Sunday, June 28, 2026

Cosplay: ChibiCon X & ICC

Me: Well, I said it's a "fine day", isn't it? Even today?

Ash: All in ChibiCon!!

Goh: Looks like it's two "fine days", if you ask me - yesterday and today as usual?

Me: Well, sure, and you're right. And this would be the tenth edition, at least according to Japan Culture Daisuki - somehow I lost count myself.

Pikachu: Pika, pika, pika... [counting]

Me: But does it matter. Anyhow, I think this is pretty much the same old, same old convention, so we don't have to touch on the actual convention details too much. Well, maybe aside from what's different this time.

Goh: Aside from not sending Ash yesterday.

Me: Well, Mega Skarmory is a priority, no matter how close or far away. So I took care of that myself yesterday and saved a bit of effort and cash. As for today...

Ash: They made the music stage a part of the traffic flow! And there were a lot more booths - or that's what it felt like.

Me: OK, what else?

Goh: Hi again!

Pikachu: Pika pika! ["There he is!"]

Ash: Goh is here! From the beginning too. But I was sent with my Sinnoh outfit...

Goh: I think it looks great.

Ash: Well, you know, so does my friend's girl fan, and - she's here too! 

Goh: Hey, thanks for showing her to me. You know, the one who sent me has a lot in common with her.

Ash: I think we're finding out about that now with all our friends!

Goh: Including... the brother of the one who sent me, who deals with the public transport booth.

Me: Hey now, this sounds like it's going to be a Pokémon adventure at the convention - so let's focus on that instead of the convention itself.

Ash: Yeah! So before I got in, I met one of your Pokémon friends who likes dance groups and stuff. Then after I got in, I met another one who used to play with you and makes drawings and comics.

Goh: I saw that too. Your girl fan really liked the stickers. 

Pikachu: Pika chu. ["That she does."]

Ash: I do too. Our friend said he wanted a comic book of his, so I got it.

Me: Thanks! This is an excellent setup for that. I may never know when I'll meet him again.

Ash: Many of the other booths had really nice Pokémon stuff too... but I'm sure our friend isn't going for that right now.

Me: Yeah - I'm still in a kind of a pinch even though I could get some more. So now is not really the time.

Ash: Oh, um, but I missed the ICC thing. It was today, wasn't it.

Well, you're with us today. Don't worry about it.

Me: Like Goh said. So, what else happened on this Pokémon adventure?

Ash: We toured for all kinds of Pokémon things, even up until your girl fan and Goh had to go back.

Goh: I'll join you back for the summary after that.

Ash: Sure! We'll talk again in a bit.

Me: That Goh is really something, isn't he?

Ash: And so's the person who sent him - it's kind of, well...

Pikachu: Pika pika... ["It's more than him..."]

Me: Oh, I gotcha. It's a thing about being spiritually "above and beyond", isn't it?

Ash: Um... yeah!

Me: I'll say. 

Ash: Besides Goh, I also met Rei and Akari from Hisui! And... there was another one of me in my Kanto and Johto outfit!

Me: Wow!! A whole lot more characters from Pokémon today.

Ash: I thought we saw James too - but we couldn't check or find him again. And there was also a plain Trainer - I guess, in a way. 

Pikachu: Pika pika chu! ["I can vouch!"]

Goh: I'm back! I just heard that bit about other characters too. That had to be quite fun.

Me: You know, this was the most Pokémon-filled one of any festival or convention I've sent Ash to so far. It blew the others out of the water.

Ash: Everyone went "all in", like the ditty.

Goh: That is it.

Me: If this is the way it's going to go down for ChibiCon in the future... then sure, "all in" with Pokémon it is, just like today.

Ash: Yeah!

Me: It's always a fine time if Pokémon is going to be involved - and that will so be the case. 

