Community

FastForTheKids will be performing the second part of a speedrun event in support of Extra Life benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals over this US Veterans Day weekend, with Pokémon Red/Blue being one of the featured games for the first day of runs on November 11th. Part one of the event was performed by the Pandora's Mighty Soldiers Clan, and raised $795 of their $2500 goal. The event can be watched from the PMS Clan's Twitch channel.

The latest Questing for Glory (QFG) speedrunning marathon is being held this week, starting November 6th and running through to November 12th. Pokémon Stadium will be one of the featured runs in this event on Saturday 11th, which can be watched from the RPGLimitBreak Twitch channel.

The Bulbapedia encyclopedia is always growing here at Bulbagarden! All sorts of edits and contributions sprout up every single day thanks to Pokémon enthusiasts from all around the world! Let's take a closer look at our editors' best contributions that have taken root during October 2023.

The Pokémon Company International confirmed this week that a giant Pokémon balloon will appear in the yearly Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, just as in every parade since the debut of the original Pikachu balloon in 2001. Pikachu and Eevee will appear along the 2.5 mile long parade route in New York City in their Poké Ball sleigh, accompanied by 90 balloon handlers on the ground. This will be Pikachu and Eevee’s third appearance in the sleigh, as the balloon debuted in 2021 in conjunction with the Pokémon franchise’s 25th anniversary. It’s also the first of the four Pokémon balloons in the parade’s history to feature a Pokémon other than Pikachu.

Le French Restream will be hosting the Interglitches: La fête du skip charity marathon from October 27th to October 29th live from the l'Institut du Cerveau in Paris, France, raising money for Institut du Cerveau (ICM), the Paris Brain Institute, an international brain and spinal cord research center developing treatments for nervous system disorders. The event will be streamed from the group's official Twitch channel, with Pokémon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl being featured as a run on Sunday October 29th.

Dragonite is enjoying quite a bit of popularity this year; in September, it was introduced as one of the mascots of the upcoming Pokémon Center Taipei, and just this week on October 23rd, was ceremonially signed in as the Official Ambassador Pokémon for Fukui Prefecture, making it the ninth Pokémon to be given the honor. The Ambassador Pokémon promotion is sponsored by Pokémon Local Acts, a program designed to drive tourism by “highlighting [the] well-known and not so well-known charms,” of various localities in Japan through events and activities. Pokémon Local Acts may be best known for the “Poké Lids,” which are utility hole covers with Pokémon designs, often including the region’s Ambassador Pokémon, which are located all throughout the country.

Brazilians Against Time (BRAT) will be hosting a speedrunning marathon from October 22nd to October 28th, in benefit of Gerando Falcoes, a social development ecosystem in Brazil that works with favela leaders to help break the cycle of poverty in the country. The entire event will be streamed from the group's official Twitch channel, with Pokémon LeafGreen being featured as a run on Wednesday October 25th.

Pokémon Pearl is set to feature in the Games Done Quick Express (GDQX) 2023 charity marathon, which is being held live from TwitchCon from October 20th to October 22nd. This year's event will be raising money for AbleGamers, and can be watched from the GDQ Twitch channel.

The Pokémon Company International’s collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has been plagued with issues since its debut on September 28th, mostly in regards to the limited edition “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat” promo card. Originally available in-person at the Van Gogh Museum and free with online orders of Van Gogh-themed Pokémon merchandise through the Pokémon Center online, the card has become a rare find, as scalpers overran the museum and sold out the Pokémon Center’s merch almost immediately. The Van Gogh Museum will continue to offer its Pokémon-themed exhibits and activities until the promotion’s original end date, January 7th of 2024, despite being completely sold out of Pokémon merchandise and no longer offering the promo card.

The Italian Speedrun Community (ISC) are hosting their annual Giochi d un Fiato Autunno (GUFA) speedrunning marathon starting later today, October 20th, and running through to October 22nd. In the event, players will attempt to complete a game or an objective within the game as quickly as possible. Pokémon Snap and a randomizer of Pokémon Crystal will feature in the event, which can be watched from the Italian Speedrun Community Twitch channel. The event will be raising money for Medici del Mondo, the Italian Branch of Médecins du Monde, also known as Doctors of the World.

