti, and Okidogi. These cards are being released in Japan in two weeks time on April 24th as part of the Transformation Mask expansion for the Scarlet & Violet series of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Cards from Transformation Mask will be released internationally later this year as part of the Scarlet & Violet—Twilight Masquerade expansion on May 22nd.