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Saturday, June 27, 2026

Nekonoi Katsu's Foray into Pokémon

It seems like it's a fine day to discuss about something "meta" to (Pokémon) cosplay - that is, not directly tied to a festival or convention - so I thought I'd do just that. In fact, one aspect that I don't mention very often on this blog is the cosplayers themselves... aside from yours truly, but this post will change that up a bit. Those who have read my blog might have come across the name mentioned in the title of this post on two occasions - the same one in fact, just separated by a year - and that name becomes the focus of this post, furthermore with relevance to Pokémon as the overarching focus of this blog.

Nekonoi Katsu (Instagram: @nekonoikatsu) is a well-known local cosplayer, specifically in my region of residence. She has gone international several times, one time of which is in 2017 as the country representative for the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) - which is incidentally around a year after I started this blog. She has also cosplayed as characters of various standings in profile, including of course Ara Akazora for the local festival in order to represent the main face of Japan Culture Daisuki. She has definitely made her mark.

And then comes her Pokémon dealings or "foray". Recently, she has become a featured cosplayer to promote the TCG locally, and that includes playing it - not an easy task, if one of the videos with her indicates. Going back to cosplay, she had taken up Canary, a recently introduced character through the Legends: Z-A game; it's a fascinating choice, given the various other characters from other fandoms that she has brought with her cosplay, many of which could be considered "edgy" somehow, especially this one.

Personally, I'm only glad to see another person taking up Pokémon cosplay, although the fact that the person is an established cosplayer is a big plus for me and her legion of fans - but I consider myself as a friend to her, rather than a fan. With that, the possibility of us somehow collaborating seems to be quite remote, even for matters related to Pokémon (cosplay), which in that case being friends to a certain degree is still fine for me.

While her foray into Pokémon is much more recent compared to my appreciation that has practically lasted since the beginning, with that foray, she could be considered to have "seen the light" as to what makes Pokémon so enticing and appealing to its fans. That seems to bode very well for her as much as that has always been the case for me, and that may just entrench Pokémon further in both of our respective circles.

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Friday, June 26, 2026

Let's Get Going Today, Again

Many moons ago, Pokémon Go introduced the Today View as an expansion of its Research feature. In fact, it kept on expanding and expanding and... it became rather loaded with its collection of sub-features by current times. As such, the development team decided to take on a rework of the feature, first testing it out for certain players (Trainers) before it was made available for everyone else. The latter had just in fact happened a couple of days ago, and now I'd like to discuss the changes that are involved in that effort.

Research as the "core" of Today View remains accessible by tapping the binoculars icon, but it is now within a single main tab on the right side. It does, however, contain sub-tabs for Field Research ("Today"), Timed Research ("Events"), and Special Research, organizing them in the process. The "Today" tab also still contains info of Pokémon put into different places (Gyms, Power Spots, and Showcases) and the two main streak progressions (capture and PokéStop spin); also, Special Research sets now have unique headings.

The left-side main tab, meanwhile, is now where Go Passes reside, an element that has now been made prominent. Their progressions and associated tasks are now effectively separated from Research proper, and in this way, they also don't interfere with Timed Research as they may have done before - especially if Deluxe track was purchased for any Go Pass, which gives a special interface background, otherwise it's the seasonal one. Needless to say, Research retains its characteristic "professor's table" background.

Game event-related information, most importantly, have been shoved onto a separate screen accessed from the main screen by tapping the calendar icon that also shows the date of the month. They cover the Daily Discoveries and other goings-on as usual, now with a "Learn More" button to show the events' news pages; community meetups are also indicated. While this does somewhat mean that a split has been involved, it also means that what is left as above on the screens is now able to show its relevance.

With the way that Today View has been around since its inception, it's quite natural for it to be restructured after all the additions that had been implemented within that time up to the present. So, that restructuring has happened, initially to test how it can ideally work for some, and now ideally for everyone else. Whether or not all of these still warrant the "Today View" name is up for debate, but there is no doubt that Trainers in Pokémon Go still need to get going each and every day, hopefully with its help.