TheSpeedGamers, a group of video game enthusiasts who play for marathon hours to raise money for charities, have announced their latest Pokémon-centric marathon, titled Rocket's Revenge. Taking place from December 15th to 18th, the event will be once again raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. As usual, the marathon will be streamed live on TheSpeedGamers Twitch Channel.

Breaking The Habit will be hosting their latest charity marathon this weekend from October 14th to October 15th, raising money for The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Pokémon: Let's Go Eevee! will be featured as a run during this event, with the runner aiming to complete the game as quickly as possible without the use of any major skips. The event can be watched from the Breaking The Habit Twitch channel.

The Bulbapedia encyclopedia is always growing here at Bulbagarden! Every single day, hundreds of edits are made around the clock by enthusiasts all over the world! Let's take a look at some of our editors' biggest contributions that readers may have missed. Join us as we explore some of Bulbapedia's newest additions from September 2023!

The largest primary-age school football cup in England is continuing into its second year as The Pokémon Company International and the English Schools’ Football Association (ESFA) announce the 23/24 season. The Pokémon Primary Schools’ Cup, sponsored by both organizations, is a national competition for students aged 9 to 11, designed to promote ESFA’s “15 Benefits” of football, including principles like teaching respect, encouraging teamwork, and helping children to feel they are part of a team. The competition reaches more than 50,000 students in over 5,000 teams across England, who compete in mixed teams, girls’ teams, and small school teams categories. Peter Murphy - Senior Director of Marketing at The Pokémon Company International, said: “It was amazing to see so many talented teams from across the country take part in last season’s competition, truly demonstrating that teamwork, friendship and respect are equally important factors in a football competition. We look forward...

AusSpeedruns will be hosting the AusSpeedruns At PAX (ASAP) 2023 marathon out of the PAX Aus convention this week in Melbourne, Australia, raising money for Game On Cancer. Pokémon Violet, Sword and Shield will each be featured in runs as part of this event, in which runners each attempt to complete a game, or an objective within the game, as quickly as possible. ASAP 2023 will run from October 6th to 8th, can be watched from AusSpeedrun's official Twitch channel.

The 2023 Toy of the Year Awards, hosted by charitable organization The Toy Foundation, has announced their individual category winners for the year. Pokémon products were nominated in three categories in 2023; Collectable, Construction Toy, and Action Figure Toy of the Year. Pokémon Squishmallows took the crown for Collectable of the Year, beating out competitors such as LEGO Disney, Monster High, and Furby. The collection of plushies is manufactured by longtime partner of The Pokémon Company International, Jazwares. The 16” version of Squishmallows also won for 2023 Plush Toy of the Year, and even won in 2022 for Overall Toy of the Year, while the Pokémon brand itself won in 2022 for License of the Year. The Toy Foundation announced that approximately $800,000 USD was raised in cash donations during this year’s award season from sponsors such as Mattel, Spin Master, and The Pokémon Company International, which donated $90,000 in cash and $3.7 million worth of cards and other...

Germench will be hosting the Zocktoberfest marathon out of Göttingen, Germany from October 3rd to October 8th. In the event, players will attempt to complete a game or an objective within the game as quickly as possible. The event will be raising money for Tafel Deutschland and can watched from their Twitch channel.

The Long Speedrun Summit (LSS) are hosting their 2023 speedrunning marathon from September 15th to September 24th. Amongst other non-Pokémon titles, Pokémon Platinum, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, and PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure will feature as part of the event, in which runners each attempt to complete a game, or an objective within the game, as quickly as possible. The event can be watched from their official Twitch channel.

While The Pokémon Company International has kept the details sparse, a new promo on The Official Pokémon YouTube channel has given fans their first look at an upcoming collaboration between Pokémon and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The video shows Pikachu and Eevee frolicking through the Dutch countryside surrounded by Vincent Van Gogh’s quintessential sunflowers - which then turn into Sunfloras.

The Horrorible Games speedrunning group will be hosting a special speedrunning mini-marathon from September 9th to September 10th, raising money to support George Emsley, known as MASH in the speedrunning and gaming community, in helping pay off debt incurred by emergency dental surgery. The event, which can be watched from the Horrorible Games Twitch page, will see runners attempting to complete various games and/or objectives within a game as quickly as possible.