Vol. 2, Issue 40 - My Pokémon Collection - Part 6
Even more treasures from my Pokémon collection that I have obtained throughout the years! Plus, a recap of the latest Pokémon news
Welcome to Vol. 2, issue 40 of the Johto Times. We are now in October, and the spooky season is upon us! Do you know what else is spooky? How old I am getting. I look at some of the Pokémon related items I have owned since childhood, and I wonder where all the time has gone…
Today, I will be sharing more items from that collection. I wonder how many of these items you owned, or have even heard of before? As usual, we also have a recap of the very latest Pokémon news.
News
The Pokémon Company have announced that Pokémon UNITE will be ending service in Belgium & the Netherlands, on November 30th, 2025. After this date, the game will no longer be available to download on Nintendo Switch and on mobile devices. From October 31st, 2024, in-game items, such as Aeos Gems, will not be available to purchase. At the time of writing, no specific reason has been given for the closure of the game.
Last month, Nintendo announced that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp would end service on November 28th, 2024. At the time, they shared that a new version of the game was in development where users could continue to play offline with their existing save data. Perhaps The Pokémon Company could consider a similar product, so that fans can continue to enjoy the game, after the existing service ends?
Source: Pokémon UNITE
Pokémon Sleep received a 2.0.0 update on October 1st, 2024, adding new features and bug fixes to the game. New Pokémon Sleep features include a new area: the Old Gold Power Plant, two new Sleep Style Dex goals, a new ingredient: Rousing Coffee, and the addition of six new recipes. For more details, check out the Pokémon Sleep website in the source link below.
In addition to this, the Pokémon Sleep soundtrack is now available on Spotify!
Source: Pokémon Sleep
Five new PokéLids - utility hole covers with Pokémon designs - were unveiled for the Fukui prefecture, on September 26th, 2024. Each of them feature Dragonite, with artwork created by Sowsow, an artist who has previously contributed to the Pokémon TCG and other PokéLids.
On September 30th, eight PokéLids featuring Chansey were unveiled for the Fukushima Prefecture, and five for the Shimane Prefecture which include Dedenne and Tandemaus.
Source: Pokémon, Pocket Monsters
The Pokémon Company has teamed up with Geek & Sundry to run a Pokémon TCG Stellar Crown Showdown mini-series on their YouTube channel. The episodes will be released on Tuesdays at 12pm BDT. The mini-series will feature celebrity guests, such as actor and television presenter Terry Crews (Brooklyn 99), actor Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Homecoming), and actress Abigail Breslin (Zombieland).
Source: Pokémon
Feature: My Pokémon Collection - Part 6
Here I am again, showing off even more cool Pokémon items from my collection! This time around, I am sharing a nice mix of items I obtained during childhood at the time of release, or many years later, with Johto Times readers! A few of these items were only ever released in Japan, so I am very curious to learn if you have ever seen them before!
Pokémon Card Trainers magazine (Issue 5)
This is the fifth issue of the Pokémon Card Trainers Magazine, released in Japan on March 1st, 2000. Each issue was packed with the latest news and information about the game in Japan, and each one included a Pokémon card. Issue 5 contained a Steelix! It was obtained by a friend, who sold it to me in 2019.
Pokémon Box for Nintendo GameCube
Pokémon Box Ruby & Sapphire was a piece of GameCube software that allowed players to store up to 1500 Pokémon by connecting their Game Boy Advance consoles and their copies of Pokémon Ruby or Sapphire to the GameCube via a Link Cable. It was also possible to play the games on a television! Special bonus Pokémon could be obtained from eggs if you deposited a certain number of Pokémon into the game, one of which was a Pichu that had the move Surf, a move it normally couldn't learn. I obtained my original European copy of the game from the Club Nintendo Stars Catalogue in 2004.
Pokémon Omega Ruby autographed cover
In November 2014, Junichi Masuda, the producer of Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire and Chief Creative Fellow at The Pokémon Company as of 2024, attended a launch event for the 3DS games in London, United Kingdom. Fifteen EON tickets were then distributed via StreetPass, which could then be sent to other 3DS systems across the UK and beyond. An old acquaintance I used to speak with knew how much I appreciated Masuda’s musical contribution to Pokémon and got me an autographed Omega Ruby cover (Shigeru Ohmori, the game’s director, also has his autograph on here). I truly appreciated the kind gesture, and hopefully someday I will be able to meet Mr. Masuda himself!
Pokémon Battle Discs
Throughout the years, I have randomly picked up several Pokémon Battle Discs, which were available with Pokémon Battle Figures by Hasbro. They’re made of cardboard and were included with many different toys in the line. I don’t believe I ever bought anything that featured them, so these were likely given to me by friends. I wonder how difficult it would be to complete a full set.
Pikachu N64
I received this special Pikachu Nintendo 64 from a friend in college back in 2005. While we initially agreed on a certain price for it, I ended up paying a mere five pounds plus two lunches at the local Subway sandwich store that week. Sadly, I have never really used it, since the Nintendo 64 wasn’t a console I was hugely into. I do appreciate it for what it is though – it’s a rather awesome item!
Pocket Monsters Zensho Manga
This Pocket Monsters Zensho Manga was purchased from eBay, and was originally released in Japan, with later prints released in Hong Kong and Taiwan. It follows the story of the original Pokémon Red & Green games for the Game Boy quite closely. Based on what I have seen online, it isn’t a very well documented manga, and no English translation was ever officially published. It is definitely worth picking up if you are able to find a copy!
Pokémon Crystal Strategy Comic
I purchased this Pokémon Crystal supplementary comic book strategy guide from eBay in 2024, but it was originally released around the time of the game’s Japanese release. Based on my research, it was included in a Japanese magazine called “2nd Grade Elementary School”, along with a model kit. The magazine has fifty pages and follows the story of Pokémon Crystal, including screenshots from the video game. It begins at Ecruteak City, suggesting to me that there are other comics in other magazines, which requires further investigation to be certain. I also love the humorous Pokémon Stadium 2 story that is included!
That’s all for this week’s issue! As always, thank you for subscribing and taking the time to read what I publish each week. If you enjoy what Johto Times provides, be sure to share our newsletter with your friends and loved ones to help us reach even more Pokémon fans. For Discord users, you’re welcome to join our server for the latest notifications from our project. We are still open to sharing your mailbag entries, so if you have anything you would like to share with us, drop us a line by visiting this link to contact us directly!
Thanks for taking the time to share more of your collection with us! These items were fun to read about, especially the signed Omega Ruby cover!! Now I really want to try to find a copy of Pokemon Zensho for myself too.
Oh to have gotten pokemon box when it wasn't thousands of dollars... And the signed omega ruby is super awesome too!