After three years of Johto Times, we have now moved our newsletter to our own self hosted website. While the website launched in August 2025, we shared our final newsletter here in December that same year.

When we first launched Johto Times in 2023, we were fortunate to find a suitable home for it on Substack, a platform with some powerful tools which helped us grow. Back then, we didn’t know how long we would be working on this project, or how successful it would be. Substack was easy to use, and helped us connect with many Pokémon fans. We will always be thankful for the growth Substack has given us.

As time went on, we noticed that there were limitations on how we could make our newsletter look and feel, and we wanted the flexibility to make changes to Johto Times that Substack wasn’t able to offer. Thanks to the move, we have been able to create a website which fits us far better, and with additional content, including a community forum.

Moving forward, there will be no further updates on our Substack account, but we will keep the content we have already published here for as long as Substack allows us to do so.

No further emails will be sent from our Substack account, as we have already transferred all subscribers to our self hosted mailing list. For anyone who wishes to subscribe to our newsletter, you should do so by visiting our website.

We hope you will join us at our new home!

Website: https://www.johtotimes.com
Forum: https://forum.johtotimes.com

Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 53 of Johto Times! This marks the final issue of the year, with our usual recap of everything we did over the last twelve months. It has been a fun year, with the launch of our website and forum, and a plethora of content which we hope you have all enjoyed reading! From all of us here at Johto Times, we want to wish our readers a very happy new year and hope you all have a wonderful 2026!

Now that we are in December, the Johto Times team are taking a well deserved rest. For this reason, we will not be updating our news, and our mailbag will not be monitored during this time. A recap of the noteworthy headlines will be available in our January newsletter! Any important news announcements will be made on our Bluesky account and on our Discord server. You are welcome to join us on the Johto Times forum too!

Please note: We will be moving over to our website from January 2026, and moving from one issue per week, to at least one issue monthly.

Click here to read

Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 52 of Johto Times! This issue should have landed inside your inbox a day early on December 24th, and so I wish you and your loved ones a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a joyous time however you plan to spend it! In this issue, we are sharing an interview with Altissimo, from Altissimo’s Pokémon Site, a great resource of Pokémon information. Compared to a lot of our content here at Johto Times, Altissimo’s website is fairly new, having launched back in 2022.

Now that we are in December, the Johto Times team are taking a well deserved rest. For this reason, we will not be updating our news, and our mailbag will not be monitored during this time. A recap of the noteworthy headlines will be available in our January newsletter! Any important news announcements will be made on ourBluesky account and on our Discord server. You are welcome to join us on the Johto Times forum too!

Click here to read

A warm welcome to Vol. 3, issue 51 of Johto Times! This week, we have a very special interview to share! Gail Tilden worked at Nintendo between 1983–2007 in several brand and marketing positions. She was the editor-in-chief of Nintendo Power Magazine, helped to bring the Nintendo Entertainment System to market in the United States, and she was fundamental to the launch of the Pokémon brand outside of Asia. Gail shares some interesting insight into what it was like bringing Pokémon to the rest of the world!

Now that we are in December, the Johto Times team are taking a well deserved rest. For this reason, we will not be updating our news, and our mailbag will not be monitored during this time. A recap of the noteworthy headlines will be available in our January newsletter! Any important news announcements will be made on our Bluesky account and on our Discord server. You are welcome to join us on the Johto Times forum too!

Click here to read

Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 50 of Johto Times! This week we have a very interesting write-up by Dragonfree about a glitched Jolteon from her beloved copy of Pokémon Yellow, and how she was able to solve the mystery of how and why it happened twenty years later!

Now that we are in December, the Johto Times team are taking a well deserved rest. For this reason, we will not be updating our news, and our mailbag will not be monitored during this time. A recap of the noteworthy headlines will be available in our January newsletter! Any important news announcements will be made on our Bluesky account and on our Discord server. You are welcome to join us on the Johto Times forum too!

Click here to read

Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 49 of Johto Times! This week I am sharing even more wonders from my Pokémon collection, many of which are from the earliest days of Pokémon. Some of these items were obtained when I was a child, but some I purchased more recently. As an adult, it’s nice to pick up the things you wish you could have had growing up! How many of them do you remember?

Now that it’s December, the Johto Times team are taking a well deserved rest. For this reason, we will not be updating our news, and our mailbag will not be monitored during this time. A recap of the noteworthy headlines will be available in our January newsletter! Any important news announcements will be made on our Bluesky account and on our Discord server. You are welcome to join us on the Johto Times forum too!

Click here to read

Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 48 of Johto Times! This week, we are excited to share our interview with Carol Rogalski, Marketing Director at Wizards of the Coast between 1997 and 2002. Carol shares her memories of working at Wizards of the Coast on numerous games, which included the Pokémon Trading Card Game. We hope you enjoy it!

Please note that the Johto Times team will be taking a well-earned rest throughout December, which means the five issues which follow this newsletter will be written and scheduled in advance. Like previous years, this means we will not be updating on the latest Pokémon news, but will recap everything when we return in January 2026. Any important news announcements will be made on our Bluesky account and on our Discord server. You are welcome to join us on the Johto Times forum too!

We would like to announce some major changes to the Johto Times newsletter, starting in 2026. We previously announced that we will be moving away from our original home on Substack and publishing all future issues of Johto Times on our website instead. Subscribers will still receive emails, and you can also stay up-to-date by bookmarking us!

Additionally, we will be reducing the rate of newsletters that we publish from once per week to at least once per month. When this project started, it was a reasonable target, and I’m proud that we have been able to stick with this consistently for 150 weeks (almost three full years!). However, to maintain our editorial schedule, a monthly publication makes more sense at this time. By stepping back a little, it gives us the space to continue delivering great interviews, memories, collections, and more! We plan to provide extras for our readers when we can, and hope to get back to a weekly schedule as soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding, and for your continued support of Johto Times!

Click here to read

Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 47 of Johto Times! Last month, we launched our community forum, giving Johto Times readers a space to share their thoughts and feelings on Pokémon and our newsletter. For this issue, we’ve put together an interview with the forum team to give an insight into its development. We also have a recap of the latest Pokémon news.

We plan to leave our original home on Substack in December and begin sharing our words exclusively on our website with Volume 4 in January 2026. For our readers who enjoy Johto Times from their inbox, there is no need to worry and you will still receive emails as usual. Feel free to bookmark our website to stay up to date in any case.

We are also actively using Bluesky if you would like an additional way of keeping in touch with us!

Click here to read

Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 46 of Johto Times! This week, I’m very excited to share our interview with one of the very oldest Pokémon fansites: The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine. This short-lived website shared information about Pokémon prior to its official American release and gave fans a taste of what was about to come. We also have a recap of the latest Pokémon news!

We plan to leave our original home on Substack in December and begin sharing our words exclusively on our website with Volume 4 in January 2026. For our readers who enjoy Johto Times from their inbox, there is no need to worry and you will still receive emails as usual. Feel free to bookmark our website to stay up to date in any case.

We also recently launched the Johto Times community forum. We would love to invite you all to talk about Pokémon and share your opinions on our newsletter!

Finally, we are also actively using Bluesky if you would like an additional way of keeping in touch with us!

Click here to read

Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 45 of Johto Times! This week, we are sharing more great Pokémon memories, this time from a fan called Missingno. Master, who named himself appropriately given his love of the Pokémon Red & Blue glitch. Missingno. Master shares his memories of investigating Gen 1 glitches, and his general love for the franchise which continues to this day. Plus, we have a recap on the latest Pokémon news.

Click here to read

We now have a message board! It has been lovely meeting so many Johto Times readers and friends from across our social media channels in one place, discussing all kinds of topics relating to our newsletter and the Pokémon series. We hope more of you will consider registering and joining us!

Check out the Johto Times Community Forum

News

POKÉMON LEGENDS Z-A

The Pokémon Company have confirmed that 5.8 million units of the game sold in its first four days on sale, almost half of which were on Nintendo Switch 2.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON TCG POCKET

A new video highlighting the success of Pokémon TCG Pocket’s first year, has been released. The video confirms the title has received over 150 million downloads, and over 12 billion battles, 96 million trades, and 490 million showcases since it launched a year ago.

Source: YouTube

A reminder that a new expansion to the Pokémon TCG Pocket app has now been released titled Mega Rising. The expansion features three booster packs: Mega Gyarados, Mega Blaziken, and Mega Altaria, with lots of great new Mega Evolution ex cards, and beautiful illustrated cards such as a cute Growlithe card. Additionally, beginning October 31st, 2025, accessories featuring Mega Blaziken will be obtainable in-game. Check the in-game news for further information.

Source: Pokémon

A new update for the game is now available, adding a Share Feature to the game, allowing players to give ♦–♦♦♦♦ rarity cards to friends (one to each friend per day). There is also an expanded range of tradable cards, allowing for trades of ★★ and Shiny 1–Shiny 2 rarity cards, in addition to ♦–♦♦♦♦ and ★ rarity cards.

An improved Wonder Pick feature will now show cards from the latest expansion more frequently, and the number of cards currently owned by the player will be displayed on each card in Wonder Pick. Finally, there are many in-app events currently taking place. Full details can be found in the link below.

Source: Pokémon

The official Pokémon TCG Pocket account on Twitter has shared an update on Card Dex Registration, and described how they plan to update cards that are registered in the card dex. In the future, cards which appear in multiple booster packs will be registered in the card dex for all corresponding booster packs. Any cards obtained already will be automatically registered in every applicable card dex retroactively. This update is planned for release after Summer 2026.

Source: Pokémon TCG Pocket

Feature: Jed’s Halloween Pokémon Memories

Back in 1999, a young Pokémon fan called Jed celebrated Halloween by dressing up as one of his favourite Pokémon. But this was no ordinary costume! It was one of a kind Poliwhirl costume, created by his awesome mom! Jed has kindly shared his memories of growing up with Pokémon, and what the series still means to him today.

Jed:

My first introduction to Pokémon was when the Red and Blue games came out in the US, when I was 6 or 7 years old. My older brother had gotten the Red version, and after seeing how cool it looked, I got the Blue version shortly after. I must have played through those games dozens of times, choosing all of the starters at one point or another, so I can’t remember who exactly was my first, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Squirtle.

I was as obsessed with everything Pokémon as nearly every other 90’s kid was at the time. The games, the cards, the figures, you name it, I probably had it. I had a really great collection of holo cards that [were] missing very little. But regrettably, I sold them in a garage sale a few years later.

My prize collection, though, has always been my Pokémon figures. I loved having my horde of Pokémon that I could physically interact with, miming out battles with them or more often just playing house with them in my castle playset (that one everyone had in the 90s). Every time I had a sick day from school my mom would take me to Toys”R”Us to get a package of figures I didn’t have yet, which was always so exciting. I ended up having most of the widely released sets, and only recently I dug them out of my closet in my childhood room to sort out the collection and try and finish it [by] buying some from eBay when I’m in the mood to throw away some money.

