Road of 25th Anniversary: Two for the Show

In May, I noted how the big Pokémon anniversary of this year, its 25th, is like a "show" of sorts. This month seems to reaffirm that quite well with the happenings on the official anniversary web site. In particular, the happenings are linked to a factor of "two", and that leads to the descriptor above, in the title of this post. That's fascinating, and so are those specific happenings.

One of the elements with a factor of "two" is the featured region of the month, and thus it's not hard to guess that the featured region is Johto, the main region of the second-generation main series games. As the first expansion to the world of Pokémon, it represents a unique novelty, with new species, new types, and new mechanisms, many of which are now well-known and considered standard. I've shared my "dual" memories of this region, and it truly was like that in a sense. It could be construed that Trainers like me had a "second life" with this region, and that says something about its "two" factor.

Last month, the P25 Music program brought about the existence of two complementary EP editions, and that has remained. What's new this time is the selection of two and two (that is, four) more artists for the program, who are Louane, Lil Yachty, Tierra Whack, and Jax Jones. They join the previously revealed lineup of artists for the compilation that will be due out soon. With the range of artists that have been revealed, there seems to be a good selection of big names and not-so-big names, but obviously they remain important for the entire program, and there's no two ways about that, except maybe with the two EPs.

A snack that many will recognize as having two sides is the Oreo sandwich cookie, and after having collaborated to decorate the packaging for their mini versions, now Pokémon appear on the cookies themselves. 16 species appear embossed on the chocolate wafer of the sandwich cookies for a limited time instead of the traditional cookie markings. This is very unique indeed, and fans may be torn in two whether to collect the cookie markings or to eat the cookies when presented with them - particularly after the specific method of twisting them in two to do so. It's double the fun and double the enigma.

Presently, there is also another online anime miniseries called Pokémon: Evolutions, and now it is up to its second episode. The miniseries is more than just that, however, as its core premise is to show facets of the story of the regions and how the particular characters of those regions measure up - in a way, "evolve" - to meet the challenge. Naturally, I won't go about it here and will do so in another (that is, "secondary") post just like I did with Twilight Wings. It's made to be a great miniseries, and it needs that "secondary" post to quantify that greatness, and by that time, there will be more than just two episodes.

Twin happenings are rather abound at this point for the big 25th anniversary of Pokémon. Yet, the factor of "two" has always been fundamentally important to Pokémon, so even with the twosome quantity, there is always a certain quality to expect. And in the midst of two anniversaries - this year's big one and the next year's - the "show" that Pokémon is putting on is still incredible even now.

One year ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 9/27/2020

Two years ago: 1000 Posts!!!

Three years ago: Meet Meltan

Four years ago: Pokémon Stuff at a Neighborhood Store