Three years ago: This Is My Pokémon Way
Four years ago: Cosplay: Outfest 2022
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Thursday, June 25, 2026

Pokémon Champions: First Impressions

I'm actually a bit (or somewhat) late to this for reasons that will soon become clear, but it deserves to be discussed anyway. So, Pokémon Champions have graced both platforms of Nintendo Switch and mobile, and it's already set as the game on which competitive battling (being the realm of VGC) will take place this year. Even with my history of ups and downs with the format, since it's Pokémon, I still have a "stake" in it - and that is why I've also opted to download and install it. With that being done, I've chosen to give my initial impressions of how the game is presented to me and what I think of it.

Actually, the download had been made since April, being for the Nintendo Switch version since I have it on hand and my phone can't handle the mobile version since it's becoming full in any case. Yet I've only been able to touch the game recently due to other necessities and in part waiting on the mobile version to release and gauge interest based on that. Regardless, I was still able to get and claim the "early download" bonus and the Raichu Mega Evolution bonus for the launch of the mobile version.

Meanwhile, the game's initial content is a nice touch, with an overview/tutorial of how main series battles work for those who haven't had experience with them, and even more of them (perhaps they could be called the "Advanced Tutorial") in the Train section. The given Pokémon to battle with, including the free recruitment, is totally workable for those who might only start with this game - at least before sending others from Pokémon Home for a visit, which many fans are likely to have now.

The game's user interface is oddly reminiscent of Pokémon Unite in its early days with the layout of buttons on the main screen as well as its color scheme that has shades of purple and some orange, which perhaps may be the exact point of it all. The Trainer outfits also do have some resemblance, further tying in the similarity and the feel. Still, that may be par for the course when Pokémon training is a given.

Overall, the game being a "stub" from the main series games to serve battling purposes - it is a "battle client", after all - makes its intent quite clear. The fact that it is already being used for tournaments and has received updates to fix some things that are off for that purpose means that it's here to stay for the foreseeable time, and it should take some pressure off the main series games for actual competitive battling.

Still, it will take a little time for me to continue to explore its battles and features, especially now with the expanded player base that the mobile version offers. That will make itself evident in future posts, which should encapsulate my dealings with current and future Trainers and show what my champion potential is really like.

Six years ago: Uniting the Heart
Seven years ago: Evoked Emotions
Nine years ago: Four Notions
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Wednesday, June 24, 2026

When One and One Really Is Two

Baby show me 1+1=2
Show me all the things that you can do
Show me that you need me, show me that you love me
Baby show me 1+1=2
Baby show me 1+1=2
Show me all the things that you can do
Show me that you breathe me, show me that you hug me
Baby show me that 1+1=2
-- "1+1=2", Lou Bega

Several years ago, for a very numerically driven year, I ended the year with a reflective writeup that concerned the primary number in question. Along with that, I also brought in a comment from a certain musician (not the one which will soon become obvious) that a specific way of arithmetically mentioning the year may not always be how it seems. This time, I'm bringing back the philosophical topic in a truer sense and addressing it with other relevant Pokémon matters, as well as a related but perhaps lesser-known song by a singer who was momentarily popular for another song.

The song - stated as "one plus one is two" - in some ways does concern a "significant other" for which when one becomes together with that entity, there is the possibility of being able to do a lot of things - especially when the "significant other" is also capable of doing a lot of things as well, some that may be as mentioned in the chorus of the song as quoted above. This definitely bodes well for romance, which is the song's main intent, but it could also work for certain other things.

Certainly, some of those things could be Pokémon ones. A Trainer and a partner Pokémon make up a "two", as does two of the latter on one side of a Double Battle as well as the two sides of any battle in general, no matter how many people and Pokémon are on each side. Everyone and everything as mentioned have the capability to do great things together - in fact, those things could resemble the ones as mentioned in the above chorus, with or without romance somehow involved.

Meanwhile, contemporarily, many Trainers of certain fame are also linked to a specific partner Pokémon, which makes them significant for great things in all kinds of battles. Then, it's also possible for fans to collect merchandise items that belong together, between themselves and the fans in question. That makes for Pokémon twosomes that are significant for themselves and among others as well.