Jed:

My mom was always supportive of all of my Pokémon based wishes. More than just taking me shopping for figures, she also pulled out some awesome creativity for me as well. One Halloween, I really wanted to dress as a Pokémon, and it was still early enough in Pokémon’s life where there weren’t many costumes on the market. I remember pulling out my game guide, and flipping through the Pokédex pages, showing her all the ones I liked to see which she could make.

When I pointed to one of my favorites, Poliwhirl, she got some ideas and we went with that. She got a blue M&M costume from Party City, flipped it inside out, and then cut and stitched together the swirl pattern out of felt. Then she got some styrofoam balls, attached more felt to make the pupils, and connected them with a wire hanger that sat around the back of my neck. The M&M costume even came with the white gloves which fit Poliwhirl perfectly. I was so proud of that costume, I had a one-of-a-kind piece of one of my favorite Pokémon, and I felt so lucky to have a mom like mine who could make it.

Jed:

My mom also used her creativity to feed my Pokémon obsession in other ways. Again with my game guide, I would show her pictures of Pokémon and she would draw them large on some printer paper for me to color in. Some came out great, while others [were] more wonky, but I didn’t mind. I loved those drawings, and chose carefully which ones I would ask for her to draw next. Copying the Sugimori color style and highlights with marker[s] proved to be pretty difficult, so some (like Ditto) came out pretty rough looking.

Jed:

Throughout the decades since then my Pokémon fandom has stayed strong, only really wavering during college, around the time of Gen 5. I’ve played every mainline game except Black 2 and White 2, and am eagerly awaiting the release of Z-A. Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to collect every form of every shiny Pokémon with my OT, and I’ve got over 1100 unique shiny forms at this point (including all 64 Alcremie, all 28 Unown, and gender differences). I think my younger self would be proud I’ve still just as obsessed with Pokémon!

Additional photographs

We are extremely thankful to Jed for sharing all of these awesome photographs, and the wonderful memories of Pokémon he had with his mom. It’s great to hear how special the series was to him growing up, and we are thankful it still holds such positive meaning to him today. Happy Halloween Jed, and we hope you enjoyed Pokémon Legends Z-A now that it has been released!

Subscribe now

Share

Discuss on our forum

Jed:

My first introduction to Pokémon was when the Red and Blue games came out in the US, when I was 6 or 7 years old. My older brother had gotten the Red version, and after seeing how cool it looked, I got the Blue version shortly after. I must have played through those games dozens of times, choosing all of the starters at one point or another, so I can’t remember who exactly was my first, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Squirtle.

I was as obsessed with everything Pokémon as nearly every other 90’s kid was at the time. The games, the cards, the figures, you name it, I probably had it. I had a really great collection of holo cards that [were] missing very little. But regrettably, I sold them in a garage sale a few years later.

My prize collection, though, has always been my Pokémon figures. I loved having my horde of Pokémon that I could physically interact with, miming out battles with them or more often just playing house with them in my castle playset (that one everyone had in the 90s). Every time I had a sick day from school my mom would take me to Toys”R”Us to get a package of figures I didn’t have yet, which was always so exciting. I ended up having most of the widely released sets, and only recently I dug them out of my closet in my childhood room to sort out the collection and try and finish it [by] buying some from eBay when I’m in the mood to throw away some money.

Jed:

My mom was always supportive of all of my Pokémon based wishes. More than just taking me shopping for figures, she also pulled out some awesome creativity for me as well. One Halloween, I really wanted to dress as a Pokémon, and it was still early enough in Pokémon’s life where there weren’t many costumes on the market. I remember pulling out my game guide, and flipping through the Pokédex pages, showing her all the ones I liked to see which she could make.

When I pointed to one of my favorites, Poliwhirl, she got some ideas and we went with that. She got a blue M&M costume from Party City, flipped it inside out, and then cut and stitched together the swirl pattern out of felt. Then she got some styrofoam balls, attached more felt to make the pupils, and connected them with a wire hanger that sat around the back of my neck. The M&M costume even came with the white gloves which fit Poliwhirl perfectly. I was so proud of that costume, I had a one-of-a-kind piece of one of my favorite Pokémon, and I felt so lucky to have a mom like mine who could make it.

Jed:

My mom also used her creativity to feed my Pokémon obsession in other ways. Again with my game guide, I would show her pictures of Pokémon and she would draw them large on some printer paper for me to color in. Some came out great, while others [were] more wonky, but I didn’t mind. I loved those drawings, and chose carefully which ones I would ask for her to draw next. Copying the Sugimori color style and highlights with marker[s] proved to be pretty difficult, so some (like Ditto) came out pretty rough looking.

Jed:

Throughout the decades since then my Pokémon fandom has stayed strong, only really wavering during college, around the time of Gen 5. I’ve played every mainline game except Black 2 and White 2, and am eagerly awaiting the release of Z-A. Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to collect every form of every shiny Pokémon with my OT, and I’ve got over 1100 unique shiny forms at this point (including all 64 Alcremie, all 28 Unown, and gender differences). I think my younger self would be proud I’ve still just as obsessed with Pokémon!

Additional photographs

We are extremely thankful to Jed for sharing all of these awesome photographs, and the wonderful memories of Pokémon he had with his mom. It’s great to hear how special the series was to him growing up, and we are thankful it still holds such positive meaning to him today. Happy Halloween Jed, and we hope you enjoyed Pokémon Legends Z-A now that it has been released!

Subscribe now

Share

Discuss on our forum

It’s great to be conducting this interview with you, Jeydis! Can you please introduce yourself and tell me about your website and the team you represent?

Jeydis:

Hello, everyone; I am known as Jeydis in most places online. I have been playing Pokémon since my great-aunt got me Blue for Christmas in 1998 – old as dirt in internet years. I like to think of myself as a caretaker for my online communities. I am representing the Mod Crew of the Lake Valor community for which I am one of three admins. If you see a blue name on the boards, that’s one of my crewmates!

Lake Valor as it is established today was launched on November 21st, 2012. Its history dates back further than that, when it was a traditional fansite with a forum. While I respect you’re not the original owner, what can you tell us about the earliest days of the community?

Vigilance:

Lake Valor started as a Pokémon community back in 2012. At the time, while we didn’t have a lot of users, the core focus was still Pokémon games, art, and community interaction. During that era, forums were still pretty popular and the initial founder had run some previous iterations of Pokémon communities so it was more a matter of bringing existing users over and continuing to build the community. As mentioned, the forum went beyond just Pokémon content and included stuff like fun forum games (e.g. one word posts to create a story, counting games, etc.) and art and design (signature making, art requests, etc.), which really helped bring in a diverse crowd of people with the common interest of Pokémon. I believe somewhere around that time, “PokePoints” were introduced, which was the official fake currency of the community, gained through posting and other achievements and incorporated in the forums through a currency tracking system. Members loved this as it allowed them to buy and sell artwork which drove up their motivation to remain active. We also had “adoptables” which was the precursor to the “Catcher” (more on that later) where a really great artist on the site designed square artwork of Pokémon that you could use PokePoints to adopt from the shop.

I believe releases were limited and, if memory serves me right, you could trade them, so that was a fun element of our community! In June of 2017, the idea of a Pokémon Go-style “Catcher” was thought up by the co-founders, and after some development work, [it] launched that summer. Fun Fact, the month of the Catcher release was the most PokePoints ever spent collectively in LV’s history. Poke Balls were not cheap! Around that time, the Summer Scramble concept was first launched as well, [which is] a way to keep members engaged during the off-school months with some friendly competition (and banter)! Since then, the core concept of the community hasn’t changed much – new Pokémon have entered the Catcher, new events have been hosted, new members and staff have come and gone, and we even added our Discord server, but overall the idea remains the same… a fun and chill place where Pokémon enthusiasts can hang out!

Today’s Lake Valor is a community forum with a Pokémon Catcher mechanic where visitors can catch, train, and evolve Pokémon as they engage with users on the forum. Themed events take place on special occasions, such as Valentine’s Day, April Fools, and Halloween. Tell us more about how it all works!

Jeydis:

Well, the Crew and I wanted to bring a little life to the forums and we expanded upon some of the old lore of the site to make themed events for everyone. We have been doing so for every year since, with different formats and rewards, but the core remains: to have fun with the other members of the community.

In February we always get a visit from Lovebird, our local Decidueye regional form. He creates and delivers lovely Valentine’s cards from members to other members throughout the month and encourages everyone to reach out to friends and celebrate their time together.

April brings a much more chaotic being to the forums: Trickster, a being of absolute chaos that coalesced out of a pool where every meme, YouTube Poop and random internet thought collects. We rein him in, but sometimes he does take over parts of the site a bit and we need the members’ help to put him back in his place.

October 1st marks the start of Oktoberfest, where we put up decorations and tell spooky stories around the digital campfire. There are a number of solo events during that time for people to join in on the fun and earn some medals for their profile.

We also try to have some sort of event for Christmas when possible, usually just a low-stress thing like a raffle or art contest.

One of Lake Valor’s big events is the Summer Scramble, where teams compete for points. Users can express their interest and be assigned to a team, where they can take part in activities such as playing games, creating artwork and fanfiction, and posting on the forum to accumulate as many points as possible. What is the history behind these events?

Vigilance:

I touched on this briefly but the overarching goal was to give members something to look forward to and participate in when school was out in the summer. In 2017, we launched the first iteration of Summer Scramble and the idea was simple – you divide users into themed teams, give them a separate space to hang out, and have them compete. Looking back at the Scramble archives, the first Scramble had a postfest (who can have the most posts in a set amount of time), Pokémon battles (text-based using your Catcher Pokémon), roleplay[ing] games, writing contests, signature design contests, trivia quizzes, and more. That summer, we had about 20 people per team across three teams and the theme was the Lake Legends (Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie). The winners (Valor with a 27 point victory over second place) received some special perks and the chance to catch Shiny Pokémon in the Catcher. It was a super fun time and our members loved it which led it to be a recurring theme every summer!

Jeydis:

Though I am not familiar with the very beginnings of the Scramble, I have been a moderator for a few of them now. I actually led a team for one back when I was a member, and that was one of the factors that led me to become a moderator afterwards. The Scramble is our busiest month, where the mods and admins create the most events for people to join. It’s a month-long celebration of the Lake Valor community, summer, and Pokémon as a whole.

Lake Valor is home to nearly 6,700 members at the time of writing. How would you describe your community?

Jeydis:

A safe space for people of all walks of life to discuss, create and support each other. Pokémon is our rallying banner to that effect but there are many members that have not played Pokémon in ages but they still want to hang out and chat with folks about video games and media at large.

We don’t have the numbers of yesteryear, but we really enjoy our community and support each other through everything. In a world led by the cold hand of social media, I think there is something beautiful in that.

Keeping and maintaining a forum can be tricky, as users come and go, and especially during a time where social media dominates. Aside from events, what is the team doing to bring in new users and encourage existing ones to keep returning?

Jeydis:

We advertise the forums through our Bluesky and soon hopefully a YouTube channel. We have also joined forces with other Pokémon communities to support each other through social media. The mods and admins also promote the forums on other platforms, when permitted of course, so you may have seen us in other gaming Discord communities. The server tag on Discord helps bring people as well.

What have been some of your personal highlights of the community in its thirteen years (and counting) online?

Vigilance:

Too many to list! At the start it was great seeing people come together and just meme around (we had a chat window in our forum as a precursor to Discord lol). Movie nights were super popular at the time too. Seeing the reaction to the Catcher dropping was a big highlight because it was great to see the community enjoy something we spent so much time building. The first Scramble was super memorable because it was tricky to organize and orchestrate but the members loving it made it worth it. I’ll also never forget our first few patron donations ($100 tier) which showed how much our community was willing to support us as a forum. It was special to see people “grow up” with the forums too. So many members became better artists, better writers, better jokesters. You had people enter [during] high school who are now in college [or have] even graduated. I know seeing this evolution and growth is what kept the staff team involved and energized. Ultimately, the people are what made Lake Valor what it was, and despite many changes in the 13 years of its existence, that is still the case.

Jeydis:

I have very fond memories of various events as both a member and a staff member. Summer Scrambles are my favorite, of course, [as] the spirit of competition helped drive me when I was a member. That led me to doing some activities which I had not touched in ages like digital art, mixed media collages and shiny hunting. What drives me as a member of staff now is getting messages from our members mentioning how much they love our community and feel supported by their fellow members; that brings a shine to my day like nothing else.

Lake Valor’s long history online is an amazing achievement you should all be very proud of! In your opinion, what is the future for the community?

Jeydis:

We are working on a few projects, including an infrastructure upgrade, a YouTube channel, and some other secrets I won’t divulge just yet.

I like to ask our guests if there are any Pokémon-related items and merchandise they have which mean something to them. Does the team have anything they would like to share of their own?

Jeydis:

The Bulbasaur and Lapras were found during a geocaching activity around my city. I took part in it even though I was going through a rough patch at the time, and it got me active and cheered me up. The Kyogre is a gift from a close online friend before they passed.

BZRich64:

I’ve had this little guy for as long as I can remember. Apparently he was given to me by someone but I have no idea who. All I know is that he’s one of my oldest and most cherished stuffed animals.

Wizard:

I don’t have much in terms of merch, but I do have a nice little collection of physical games.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! Do you have any final comments you would like to make?

Jeydis:

Thank you for taking the time to get to know our little corner of the ‘net! I hope your readers enjoyed this look into an older online community and now know that there are still some safe and fun harbors out there on the big ocean that is the internet.

A huge thank you to Jeydis and the rest of the team for their contributions to our interview! We wish them, and Lake Valor, all the very best for the future!

Interview conducted on: August 28th, 2025
Interview published on: October 23rd, 2025

Subscribe now

Share

Discuss on our forum

We now have a message board! It has been lovely meeting so many Johto Times readers and friends from across our social media channels in one place, discussing all kinds of topics relating to our newsletter and the Pokémon series. We hope more of you will consider registering and joining us!

Check out the Johto Times Community Forum

News

POKÉMON LEGENDS Z-A

- Players who purchase *Pokémon Legends: Z-A* before February 28th, 2026, can obtain a Ralts holding a Gardevoirite stone. Simply navigate to the in-game Mystery Gift feature, and choose “Get via Internet”.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON TCG POCKET

- A new expansion is coming to Pokémon TCG Pocket in the form of Mega Rising, which launches on October 29th, 2025. Three booster packs featuring Mega Gyarados, Mega Blaziken, and Mega Altaria (which are also ex cards within the set) will include many new Mega Pokémon ex cards, such as Mega Pinsir ex, and Mega Absol ex.

Source: Pokémon

Feature: Interview with Lake Valor

Lake Valor is a project which began in 2012 as a conventional Pokémon website and evolved into a community where people could discuss the franchise and obtain Pokémon via a gamification feature called the “Catcher”. Several members of the team’s mod crew (Jeydis, Wizard, BZRich64, and Vigilance) have contributed to this interview, with Jeydis representing the overall views of the team on most questions.

It’s great to be conducting this interview with you, Jeydis! Can you please introduce yourself and tell me about your website and the team you represent?

Jeydis:

Hello, everyone; I am known as Jeydis in most places online. I have been playing Pokémon since my great-aunt got me Blue for Christmas in 1998 – old as dirt in internet years. I like to think of myself as a caretaker for my online communities. I am representing the Mod Crew of the Lake Valor community for which I am one of three admins. If you see a blue name on the boards, that’s one of my crewmates!

Lake Valor as it is established today was launched on November 21st, 2012. Its history dates back further than that, when it was a traditional fansite with a forum. While I respect you’re not the original owner, what can you tell us about the earliest days of the community?

Vigilance:

Lake Valor started as a Pokémon community back in 2012. At the time, while we didn’t have a lot of users, the core focus was still Pokémon games, art, and community interaction. During that era, forums were still pretty popular and the initial founder had run some previous iterations of Pokémon communities so it was more a matter of bringing existing users over and continuing to build the community. As mentioned, the forum went beyond just Pokémon content and included stuff like fun forum games (e.g. one word posts to create a story, counting games, etc.) and art and design (signature making, art requests, etc.), which really helped bring in a diverse crowd of people with the common interest of Pokémon. I believe somewhere around that time, “PokePoints” were introduced, which was the official fake currency of the community, gained through posting and other achievements and incorporated in the forums through a currency tracking system. Members loved this as it allowed them to buy and sell artwork which drove up their motivation to remain active. We also had “adoptables” which was the precursor to the “Catcher” (more on that later) where a really great artist on the site designed square artwork of Pokémon that you could use PokePoints to adopt from the shop.

I believe releases were limited and, if memory serves me right, you could trade them, so that was a fun element of our community! In June of 2017, the idea of a Pokémon Go-style “Catcher” was thought up by the co-founders, and after some development work, [it] launched that summer. Fun Fact, the month of the Catcher release was the most PokePoints ever spent collectively in LV’s history. Poke Balls were not cheap! Around that time, the Summer Scramble concept was first launched as well, [which is] a way to keep members engaged during the off-school months with some friendly competition (and banter)! Since then, the core concept of the community hasn’t changed much – new Pokémon have entered the Catcher, new events have been hosted, new members and staff have come and gone, and we even added our Discord server, but overall the idea remains the same… a fun and chill place where Pokémon enthusiasts can hang out!

Today’s Lake Valor is a community forum with a Pokémon Catcher mechanic where visitors can catch, train, and evolve Pokémon as they engage with users on the forum. Themed events take place on special occasions, such as Valentine’s Day, April Fools, and Halloween. Tell us more about how it all works!

Jeydis:

Well, the Crew and I wanted to bring a little life to the forums and we expanded upon some of the old lore of the site to make themed events for everyone. We have been doing so for every year since, with different formats and rewards, but the core remains: to have fun with the other members of the community.

In February we always get a visit from Lovebird, our local Decidueye regional form. He creates and delivers lovely Valentine’s cards from members to other members throughout the month and encourages everyone to reach out to friends and celebrate their time together.

April brings a much more chaotic being to the forums: Trickster, a being of absolute chaos that coalesced out of a pool where every meme, YouTube Poop and random internet thought collects. We rein him in, but sometimes he does take over parts of the site a bit and we need the members’ help to put him back in his place.

October 1st marks the start of Oktoberfest, where we put up decorations and tell spooky stories around the digital campfire. There are a number of solo events during that time for people to join in on the fun and earn some medals for their profile.

We also try to have some sort of event for Christmas when possible, usually just a low-stress thing like a raffle or art contest.

One of Lake Valor’s big events is the Summer Scramble, where teams compete for points. Users can express their interest and be assigned to a team, where they can take part in activities such as playing games, creating artwork and fanfiction, and posting on the forum to accumulate as many points as possible. What is the history behind these events?

Vigilance:

I touched on this briefly but the overarching goal was to give members something to look forward to and participate in when school was out in the summer. In 2017, we launched the first iteration of Summer Scramble and the idea was simple – you divide users into themed teams, give them a separate space to hang out, and have them compete. Looking back at the Scramble archives, the first Scramble had a postfest (who can have the most posts in a set amount of time), Pokémon battles (text-based using your Catcher Pokémon), roleplay[ing] games, writing contests, signature design contests, trivia quizzes, and more. That summer, we had about 20 people per team across three teams and the theme was the Lake Legends (Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie). The winners (Valor with a 27 point victory over second place) received some special perks and the chance to catch Shiny Pokémon in the Catcher. It was a super fun time and our members loved it which led it to be a recurring theme every summer!

Jeydis:

Though I am not familiar with the very beginnings of the Scramble, I have been a moderator for a few of them now. I actually led a team for one back when I was a member, and that was one of the factors that led me to become a moderator afterwards. The Scramble is our busiest month, where the mods and admins create the most events for people to join. It’s a month-long celebration of the Lake Valor community, summer, and Pokémon as a whole.

Lake Valor is home to nearly 6,700 members at the time of writing. How would you describe your community?

Jeydis:

A safe space for people of all walks of life to discuss, create and support each other. Pokémon is our rallying banner to that effect but there are many members that have not played Pokémon in ages but they still want to hang out and chat with folks about video games and media at large.

We don’t have the numbers of yesteryear, but we really enjoy our community and support each other through everything. In a world led by the cold hand of social media, I think there is something beautiful in that.

Keeping and maintaining a forum can be tricky, as users come and go, and especially during a time where social media dominates. Aside from events, what is the team doing to bring in new users and encourage existing ones to keep returning?

Jeydis:

We advertise the forums through our Bluesky and soon hopefully a YouTube channel. We have also joined forces with other Pokémon communities to support each other through social media. The mods and admins also promote the forums on other platforms, when permitted of course, so you may have seen us in other gaming Discord communities. The server tag on Discord helps bring people as well.

What have been some of your personal highlights of the community in its thirteen years (and counting) online?

Vigilance:

Too many to list! At the start it was great seeing people come together and just meme around (we had a chat window in our forum as a precursor to Discord lol). Movie nights were super popular at the time too. Seeing the reaction to the Catcher dropping was a big highlight because it was great to see the community enjoy something we spent so much time building. The first Scramble was super memorable because it was tricky to organize and orchestrate but the members loving it made it worth it. I’ll also never forget our first few patron donations ($100 tier) which showed how much our community was willing to support us as a forum. It was special to see people “grow up” with the forums too. So many members became better artists, better writers, better jokesters. You had people enter [during] high school who are now in college [or have] even graduated. I know seeing this evolution and growth is what kept the staff team involved and energized. Ultimately, the people are what made Lake Valor what it was, and despite many changes in the 13 years of its existence, that is still the case.

Jeydis:

I have very fond memories of various events as both a member and a staff member. Summer Scrambles are my favorite, of course, [as] the spirit of competition helped drive me when I was a member. That led me to doing some activities which I had not touched in ages like digital art, mixed media collages and shiny hunting. What drives me as a member of staff now is getting messages from our members mentioning how much they love our community and feel supported by their fellow members; that brings a shine to my day like nothing else.

Lake Valor’s long history online is an amazing achievement you should all be very proud of! In your opinion, what is the future for the community?