Philosophically, the previous writeup remains relevant, but it's hard to deny that one and one of something makes up two of those things. That applies even for Pokémon things, which can and do sometimes come in twos and make for great things. For that, to close off this post, another part of the same song makes for a great affirmation of truly "significant others", even for Pokémon by its many fans:

You're my my my number one
And not my my my number five
So please baby, please baby, please baby come
Please baby, come and get into my life!

Seven years ago: The Show Must Go On
Eight years ago: Jumping the 'Karp
Nine years ago: Married... to Pikachu?
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Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Café Remix 6th Anniversary: The Gap Year

Meanwhile, years have passed by for one of the games I addressed the other day, and this year marks the sixth year of that passage. Now that I've addressed it a couple of times, it seems fitting to continue to do that, moreover on its exact day - today, as I did last year (see below). Still, this passing of the years marks a particularly uneventful time for the game's history - one that can be termed as a "gap year", and that becomes a key point of the current discussion.

The "gap year" is of course due to a pending major update for the game, which is currently in development and has necessitated in-game events to be "reruns" in some sense. Obviously, that major update didn't make it in time for this anniversary - or to put it differently, it just needs more time than is possible for that timeframe (since it only started development two months ago). Either way, the content of the update as outlined in the previous post does need to be worked out properly, and that may be better off to be developed within the long run.

Yet it should be noted that the game's current anniversary is for when the game was first released as Café Mix; its "remix anniversary" that represents the Café Remix aspect comes later in the year. As such, there could be the possibility that the pending major update will make it in time for that instead, which would make it appropriately timed. Of course, there is always the possibility of the major update coming earlier (not as likely) or later (more likely than not) given the scope of the update and whatever is planned to satisfy the points of that update.

Whatever the case, it can be seen that a "gap" is established between the game's "original" and "remix" anniversaries regardless, whether there is new content being added as in past years or there is a pause going on for that, as in the current case of preparing for the next major update. It's a gap that can and has been filled with a lot of niceties then and now, and now more than ever, it seems to be up for another "gap-filling exercise" much like back then.

Having reached a full six years, Café Remix has served the food fantasies of puzzle-inclined Pokémon fans quite well with all the content in that time. Now as the game takes a break from new content for its major next step, it's taking an opportunity to fill the gap that is left along with other existing gaps when the major update is released to close up the taken "gap year".

Four years ago: 2000 Posts!!!
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Monday, June 22, 2026

Changing the Year Mention Convention

As part of their attribution, Pokémon games mention the year of their first release, which many players (Trainers) will have seen at least once when they start up the games in question. In the most recent time, however, this has changed to a somewhat radical approach, which would be... not mentioning it at all. This change might be a small thing, but it may be considered to have some implications, and therefore I thought about discussing it, how it applies (or has applied), and what this might mean for the Pokémon games in question.

Those who play Café Remix, Unite, and TCGP will likely have noticed this recently as they loaded up the respective games, looked toward the attribution notice on the title screen, and found that the year that is usually present there has gone missing - which is how I personally found out about it through playing said games. Again, it's a relatively small and recent change: for many, it may possibly go unnoticed, and not too long ago, the year had still been present on the games that I have mentioned above. It's also a sudden change after many, many years of maintaining the (previously) established convention.

The change can be considered to be in line with this year's big Pokémon anniversary, since if it really had been willed as such, it would have occurred a lot sooner - as in, even several years ago would have been a prime time for the change to occur. Meanwhile, the presence of the year that indicates a time that has somewhat passed might be perceived by some players (Trainers) as being something dated, so the removal of the year in a way also removes such a perception and allows the game to remain perceived as "current" even if it's not - as well as furthermore "relevant", which may be a bigger thing given a certain game.

A change in the way that attributions are made in certain works (for games and beyond) may be small, but it is still possible to draw out certain messages. In the case of the Pokémon games above - and others I might have missed - the change that is made with the removal of the year in the attribution can indicate that such a mention may not matter anymore given how long Pokémon in general has been around. What matters then would be the games continuing to make history, no matter what year it may be.

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