Jeydis:

We are working on a few projects, including an infrastructure upgrade, a YouTube channel, and some other secrets I won’t divulge just yet.

I like to ask our guests if there are any Pokémon-related items and merchandise they have which mean something to them. Does the team have anything they would like to share of their own?

Jeydis:

The Bulbasaur and Lapras were found during a geocaching activity around my city. I took part in it even though I was going through a rough patch at the time, and it got me active and cheered me up. The Kyogre is a gift from a close online friend before they passed.

BZRich64:

I’ve had this little guy for as long as I can remember. Apparently he was given to me by someone but I have no idea who. All I know is that he’s one of my oldest and most cherished stuffed animals.

Wizard:

I don’t have much in terms of merch, but I do have a nice little collection of physical games.

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! Do you have any final comments you would like to make?

Jeydis:

Thank you for taking the time to get to know our little corner of the ‘net! I hope your readers enjoyed this look into an older online community and now know that there are still some safe and fun harbors out there on the big ocean that is the internet.

A huge thank you to Jeydis and the rest of the team for their contributions to our interview! We wish them, and Lake Valor, all the very best for the future!

Interview conducted on: August 28th, 2025
Interview published on: October 23rd, 2025

Subscribe now

Share

Discuss on our forum

We now have a message board! It has been lovely meeting so many Johto Times readers and friends from across our social media channels in one place, discussing all kinds of topics relating to our newsletter and the Pokémon series. We hope more of you will consider registering and joining us!

Check out the Johto Times Community Forum!

For anyone interested in registering, we strongly recommend checking out the Johto Times Community Rules thread and using the Introduce Yourself thread to let us get to know you!

News

POKÉMON LEGENDS: Z-A

• The latest title in the Pokémon video game series, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, was released today on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. If you’re planning to pick it up, be sure to let us know what you think of it at our community forum!

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON ANIME

• Pokémon Horizons Season 3: Rising Hope will be released on BBC iPlayer in the UK on October 27th, 2025, and on Netflix in the United States on January 6th, 2026.

Source: Pokémon, Pokémon

POKÉMON GO

• The new Weekly Challenges feature launched in Pokémon GO on October 13th, 2025. Players can join up to three other Trainers from across the world each week to complete a challenge, earn rewards, and increase their friendship levels with their group. A new weekly challenge will be posted every Sunday at 17:00 PDT.

Source: Pokémon GO

• Pokémon GO’s new levelling system, which rebalances Trainer levels beyond level 23, is now rolling out as of October 15th, 2025.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON TCG POCKET

• A new Wonder Pick Event launched on October 13th, 2025, adding new Shaymin and Absol Promo-A cards, Wonder Pick missions, and items based on Professor Oak in the Wonder Pick Event Shop. This event runs until September 23rd, 2025.

Source: In-game news

• The Official Pokémon Youtube released a short trailer announcing new features to TCG Pocket, including a new card sharing feature, an increased range of tradable cards, an increased chance for players to find cards they don’t already own from Wonder Picks, and card Flairs being obtained automatically without consuming Shinedust.

Source: Youtube

Feature: Johto Times Favourite Pokémon Poll 2025 (Final results)

It is time for the results of the Johto Times Favourite Pokémon Poll 2025! From May 22nd to July 31st, 2025, we asked our readers and the wider Pokémon community to vote for their six favourite Pokémon from each generation. The attention this poll received was significant, with 582,516 votes, far exceeding any expectations we originally had for it. You can check out the results of our preliminary vote here.

Once this first stage of voting was over, the top ten highest voted Pokémon from each of the nine polls we ran were taken through to the grand final, which took place between August 14th and September 30th, 2025. This time, we requested that Pokémon fans vote for three of their favourites. We received a total of 24,828 votes (from 8,276 participants) to determine an overall winner.

Please note: unlike the preliminary poll, we decided to acknowledge jointly held positions. For example, 4th and 5th place were a tie, so we gave both Pokémon a 4th place position, which we didn’t do for the preliminary polls. Because there were no ties in the top ten of each poll during these preliminary rounds, it didn’t impact the Grand Final.

I wish to thank all of the communities and individuals who shared our poll once again, most notably Bulbapedia (and Bulbagarden) and PokéCommunity. They were fundamental in helping us reach such a huge number of fans over the past few months, during the preliminary rounds and our grand final. Of course, I also want to extend those thanks to the tens of thousands of you who voted over the past few months and discovered our little project as a result.

While this poll has now ended, I hope that you will continue to follow the work Johto Times is doing to document and preserve the early era of Pokémon, and any future polls we may decide to run in the future.

With that out of the way, here are the results!

Here are the placements of all ninety Pokémon, their rank, and total number of votes

In an effort to give as much detail and clarity as possible, we plan to share the full raw data of our preliminary rounds and our grand final on our forum, exported from Strawpoll. They break down the votes in each poll by country of origin and even the exact time and date of each vote. I am sure a lot of cool facts can be extrapolated from these results, but that is a task too large for Johto Times to handle alone. Please note that the results contain no personally identifiable information. I hope that this poll has been fun and contributed some cool insight into the way that people feel about their favourite Pokémon.

Finally, I have a message to Pokémon fans who may be disappointed that their favourites didn’t place where they wanted them to be: our poll is just one of many that have been conducted over the years, and it won’t be the last. No poll can invalidate the appreciation you have for your favourite Pokémon. I hope that we can all keep that positivity and love moving forward into Pokémon’s 30th anniversary and beyond.

Subscribe now

Share

Discuss on our forum

It is time for the results of the Johto Times Favourite Pokémon Poll 2025! From May 22nd to July 31st, 2025, we asked our readers and the wider Pokémon community to vote for their six favourite Pokémon from each generation. The attention this poll received was significant, with 582,516 votes, far exceeding any expectations we originally had for it. You can check out the results of our preliminary vote here.

Once this first stage of voting was over, the top ten highest voted Pokémon from each of the nine polls we ran were taken through to the grand final, which took place between August 14th and September 30th, 2025. This time, we requested that Pokémon fans vote for three of their favourites. We received a total of 24,828 votes (from 8,276 participants) to determine an overall winner.

Please note: unlike the preliminary poll, we decided to acknowledge jointly held positions. For example, 4th and 5th place were a tie, so we gave both Pokémon a 4th place position, which we didn’t do for the preliminary polls. Because there were no ties in the top ten of each poll during these preliminary rounds, it didn’t impact the Grand Final.

I wish to thank all of the communities and individuals who shared our poll once again, most notably Bulbapedia (and Bulbagarden) and PokéCommunity. They were fundamental in helping us reach such a huge number of fans over the past few months, during the preliminary rounds and our grand final. Of course, I also want to extend those thanks to the tens of thousands of you who voted over the past few months and discovered our little project as a result.

While this poll has now ended, I hope that you will continue to follow the work Johto Times is doing to document and preserve the early era of Pokémon, and any future polls we may decide to run in the future.

With that out of the way, here are the results!

Here are the placements of all ninety Pokémon, their rank, and total number of votes

In an effort to give as much detail and clarity as possible, we plan to share the full raw data of our preliminary rounds and our grand final on our forum, exported from Strawpoll. They break down the votes in each poll by country of origin and even the exact time and date of each vote. I am sure a lot of cool facts can be extrapolated from these results, but that is a task too large for Johto Times to handle alone. Please note that the results contain no personally identifiable information. I hope that this poll has been fun and contributed some cool insight into the way that people feel about their favourite Pokémon.

Finally, I have a message to Pokémon fans who may be disappointed that their favourites didn’t place where they wanted them to be: our poll is just one of many that have been conducted over the years, and it won’t be the last. No poll can invalidate the appreciation you have for your favourite Pokémon. I hope that we can all keep that positivity and love moving forward into Pokémon’s 30th anniversary and beyond.

Subscribe now

Share

Discuss on our forum

For this interview, we speak to Jon, the man behind the online persona, to learn more about his art and how it led to a career in the games industry!

It’s great to speak with you, Jon! Can you please start by introducing yourself to our readers?

Jon:

Hi! Thank you for getting in touch; it’s my pleasure! So my name is Jon Davies, often going by the username “SovanJedi” in various online communities. I am a full-time artist from the UK, and I studied to be a 3D artist and animator throughout college and university. I was active around various online communities during my teenage years, namely Star Fox, Zelda, and -- of course – Pokémon. Despite my 3D background, however, I am now a professional freelance pixel artist and have been doing [that] for over 20 years.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, you created 3D models of Pokémon characters from the first two generations. What encouraged you to start creating them?

Jon:

Learning to do 3D modelling in my youth led me to creating a ton of art, much of it centered around fanart of my favourite games. At the time, Pokémon had just launched and was a huge worldwide phenomenon that captured the attention of everyone, so naturally I became engrossed in this. It was then that I discovered the fansite Pokemon3D.com, which hosted some 3D Pokémon images of its own (a combination of official art and fanmade), so I became involved with making art for that site. During this time, Pokémon Gold and Silver [had] just launched in Japan, and I became determined at the time to recreate all of the new Pokémon from that game in 3D.

This was an era where games launching worldwide simultaneously was very rare, and I believe there was a seven-month gap between the JP release and US release? [Editors note: There was an eleven-month gap between the Japanese and North American release of Pokémon Gold & Silver.] But [at] that time, non-Japanese players like myself were desperate to learn all we [could] about the secrets this insanely-hyped game held. I think a lot of people discovered some of the new Pokémon from my 3D renders – I know at least some people discovered Togetic from my render, for example.

Art software has changed a lot since 1999. How did you make your Pokémon models back then?

Jon:

I had “acquired” (cough cough) a copy of 3D Studio MAX, which was what I was being taught at college. This software was one of the big industry standards for 3D modelling at the time, with Maya and SoftImage being others. I think I ultimately moved on to Maya, but the overwhelming majority of the Pokémon images I’m known for were made with MAX. Before that I was using RayDream Studio, which now that I look back on it was extremely dire and made the move to MAX an absolutely heavenly experience. I am extremely grateful for taking the time to become acquainted with so many of these programs and 3D art packages as a whole, as it makes even the jump to modern software like Blender almost second nature (though, needless to say, the functionality is worlds apart!).

Your work was shown on several fansites, including Pokémon 3D, Pokémon Palace Network, and Pojo. How did you feel about the attention your work was receiving at the time?

Jon:

Oh, boy, let me tell you about the rollercoaster ride involved with this. Initially I was very happy with the comments and joy people expressed. Then as I got even remotely better at 3D modelling, I came to despise these things, and for many many years afterward I loathed that these images were forever part of internet history that I could [do] nothing to remove. (Let’s face it, some of these are absolutely terrible.) I would have the occasional person approach me saying they used to love these pictures and wanted to tell me how much they meant to them, and I just flat-out would not believe anyone because of how rancid I thought they were. In recent years and having a lot of reflection on them, I think being a relic of their time is the charm that people see in them. Having seen how the era of early 90s CG has become a point of fascination to a lot of people, even those who weren’t born at the time to live through it themselves, I can understand that appeal more. So my opinion has softened on them now.

On the topic of Pojo, your artwork appeared in their Unofficial Pokémon News & Price Guide Monthly magazine which was sold across the United States. What’s the story behind that?

Jon:

That was a crazy situation. As you mentioned in the last question, these 3D pictures appeared [on] multiple websites across the internet, though they kept the little watermark/logo I had stuck on most of the pieces... except for Pojo’s website, which had scrubbed my logo off of the images and placed their watermark on instead. I contacted the site and demanded they remove my pieces or replace them with the ones that properly credit me. The response to this was, I think, rather surprising to me at the time: not only did they comply, but the staff responsible for the printed version of the magazine reached out and asked if I would be interested in producing some original pieces for their magazine - as a paid gig! This would ultimately turn into the first ever paid commission I received as an artist of any sort, and I still have the issue of Pojo in question. The idea of turning my art into stereoscopic 3D double-page spreads was super fun too, and I’d love to revisit that again someday as a pixel artist.

Over twenty-five years have now passed since you made those models. For the past twenty years, you’ve worked in the games industry, on indie titles and with some impressive clients! Can you tell us a bit more about your journey?

Jon:

While I was studying 3D modelling in college, I had taken up pixel art as a hobby, something to help me with creating games using RPG Maker 2000 (one of which was a Pokémon game, but I never released it publicly, and it’s sadly lost to time now). I wanted to get into 3D modelling for game dev, but I was facing multiple rejections and time was running short. I was tipped off [about] a company called IOMO, who were making games for J2ME platforms (essentially phone games before iPhone and other smartphones came onto the scene, so more advanced than Snake but not really full 3D yet). [They had] put out a hire for a pixel artist. I applied, got the job, and worked there before being made redundant some four years later. At that time I formed an indie studio called Megadev with some friends and largely created Flash games. We were not a huge success but our work kept the lights on, and we did have a few success stories, like the Knightfall puzzle games, Super House of Dead Ninjas for Adult Swim, and Time4Cat (which would go on and become the inspiration for another team of developers that lead to the creation of Superhot).

After some time we split, and around that point was when I [was] considering becoming full-time independent as a freelance artist. I worked at Nicalis for [three and a half] years and worked on Binding of Isaac, Crystal Crisis (the only commercial game I ever did 3D art and animation work for) and the Switch port of Cave Story+. [After] leaving there, I jumped from job to job, working for a lot of clients and a lot of games. Some of them became big success stories, like Cursed to Golf, where others... well, not so much. But swings and roundabouts, and all that.

It’s interesting; when I took that pixel art job it was basically my “in” for the industry, with a plan to ditch it to take on my passion as a 3D artist on “real” games. But now I would never dream of doing such a thing, and I’m eternally grateful that my journey took the path it did in the end and I work on the sort of things I work on now.

Were there any models that you remember being particularly challenging to make?

Jon:

Certainly any of the more humanoid Pokémon were a struggle, and I do remember Gyarados and its scales took a long time to model properly. But probably the ones I had [the] most trouble with were a lot of the Gen 2 Pokémon that had no official artwork [at the time] for me to model them on, and I had to interpret their in-game sprites creatively (like Celebi’s wings, for some odd reason, I modelled to look like fleshy tube rings sticking out of its back - that was a weird one!). Then Nintendo would release the image and I would repeatedly slap my head and go, “Oh, so THAT’S what they were doing with that!” Although occasionally the in-game interpretation, upon reflection, makes zero sense whatsoever – I remember being annoyed at the Spinarak sprite in-game being a dark purple, which is what I coloured my model as, [and] then they released the official art and revealed it was light green instead! (Though as I write this out, I find out that they fixed this in Crystal version: it was only a problem in the original Gold and Silver [games].)

I also only had Pokémon Red at the time, so a lot of Blue-exclusive Pokémon were kind of a mystery to me. I distinctly remember Magmar being confusing: I had seen parts of it in a magazine once, but the way they laid the art out its head was covered, so I started modelling it with a sort of reptile mouth. Then I found out it has a duck beak and it was a huge shock!

Looking back at what you achieved, are there any models in particular that you are proud of?

Jon:

Some of the models I look at even today and think they kind of look alright, like Bulbasaur, Rhyhorn, Exeggutor and Blastoise. Actually, as a funny note, Blastoise got the ultimate seal of approval when I recently discovered that one of the 3D renders I made for it was stolen by a bootlegger and used for a bootleg copy of “Pokémon Blue Sea Edition” that has been circulating in the Philippines for a while now. I even have a physical copy with the box!

As we both know, Pokémon was immensely popular for kids like us during the late 90s. I am interested to hear your earliest memories of Pokémon and what the franchise meant to you growing up.

Jon:

I was a teenager when Pokémon first appeared on the scene, so maybe a little older than what is the normal age of induction into the franchise. But while reading about N64 games coming from Japan I remember the magazines would occasionally feature “Pocket Monsters”, the newest craze from Japan. As someone who grew up with the similarly named “Monster in My Pocket”, I was immediately interested. Then me and my friend were searching a game store near us that occasionally had import[ed] games in it, and they just so happened to have US copies of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. We decided to simultaneously buy our copies on that day and we booted our journeys up at the same time. He picked Squirtle, I picked Charmander, and I was an idiot who didn’t understand how the game’s type chart worked so our first fight naturally had his Squirtle kick my Charmander’s butt. But it was at that time [that] we became utterly hooked and loved the world of Pokémon – its secrets, the size of the game and the versatility when creating your team full of Pokémon who all mean something to you. It was incredibly magical. For years after, we still held onto the pact of buying alternate versions of the new games and starting them on the same day.

I am very curious to see what kinds of Pokémon items and merchandise you have that mean something to you! What can you share?

Jon:

I have not been at all shy to proclaim my love for Aggron, my all-time favourite Pokémon. However, it’s a Pokémon that falls into the category of Not Being Cool Enough For Merch, so I have made it my mission to collect as many Aggron-related toys, figures, cards and other items [related] to the steel-plated dinosaur. I maintain a whole shelf in my house that contains a decently-sized selection of Aggron items, including a polymer clay sculpt I made myself, and a cute charm a lovely friend of mine made (tsurudraws.com), which I very recently carried with me all the way to the Aggron Poké Lid in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka!

Outside of Aggron, I have this annoying habit of sometimes being drawn to Pokémon specifically because they have attained a level of unpopularity. A dear friend let me have a Dunsparce card which I carry in my wallet, and I have a Maractus plush specifically because it reminds me of my trip to Cancun, which was an amazing time and was swarming with Maractus in Pokémon GO.

Next year, Pokémon will reach its 30th anniversary. It has come a long way since we were first introduced to it! What do you think the future holds for Pokémon?

Jon:

Honestly? I would not even begin to say. Even if the magic of first playing Pokémon Red all those years ago has long gone, there is always a huge mystery to how the company works and what the new game will contain: you think the rules for what makes a Pokémon game a Pokémon game are set in stone, and then they bring out Pokémon Legends. You are absolutely SURE about all the rules that make a Pokémon a Pokémon, and then they introduce something new, like Ultra Beasts or Paradox Pokémon. Now, I could sit here and be cynical about how the future is going to hold many more ways to bless Charizard with a new form that keeps it relevant for all time, but my naive side just wants to be able to enjoy the ride and see where they take us. Whatever the future [holds], I’ll be very excited to experience it and learn everything I can about the new games.

Jon, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us about your early days of creating Pokémon models. Do you have any comments you would like to make?

Jon:

I think it’s okay to indulge in the interests that breed creativity in you, whether that ultimately leads to an inventive innovation or just keeps you feeling joy, because being able to create is a major blessing that should never be forgotten or lost. Even if it leads to some embarrassment, you should know that someone out there loves and appreciates the things you take time to put out there in the world, and your little endeavours might lead others to make amazing things themselves. So please just go out there and make the things you want to make!

It was a pleasure to speak to Jon about his early Pokémon work, and we are super proud of how far he has come in the years that have followed. We wish him all the very best of luck in his career, and his future!

Interview conducted on: August 28th, 2025
Interview published on: October 9th, 2025

Before we begin, we have an announcement to make!

The Johto Times Community Forum is now available!

I’m very excited to confirm that we finally have a space where readers and other Pokémon fans can discuss a variety of topics relating to Pokémon. We soft launched the community earlier this week, and we believe we are now ready to open it up further.

For anyone interested in registering, we strongly recommend checking out the Johto Times Community Rules thread and using the Introduce Yourself thread to let us get to know you!

If you don’t receive your registration confirmation email, please check your spam folder. If you still have problems, please feel free to contact us and I will personally try to help you as best as I can!

News

GENERAL

• The NHK Symphony Orchestra has announced the NHK Symphony Orchestra x Pokémon Classical Concert Tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise with four tour dates across Japan between August 21st and August 24th, 2026.

Source: NHKSO Tokyo

• The Pokémon Center website is now available in Germany, which soft launched this morning

Source: Pokémon Center Germany

POKÉMON LEGENDS Z-A

• A new six minute commercial advertising Pokémon Legends: Z-A has been released. Legends: Z-A releases worldwide on October 16th, 2025.

Source: Nintendo of America

SCARLET & VIOLET

• GameStop has announced a second wave of code cards for Shiny Koraidon and Miraidon is now available in US stores as of October 4th, 2025, while supplies last. Shiny Koraidon and Miraidon code cards are also available now at Intertoys in the Netherlands, GamePlanet in Mexico, and Smyths Toys Superstore in Germany.

Source: GameStop, Intertoys, Gameplanet, Serebii

POKÉMON GO

• Pokémon Go has announced an upcoming Legends: Z-A event, starting on October 16th, 2025, and running until October 20th, 2025. Trainers will receive a free Timed Research that allows an encounter with one of the Z-A starters (Chikorita, Totodile, or Tepig), new Lumiose City Avatar items will be available in the game shop, Mega Raids will be more common, and Meganium, Feraligatr and Emboar can learn their legacy moves Frenzy Plant, Hydro Cannon, or Blast Burn through evolution or by using a Charged TM during the event.

Source: Pokémon GO

TCG POCKET

• A Drop Event featuring various new Promo-A cards, including Raichu ex, launched on October 6th, 2025, and runs until October 16th, 2025.

Source: In-game news

• A new event is giving out code cards for 24 Pack Hourglasses starting on October 24th, 2025, and running while supplies last. Participating stores include GameStop, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble and Five Below in the United States, EB Games in Canada, and EB Games and JB HIFI in Australia and New Zealand. Code cards are not redeemable in the app itself, but on the game’s dedicated code redemption webpage.

Source: Pokémon, Redemption Page

Feature: Interview with Jon Davies (SovanJedi)

One of the great things about Pokémon fans is how they express themselves through creative endeavours such as art and fan fiction. During his teenage years, a Pokémon fan with the online username SovanJedi created a huge amount of Pokémon 3D models, which could be found on several large fansites and even made it into published magazines!

For this interview, we speak to Jon, the man behind the online persona, to learn more about his art and how it led to a career in the games industry!

It’s great to speak with you, Jon! Can you please start by introducing yourself to our readers?

Jon:

Hi! Thank you for getting in touch; it’s my pleasure! So my name is Jon Davies, often going by the username “SovanJedi” in various online communities. I am a full-time artist from the UK, and I studied to be a 3D artist and animator throughout college and university. I was active around various online communities during my teenage years, namely Star Fox, Zelda, and – of course – Pokémon. Despite my 3D background, however, I am now a professional freelance pixel artist and have been doing [that] for over 20 years.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, you created 3D models of Pokémon characters from the first two generations. What encouraged you to start creating them?

Jon:

Learning to do 3D modelling in my youth led me to creating a ton of art, much of it centered around fanart of my favourite games. At the time, Pokémon had just launched and was a huge worldwide phenomenon that captured the attention of everyone, so naturally I became engrossed in this. It was then that I discovered the fansite Pokemon3D.com, which hosted some 3D Pokémon images of its own (a combination of official art and fanmade), so I became involved with making art for that site. During this time, Pokémon Gold and Silver [had] just launched in Japan, and I became determined at the time to recreate all of the new Pokémon from that game in 3D.

This was an era where games launching worldwide simultaneously was very rare, and I believe there was a seven-month gap between the JP release and US release? [Editors note: There was an eleven-month gap between the Japanese and North American release of Pokémon Gold & Silver.] But [at] that time, non-Japanese players like myself were desperate to learn all we [could] about the secrets this insanely-hyped game held. I think a lot of people discovered some of the new Pokémon from my 3D renders – I know at least some people discovered Togetic from my render, for example.

Art software has changed a lot since 1999. How did you make your Pokémon models back then?

Jon:

I had “acquired” (cough cough) a copy of 3D Studio MAX, which was what I was being taught at college. This software was one of the big industry standards for 3D modelling at the time, with Maya and SoftImage being others. I think I ultimately moved on to Maya, but the overwhelming majority of the Pokémon images I’m known for were made with MAX. Before that I was using RayDream Studio, which now that I look back on it was extremely dire and made the move to MAX an absolutely heavenly experience. I am extremely grateful for taking the time to become acquainted with so many of these programs and 3D art packages as a whole, as it makes even the jump to modern software like Blender almost second nature (though, needless to say, the functionality is worlds apart!).

Your work was shown on several fansites, including Pokémon 3D, Pokémon Palace Network, and Pojo. How did you feel about the attention your work was receiving at the time?

Jon:

Oh, boy, let me tell you about the rollercoaster ride involved with this. Initially I was very happy with the comments and joy people expressed. Then as I got even remotely better at 3D modelling, I came to despise these things, and for many many years afterward I loathed that these images were forever part of internet history that I could [do] nothing to remove. (Let’s face it, some of these are absolutely terrible.) I would have the occasional person approach me saying they used to love these pictures and wanted to tell me how much they meant to them, and I just flat-out would not believe anyone because of how rancid I thought they were. In recent years and having a lot of reflection on them, I think being a relic of their time is the charm that people see in them. Having seen how the era of early 90s CG has become a point of fascination to a lot of people, even those who weren’t born at the time to live through it themselves, I can understand that appeal more. So my opinion has softened on them now.

On the topic of Pojo, your artwork appeared in their Unofficial Pokémon News & Price Guide Monthly magazine which was sold across the United States. What’s the story behind that?

Jon:

That was a crazy situation. As you mentioned in the last question, these 3D pictures appeared [on] multiple websites across the internet, though they kept the little watermark/logo I had stuck on most of the pieces... except for Pojo’s website, which had scrubbed my logo off of the images and placed their watermark on instead. I contacted the site and demanded they remove my pieces or replace them with the ones that properly credit me. The response to this was, I think, rather surprising to me at the time: not only did they comply, but the staff responsible for the printed version of the magazine reached out and asked if I would be interested in producing some original pieces for their magazine - as a paid gig! This would ultimately turn into the first ever paid commission I received as an artist of any sort, and I still have the issue of Pojo in question. The idea of turning my art into stereoscopic 3D double-page spreads was super fun too, and I’d love to revisit that again someday as a pixel artist.

Over twenty-five years have now passed since you made those models. For the past twenty years, you’ve worked in the games industry, on indie titles and with some impressive clients! Can you tell us a bit more about your journey?

Jon:

While I was studying 3D modelling in college, I had taken up pixel art as a hobby, something to help me with creating games using RPG Maker 2000 (one of which was a Pokémon game, but I never released it publicly, and it’s sadly lost to time now). I wanted to get into 3D modelling for game dev, but I was facing multiple rejections and time was running short. I was tipped off [about] a company called IOMO, who were making games for J2ME platforms (essentially phone games before iPhone and other smartphones came onto the scene, so more advanced than Snake but not really full 3D yet). [They had] put out a hire for a pixel artist. I applied, got the job, and worked there before being made redundant some four years later. At that time I formed an indie studio called Megadev with some friends and largely created Flash games. We were not a huge success but our work kept the lights on, and we did have a few success stories, like the Knightfall puzzle games, Super House of Dead Ninjas for Adult Swim, and Time4Cat (which would go on and become the inspiration for another team of developers that lead to the creation of Superhot).

After some time we split, and around that point was when I [was] considering becoming full-time independent as a freelance artist. I worked at Nicalis for [three and a half] years and worked on Binding of Isaac, Crystal Crisis (the only commercial game I ever did 3D art and animation work for) and the Switch port of Cave Story+. [After] leaving there, I jumped from job to job, working for a lot of clients and a lot of games. Some of them became big success stories, like Cursed to Golf, where others... well, not so much. But swings and roundabouts, and all that.

It’s interesting; when I took that pixel art job it was basically my “in” for the industry, with a plan to ditch it to take on my passion as a 3D artist on “real” games. But now I would never dream of doing such a thing, and I’m eternally grateful that my journey took the path it did in the end and I work on the sort of things I work on now.

Were there any models that you remember being particularly challenging to make?

Jon:

Certainly any of the more humanoid Pokémon were a struggle, and I do remember Gyarados and its scales took a long time to model properly. But probably the ones I had [the] most trouble with were a lot of the Gen 2 Pokémon that had no official artwork [at the time] for me to model them on, and I had to interpret their in-game sprites creatively (like Celebi’s wings, for some odd reason, I modelled to look like fleshy tube rings sticking out of its back - that was a weird one!). Then Nintendo would release the image and I would repeatedly slap my head and go, “Oh, so THAT’S what they were doing with that!” Although occasionally the in-game interpretation, upon reflection, makes zero sense whatsoever – I remember being annoyed at the Spinarak sprite in-game being a dark purple, which is what I coloured my model as, [and] then they released the official art and revealed it was light green instead! (Though as I write this out, I find out that they fixed this in Crystal version: it was only a problem in the original Gold and Silver [games].)

I also only had Pokémon Red at the time, so a lot of Blue-exclusive Pokémon were kind of a mystery to me. I distinctly remember Magmar being confusing: I had seen parts of it in a magazine once, but the way they laid the art out its head was covered, so I started modelling it with a sort of reptile mouth. Then I found out it has a duck beak and it was a huge shock!

Looking back at what you achieved, are there any models in particular that you are proud of?

Jon:

Some of the models I look at even today and think they kind of look alright, like Bulbasaur, Rhyhorn, Exeggutor and Blastoise. Actually, as a funny note, Blastoise got the ultimate seal of approval when I recently discovered that one of the 3D renders I made for it was stolen by a bootlegger and used for a bootleg copy of “Pokémon Blue Sea Edition” that has been circulating in the Philippines for a while now. I even have a physical copy with the box!

As we both know, Pokémon was immensely popular for kids like us during the late 90s. I am interested to hear your earliest memories of Pokémon and what the franchise meant to you growing up.

Jon:

I was a teenager when Pokémon first appeared on the scene, so maybe a little older than what is the normal age of induction into the franchise. But while reading about N64 games coming from Japan I remember the magazines would occasionally feature “Pocket Monsters”, the newest craze from Japan. As someone who grew up with the similarly named “Monster in My Pocket”, I was immediately interested. Then me and my friend were searching a game store near us that occasionally had import[ed] games in it, and they just so happened to have US copies of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. We decided to simultaneously buy our copies on that day and we booted our journeys up at the same time. He picked Squirtle, I picked Charmander, and I was an idiot who didn’t understand how the game’s type chart worked so our first fight naturally had his Squirtle kick my Charmander’s butt. But it was at that time [that] we became utterly hooked and loved the world of Pokémon – its secrets, the size of the game and the versatility when creating your team full of Pokémon who all mean something to you. It was incredibly magical. For years after, we still held onto the pact of buying alternate versions of the new games and starting them on the same day.

I am very curious to see what kinds of Pokémon items and merchandise you have that mean something to you! What can you share?

Jon:

I have not been at all shy to proclaim my love for Aggron, my all-time favourite Pokémon. However, it’s a Pokémon that falls into the category of Not Being Cool Enough For Merch, so I have made it my mission to collect as many Aggron-related toys, figures, cards and other items [related] to the steel-plated dinosaur. I maintain a whole shelf in my house that contains a decently-sized selection of Aggron items, including a polymer clay sculpt I made myself, and a cute charm a lovely friend of mine made (tsurudraws.com), which I very recently carried with me all the way to the Aggron Poké Lid in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka!

Outside of Aggron, I have this annoying habit of sometimes being drawn to Pokémon specifically because they have attained a level of unpopularity. A dear friend let me have a Dunsparce card which I carry in my wallet, and I have a Maractus plush specifically because it reminds me of my trip to Cancun, which was an amazing time and was swarming with Maractus in Pokémon GO.

Next year, Pokémon will reach its 30th anniversary. It has come a long way since we were first introduced to it! What do you think the future holds for Pokémon?

Jon:

Honestly? I would not even begin to say. Even if the magic of first playing Pokémon Red all those years ago has long gone, there is always a huge mystery to how the company works and what the new game will contain: you think the rules for what makes a Pokémon game a Pokémon game are set in stone, and then they bring out Pokémon Legends. You are absolutely SURE about all the rules that make a Pokémon a Pokémon, and then they introduce something new, like Ultra Beasts or Paradox Pokémon. Now, I could sit here and be cynical about how the future is going to hold many more ways to bless Charizard with a new form that keeps it relevant for all time, but my naive side just wants to be able to enjoy the ride and see where they take us. Whatever the future [holds], I’ll be very excited to experience it and learn everything I can about the new games.

Jon, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us about your early days of creating Pokémon models. Do you have any comments you would like to make?

Jon:

I think it’s okay to indulge in the interests that breed creativity in you, whether that ultimately leads to an inventive innovation or just keeps you feeling joy, because being able to create is a major blessing that should never be forgotten or lost. Even if it leads to some embarrassment, you should know that someone out there loves and appreciates the things you take time to put out there in the world, and your little endeavours might lead others to make amazing things themselves. So please just go out there and make the things you want to make!

It was a pleasure to speak to Jon about his early Pokémon work, and we are super proud of how far he has come in the years that have followed. We wish him all the very best of luck in his career, and his future!

Interview conducted on: August 28th, 2025
Interview published on: October 9th, 2025

Subscribe now

Share

Discuss on our forum

Tyler:

My history with Pokémon began like many others, when a friend let me try out the game during recess at school. It took a few months for me to get my hands on a copy of my own, and what started out as something intended to occupy me in the car during a family vacation eventually became an obsession. Honestly, I remember very little of what happened on that family vacation outside the screen of my Game Boy!

Pokémania ‘99 was really an experience to be had, and I was fully immersed in the cultural phenomenon of Pokémon for a few years, something I’m sure many Johto Times subscribers can remember themselves. I spent countless hours on my Game Boy with my best friend, Rick, during the heyday of Generation I.

Yet, as tends to happen, I eventually started to lose interest. I sold my original Pokémon games shortly after my 14th birthday, only to immediately regret that decision. A few months later, I had been lamenting this decision with a teammate from my baseball team when he said he’d sell me his copy of Blue Version. I only had $1 in my pocket at the time, but he said if I bought him a bottle of Sprite at the gas station, he’d give me the game. I still have that copy of Blue Version, and I love telling people that I traded a bottle of Sprite for Pokémon Blue!

Tyler:

Around the same time, the seeds of future tournaments were being sown. My friend Rick moved far enough away that we wouldn’t be able to see each other very often, and I turned to the first Pokémon Stadium game to satiate my thirst for battles. I spent a lot of high school slowly working my way through the various cups and competitions, learning more about strategies and Pokémon. Yet, I didn’t get the chance to battle human opponents very often, and that always felt like the real goal of Pokémon battles.

During the summer before our senior year of high school, I made the long drive to visit Rick at his new home. His siblings, Laura and Mike, were now old enough to be accomplished battlers in their own right, as well, and I was looking forward to some real battles again. Only we weren’t battling with Pokémon Stadium. Rick pulled out a game I didn’t even know existed: Pokémon Stadium 2! After an amazing weekend discovering this new game, I immediately sought out my own copy and went to work beating all the cups in that game as well.

However, while it was great for Pokémon Stadium 2 to be inclusive of both Generations I and II, [and it is] still the only instance where different generations can battle and trade freely with one another, it was much more difficult to beat the game with only my copy of Pokémon Blue. I was missing out on 100 new Pokémon, numerous new moves, breeding, and whole new Pokémon types! So I picked up Pokémon Gold and dove into Earl’s Pokémon Academy with my cousin, Conner, who would become my main battle partner.

Armed with this new knowledge, I also started picking the brains of various friends for new strategies. All this talk brought out a lot of competitive banter among my friends and co-workers, who all said they had unbeatable teams from back in the day. I’d much rather actually play versus simply talk, so I started inviting people to test out their teams. Excitement started to build when I floated the idea of having a real, actual tournament, to which I received overwhelmingly positive responses. Together, we had plenty of Nintendo 64 consoles [and] Transfer Paks, and my church had the televisions and venue itself. So, in December 2009, I scheduled our first Pokémon Stadium 2 tournament.

Tyler:

Yet, before we could even begin, we had to decide on a format. A few friends wanted full teams of six level 100 Pokémon. Others wanted no level restrictions. After discussing with many players, most notably the aptly nicknamed “Elite Four” (the quartet of myself, Rick, and his siblings, Laura and Mike), we landed on what I still consider the greatest and most enjoyable format in all of Pokémon: Poké Cup.

Poké Cup restricts only a select few legendary Pokémon and sets the level range to 50-55. We felt this would let people replay their games and re-experience the joy of a childhood favorite while also raising a tournament squad. Teams are selected from an initial group of six, but players are also forced to reveal their six to the opponent before the match begins. Then, they must select three Pokémon from their original six to bring to the actual battle. This makes it really interesting, since players have a general idea of what their opponent might be planning, but also leaves a sense of the unknown. Will the opponent bring a predictable trio? Will they bait the player into leaning too heavily in the wrong direction? It’s impossible to cover all types, too, so there is always something left to chance. It’s so exciting!

Tyler:

The first tournament was as enjoyable as we all imagined. We had about a dozen and a half players and spectators, who were all friends, family, and co-workers. None of us really knew what we were doing, and many players had never actually battled a human opponent before. Team synergy was nearly non-existent, and battles were learning experiences.

Very quickly, we discovered the powerhouses of the Generation II metagame, like Snorlax and Tyranitar. Some battles, like one between Rick’s Gengar and Conner’s Snorlax, resulted in a 45-minute attrition-filled fight due to immunities, less-than-optimal movesets, and recovery moves. In another fight, one of the highlights we still bring up very often was when Dylan’s Machamp worked Rick down to his last Pokémon, Furret. Objectively, this is a terrible match-up. However, Rick had given his Furret Ice Punch, and it froze Machamp!

As we had more tournaments, we developed our own little metagame that was totally unique. Some players started to turn to websites like Smogon for strategies, but many strategies didn’t translate to the Poké Cup format, which helped keep things unpredictable. Other players planned in private, thinking that if they could develop a secret weapon, they’d have an edge. At the second tournament, it was hilarious to see five players simultaneously unveil Starmie with Thunderbolt, each thinking they were going to be the only one.

The third tournament would end up being my all-time favorite. Not only did we have our biggest turnout, with about 30 players and spectators showing up, but it also saw some of the most exciting battles that the tournaments would ever have. Luckily, I also remembered to bring a camera to this tournament, so I can share a few photos as well.

Tyler:

In the first two tournaments, I personally knew every single participant. But one co-worker had a friend who was extremely into Pokémon and really wanted to come. Not to be confused with Rick’s brother Mike, Mike R breathed new life into the tournaments by forcing us all to up our game. A devastating self-destructing Snorlax and a speedy Tauros led his assault and dumped me into the losers’ bracket very early in the evening.

At the same time, my cousin Bailey was stomping her way through the losers’ bracket with her Fissure/Horn Drill Rhydon, a Pokémon that ruffled a lot of feathers and made a few people want to ragequit. I was riding my Toxic Umbreon through battle after battle, and when we finally met up in [the] losers’ semi-finals, my Umbreon survived what we thought was a last-hit situation with just 1 HP, seeing me through. She was so upset, she ran out of the room in tears!

I had to fight Mike R for the second time in the next round, and that Toxic Umbreon won it for me yet again. The fact that he was using Blue Version meant he lacked Cross Chop or Megahorn to take care of Umbreon, something he would remember in later tournaments.

When I got to the grand final against Dylan, I had another instance of surviving with 1 HP, this time my Muk against a Blastoise, but was able to take it out and then outspeed his Machamp in order to [use Explosion] and put myself in a great position to win and end my favorite tournament.

Tyler:

I continued to host annual Pokémon Stadium 2 tournaments for a number of years, although as players started to graduate from college, move away, and the novelty of a Pokémon tournament started to wane, attendance dwindled, too. With the rise in popularity of online battle simulators, like Shoddy Battle or Pokémon Showdown, it was difficult to convince people to invest in buying a Game Boy, a Gen I or II game, and then put in the time it takes to raise a team if they weren’t already devoted to playing on original hardware.

Yet, there was one last hurrah for the tournaments thanks to a friend I met on Tumblr named Kevin. Suffice to say, there was little discourse going on about Pokémon Stadium 2 in the year 2016, but the two of us managed to find each other. Luckily, we lived close enough that we met up in downtown Chicago and had a Link Cable battle at a famous local tavern.

Kevin, like Mike R before him, breathed new life into the tournaments and gave us a reason to have a couple more. His strategies had developed completely isolated from what the rest of us had come up with already and threw everyone for a loop. To take 2nd place at the first tournament he ever went to, out of state, and on the longest road trip he’d ever taken, is certainly an accomplishment!

We even managed to record some matches and add commentary at the last tournaments, and I wish I had figured out the tech situation much earlier, because the methods and equipment we used had been around since the beginning! A VCR, an old sound mixer we found in a church closet, and some editing software were all we needed. I’ll leave links to two specific matches here, one between a husband and wife, and the finals of the 10th tournament, as they are two of the more fun ones we had on tape.

Tyler:

Finally, the last remnants of the tournaments still show up from time to time. The Elite Four, having grown up together, have vowed to have a mini-tournament the night before each of our weddings. When Rick got married, we stayed true to our word by spending the night before the ceremony hard at work, battling. Laura took home the trophy this time, relying on her smart switching skills and the full-odds shiny Skarmory she caught back in 4th grade.

These days, keeping a Gen II cartridge in working order takes a devoted fan. It’s safe to say that not a single original Gen II game has its original save and battery. This makes it nearly impossible to convince new fans to get into the greatest generation, not to mention the ballooning costs of a cartridge, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and Transfer Paks! Yet, the Elite Four persists thanks to soldering irons and a fantastic homebrew program for the Everdrive called LibPak, which can back up and write save files to cartridges. All our saves are backed up, safe and sound!

Tyler:

With thousands of miles between our homes, we make it a point to have extended battle sessions whenever we are lucky enough to see each other in person. In fact, I was able to battle two members of our Elite Four, Rick and Laura, already this summer. It brings back tons of great memories and highlights from the tournaments, but also our lives, as Pokémon has been a constant for us for so long and seen us through many different stages of life. We always know it’ll continue to be there, so long as we’ve got a Nintendo 64 and a copy of Pokémon Stadium 2!

Tyler:

Thank you so much for the invite to talk about my history with Pokémon and my tournaments! I adore Generation II with all my heart, and it’s always a great time to look back on the highlights from battles long ago.

It was a pleasure to share your story on Johto Times, Tyler! Your passion for Pokémon shines through, and you should be proud of the happy memories you have surely given to the many people around you. We hope Pokémon will continue to be a positive influence in your life.

Subscribe now

Share

Leave a comment

The Grand Final of the Johto Times Favourite Pokémon Poll (2025) is now over! Which Pokémon will be voted as the fan favourite? The results of the poll will be shared later this month. A massive thank you to everyone who voted and spread the word, and to all the communities and influencers who shared the poll to help it reach a greater audience. Click here for more information.

On August 1st, Johto Times launched a new website! Check it out and please bookmark us here: Johto Times

News

POKÉMON LEGENDS Z-A

A commercial for Pokémon Legends Z-A was shown this week, ahead of the game’s release later this month. You can check it out here.

Source: Nintendo

SCARLET & VIOLET

Shiny Koraidon and Shiny Miraidon are now available to obtain from participating stores globally, starting September 26th until October 15th, 2025. Here are the following locations courtesy of Serebii.net:

United States: GameStop
Canada and Australia: EB Games
Chile: We Play
Mexico: Liverpool Stores

Some stores will require players to bring a Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch 2, and show your home screen to prove you own the games, including the following:

Japan: Pokémon Center
South Korea: Nintendo-approved stores
France: Micromania
Spain: GAME
Italy: GameLife

More dates may be added for other countries which haven’t received the offer, such as the United Kingdom.

Source: Serebii, Pokémon

Sign-ups for the Terastal Crescendo Online Competition have begun, and are open until October 12th, 2025. This contest consists of Double Battles, and players will take a team of just two Pokémon, one of which must be Koraidon or Miraidon.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON TCG POCKET

The game has received a monthly refresh, with additions to the Premium Shop, such as an Entei ex promo card, and Lillie cosmetic items.

Source: In-game news

POKÉMON MASTERS EX

Perrin and the Diamond Clan event adding Perrin & Growlithe, Arezu & Hisuian Lilligant, and Mai & Munchlax launches on September 29th, 2025.

Source: Pokémon Masters

POKÉMON SLEEP

A new area, Amber Canyon, is being added to Pokémon Sleep on November 6th, 2025, which can be unlocked after reaching 450 sleep styles.

Source: Pokémon Sleep

POKÉMON UNITE

Mega Lucario debuted in Pokémon UNITE on September 28th, 2025, with Mega Charizard X set to debut on October 24th, 2025. To celebrate the introduction of Mega Lucario, a special event will take place between October 3rd and October 27th, 2025, where you can complete designated missions to earn the Unite license for this Pokémon.

Source: Pokémon

Feature: Tyler’s Pokémon Memories

Tyler is a Pokémon fan whose story may be familiar to many of our readers. He grew up during the early days of “Pokémania” in the late 90s and then lost interest. However, his appetite for the franchise later returned and encouraged him to host and organise a series of Pokémon Stadium 2 tournaments which lasted for many years.

Tyler:

My history with Pokémon began like many others, when a friend let me try out the game during recess at school. It took a few months for me to get my hands on a copy of my own, and what started out as something intended to occupy me in the car during a family vacation eventually became an obsession. Honestly, I remember very little of what happened on that family vacation outside the screen of my Game Boy!

Pokémania ‘99 was really an experience to be had, and I was fully immersed in the cultural phenomenon of Pokémon for a few years, something I’m sure many Johto Times subscribers can remember themselves. I spent countless hours on my Game Boy with my best friend, Rick, during the heyday of Generation I.

Yet, as tends to happen, I eventually started to lose interest. I sold my original Pokémon games shortly after my 14th birthday, only to immediately regret that decision. A few months later, I had been lamenting this decision with a teammate from my baseball team when he said he’d sell me his copy of Blue Version. I only had $1 in my pocket at the time, but he said if I bought him a bottle of Sprite at the gas station, he’d give me the game. I still have that copy of Blue Version, and I love telling people that I traded a bottle of Sprite for Pokémon Blue!

Tyler:

Around the same time, the seeds of future tournaments were being sown. My friend Rick moved far enough away that we wouldn’t be able to see each other very often, and I turned to the first Pokémon Stadium game to satiate my thirst for battles. I spent a lot of high school slowly working my way through the various cups and competitions, learning more about strategies and Pokémon. Yet, I didn’t get the chance to battle human opponents very often, and that always felt like the real goal of Pokémon battles.

During the summer before our senior year of high school, I made the long drive to visit Rick at his new home. His siblings, Laura and Mike, were now old enough to be accomplished battlers in their own right, as well, and I was looking forward to some real battles again. Only we weren’t battling with Pokémon Stadium. Rick pulled out a game I didn’t even know existed: Pokémon Stadium 2! After an amazing weekend discovering this new game, I immediately sought out my own copy and went to work beating all the cups in that game as well.

However, while it was great for Pokémon Stadium 2 to be inclusive of both Generations I and II, [and it is] still the only instance where different generations can battle and trade freely with one another, it was much more difficult to beat the game with only my copy of Pokémon Blue. I was missing out on 100 new Pokémon, numerous new moves, breeding, and whole new Pokémon types! So I picked up Pokémon Gold and dove into Earl’s Pokémon Academy with my cousin, Conner, who would become my main battle partner.

Armed with this new knowledge, I also started picking the brains of various friends for new strategies. All this talk brought out a lot of competitive banter among my friends and co-workers, who all said they had unbeatable teams from back in the day. I’d much rather actually play versus simply talk, so I started inviting people to test out their teams. Excitement started to build when I floated the idea of having a real, actual tournament, to which I received overwhelmingly positive responses. Together, we had plenty of Nintendo 64 consoles [and] Transfer Paks, and my church had the televisions and venue itself. So, in December 2009, I scheduled our first Pokémon Stadium 2 tournament.

Tyler:

Yet, before we could even begin, we had to decide on a format. A few friends wanted full teams of six level 100 Pokémon. Others wanted no level restrictions. After discussing with many players, most notably the aptly nicknamed “Elite Four” (the quartet of myself, Rick, and his siblings, Laura and Mike), we landed on what I still consider the greatest and most enjoyable format in all of Pokémon: Poké Cup.

Poké Cup restricts only a select few legendary Pokémon and sets the level range to 50-55. We felt this would let people replay their games and re-experience the joy of a childhood favorite while also raising a tournament squad. Teams are selected from an initial group of six, but players are also forced to reveal their six to the opponent before the match begins. Then, they must select three Pokémon from their original six to bring to the actual battle. This makes it really interesting, since players have a general idea of what their opponent might be planning, but also leaves a sense of the unknown. Will the opponent bring a predictable trio? Will they bait the player into leaning too heavily in the wrong direction? It’s impossible to cover all types, too, so there is always something left to chance. It’s so exciting!

Tyler:

The first tournament was as enjoyable as we all imagined. We had about a dozen and a half players and spectators, who were all friends, family, and co-workers. None of us really knew what we were doing, and many players had never actually battled a human opponent before. Team synergy was nearly non-existent, and battles were learning experiences.

Very quickly, we discovered the powerhouses of the Generation II metagame, like Snorlax and Tyranitar. Some battles, like one between Rick’s Gengar and Conner’s Snorlax, resulted in a 45-minute attrition-filled fight due to immunities, less-than-optimal movesets, and recovery moves. In another fight, one of the highlights we still bring up very often was when Dylan’s Machamp worked Rick down to his last Pokémon, Furret. Objectively, this is a terrible match-up. However, Rick had given his Furret Ice Punch, and it froze Machamp!

As we had more tournaments, we developed our own little metagame that was totally unique. Some players started to turn to websites like Smogon for strategies, but many strategies didn’t translate to the Poké Cup format, which helped keep things unpredictable. Other players planned in private, thinking that if they could develop a secret weapon, they’d have an edge. At the second tournament, it was hilarious to see five players simultaneously unveil Starmie with Thunderbolt, each thinking they were going to be the only one.

The third tournament would end up being my all-time favorite. Not only did we have our biggest turnout, with about 30 players and spectators showing up, but it also saw some of the most exciting battles that the tournaments would ever have. Luckily, I also remembered to bring a camera to this tournament, so I can share a few photos as well.

Tyler:

In the first two tournaments, I personally knew every single participant. But one co-worker had a friend who was extremely into Pokémon and really wanted to come. Not to be confused with Rick’s brother Mike, Mike R breathed new life into the tournaments by forcing us all to up our game. A devastating self-destructing Snorlax and a speedy Tauros led his assault and dumped me into the losers’ bracket very early in the evening.

At the same time, my cousin Bailey was stomping her way through the losers’ bracket with her Fissure/Horn Drill Rhydon, a Pokémon that ruffled a lot of feathers and made a few people want to ragequit. I was riding my Toxic Umbreon through battle after battle, and when we finally met up in [the] losers’ semi-finals, my Umbreon survived what we thought was a last-hit situation with just 1 HP, seeing me through. She was so upset, she ran out of the room in tears!

I had to fight Mike R for the second time in the next round, and that Toxic Umbreon won it for me yet again. The fact that he was using Blue Version meant he lacked Cross Chop or Megahorn to take care of Umbreon, something he would remember in later tournaments.

When I got to the grand final against Dylan, I had another instance of surviving with 1 HP, this time my Muk against a Blastoise, but was able to take it out and then outspeed his Machamp in order to [use Explosion] and put myself in a great position to win and end my favorite tournament.

Tyler:

I continued to host annual Pokémon Stadium 2 tournaments for a number of years, although as players started to graduate from college, move away, and the novelty of a Pokémon tournament started to wane, attendance dwindled, too. With the rise in popularity of online battle simulators, like Shoddy Battle or Pokémon Showdown, it was difficult to convince people to invest in buying a Game Boy, a Gen I or II game, and then put in the time it takes to raise a team if they weren’t already devoted to playing on original hardware.

Yet, there was one last hurrah for the tournaments thanks to a friend I met on Tumblr named Kevin. Suffice to say, there was little discourse going on about Pokémon Stadium 2 in the year 2016, but the two of us managed to find each other. Luckily, we lived close enough that we met up in downtown Chicago and had a Link Cable battle at a famous local tavern.

Kevin, like Mike R before him, breathed new life into the tournaments and gave us a reason to have a couple more. His strategies had developed completely isolated from what the rest of us had come up with already and threw everyone for a loop. To take 2nd place at the first tournament he ever went to, out of state, and on the longest road trip he’d ever taken, is certainly an accomplishment!

We even managed to record some matches and add commentary at the last tournaments, and I wish I had figured out the tech situation much earlier, because the methods and equipment we used had been around since the beginning! A VCR, an old sound mixer we found in a church closet, and some editing software were all we needed. I’ll leave links to two specific matches here, one between a husband and wife, and the finals of the 10th tournament, as they are two of the more fun ones we had on tape.

Tyler:

Finally, the last remnants of the tournaments still show up from time to time. The Elite Four, having grown up together, have vowed to have a mini-tournament the night before each of our weddings. When Rick got married, we stayed true to our word by spending the night before the ceremony hard at work, battling. Laura took home the trophy this time, relying on her smart switching skills and the full-odds shiny Skarmory she caught back in 4th grade.

These days, keeping a Gen II cartridge in working order takes a devoted fan. It’s safe to say that not a single original Gen II game has its original save and battery. This makes it nearly impossible to convince new fans to get into the greatest generation, not to mention the ballooning costs of a cartridge, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and Transfer Paks! Yet, the Elite Four persists thanks to soldering irons and a fantastic homebrew program for the Everdrive called LibPak, which can back up and write save files to cartridges. All our saves are backed up, safe and sound!

Tyler:

With thousands of miles between our homes, we make it a point to have extended battle sessions whenever we are lucky enough to see each other in person. In fact, I was able to battle two members of our Elite Four, Rick and Laura, already this summer. It brings back tons of great memories and highlights from the tournaments, but also our lives, as Pokémon has been a constant for us for so long and seen us through many different stages of life. We always know it’ll continue to be there, so long as we’ve got a Nintendo 64 and a copy of Pokémon Stadium 2!

Tyler:

Thank you so much for the invite to talk about my history with Pokémon and my tournaments! I adore Generation II with all my heart, and it’s always a great time to look back on the highlights from battles long ago.

It was a pleasure to share your story on Johto Times, Tyler! Your passion for Pokémon shines through, and you should be proud of the happy memories you have surely given to the many people around you. We hope Pokémon will continue to be a positive influence in your life.

Subscribe now

Share

Discuss on our forum