Titles and descriptions for episodes four through seven for Ash and Pikachu's final chapter, Pocket Monsters: Aim to be a Pokémon Master (currently airing Fridays at 6:55pm on TV Tokyo) have been announced in a Japanese press release, together with screenshots of scenes from each episode. The titkes of episodes four and five were revealed earlier this month in the February issue of Animage magazine, however this is our first in-depth informatiomn about the plot of these episodes. This epilogue arc began airing in Japan earlier this month, starting on January 13th.

A new version of Pokémon Masters EX game, Version 2.29.0, is now available to download. This relatively minor update will enable players to invite Morty to the Trainer Lodge, starting from January 31st. The monthly message from the producers of Pokémon Masters EX however provides a much more substantial update, revealing details on a new Palentine's seasonal event and sync pairs coming to the game in March, as well as information about the second half of the Kalos Chapter of the Villain Arc, upcoming revamps to the Trainer Lodge and Pokémon Center, and rallies to celebrate the run-up to the game's 3.5 year anniversary. The next developer letter is slated for late February, and will include more information regarding planned anniversary celebrations, as well as new events and sync pairs coming to the game in March.

The Pokémon Company International has announced that new episodes of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the 25th season of the long-running Pokémon animated series, will premiere exclusively on Netflix in the United States on February 24th. This season will continue to follow Ash and Pikachu as they continue their fight up the World Coronation Series rankings, while Goh challenges his last Project Mew trial missions.

Pokémon Masters Day is here once again! This special Monthly Event, which first ran back in November 2021, currently runs every month in Pokémon Masters EX from the 24th at 10:00pm (PST), through to the 25th at 9:59pm (PST). All players who log in today will receive a special present of 500 gems from Pikachu, and have the opportunity to take advantage of special event and co-op battles. As always, several Sync Pairs are also receiving upgrades to their Sync Grids alongside this monthly event.

Rivals return this week in Pokémon Masters EX, with re-runs of the Revel in Rivalry Story Event, and Rival Challenge Special Event, featuring rival characters from across the history of the Pokémon franchise. These events originally ran together in Mid-June and early July in 2022. This is the first time both events have been re-run. Also running alongside these events is a Poké Fair scout featuring Bede, who is the focal character of the Revel in Rivalry Story Event. All of these events and scouts will be available until February 5th, at 9:59pm (PST).

In the latest update on Pokémon GO's official site, Niantic has released details on a pair of events coming to Pokémon GO across late January and early February. The Crackling Voltage event starting January 27th will feature the Pokémon GO debuts of Shiny Helioptile and Shiny Tapu Koko. Running alongside this event will be the latest Team GO Rocket Takeover, which will start February 1st. The Team GO Rocket Takeover will see Trainers completing Special Research and chasing down Giovanni before he can complete an evil plot involving Shadow Registeel.

A pair of updates on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese homepage has unveiled a selection of 8 new promotional cards for the Pokémon Card Game Scarlet & Violet series. While several of these cards are alternative art prints or straight reprints of cards being released in the Japanese Scarlet ex and Violet ex expansions, these promos also include brand new Klawf ex, and Brassius Supporter cards. For now, these promo cards are only available through Pokémon Card Gym events in Japan, however we expect these cards will eventually receive English language printings in packaged box sets and as event promos.

Pokémon Masters EX is throwing down the gauntlet to trainers over the coming weeks, with the Legendary Gauntlet returning until February 8th alongside new 5★ Poké Fair and Select Scouts focused on Sync Pairs with Steel-, Grass-, Fairy-, Dragon-, and Ghost-type Pokémon.

Niantic has announced additional details regarding Primal Reversion mechanics for Pokémon GO. As announced back in November, these mechanics will be added to the game with the Pokémon GO Tour: Hoenn live event at Sunset Park in Nevada, Las Vegas on February 18th and 19th, from 10am to 6pm (PST), which will see the debut of Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, alongside their Shiny variants.

A new Grass-Type Gear Event has just landed in Pokémon Masters EX. This co-op battles event, which allows players to obtain 3★ Grass-Type Gear, will be available until January 31st at 9:59pm (PST).

Kotobukiya's amazing Arceus figure is now available available for order from Pokémon Center in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This figure displays Arceus in the middle of performing a Judgement attack, destroying the landscape of the Spear Pillar around it on the figure's stunning diorama base.

The Pokémon Company has opened up a new Instagram account, Pokéca Art Life. The account will focus on sharing Pokémon card illustrations from the entire life of the game, so while the account is primarily targeted at Japanese fans, Pokémon fans from across the entire world should have plenty to enjoy, seeing how each illustrator has expressed the unique personalities of Pokémon through their art.

Building on from the recently released Kalos Chapter of Pokémon Masters EX's Villain Arc, Shauna from Pokémon X and Y is making her Masters EX debut in new Spotlight Scouts, alongside the launch of a new Solo Event, With Beauty and Grace.

Continuing the run of past generation starters making their Paldea debut in special Tera Raids, the Ninja Pokémon Greninja will be making its first appearance in 7-star Black Crystal Tera Raid Battles later this month, between January 27th at 00:00 (UTC), and January 29th at 23:59 (UTC), with a follow-up appearance in mid-February from February 10th at 00:00 (UTC), to February 12th at 23:59 (UTC).

Drifblim and Mismagius will be appearing in 4-star and 5-star Tera Raid Battles in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet between January 20th at 00:00 (UTC), and January 22nd at 23:59 (UTC). Drifblim will appear exclusively for players with Pokémon Scarlet, while Mismagius will be appearing exclusively in Pokémon Violet. These Pokémon will be available in a wide array of Tera Types, including rare Tera Types for these species.

Italian media has reported that police from the Italian city of Milan have shut down a long-running scam on eBay involving fraudulent sales of Pokémon cards, managing to seize €439,000 of ill-gotten profits from the group of four fraudsters behind the operation.

In what will presumably get someone fired for exceedingly poor preparation, Pokémon's official Japanese language TikTok account posted, and then swiftly deleted, a short video featuring Pikachu dancing around a Lucario to the tune of a profanity-laden parody of the classic children's song If you're happy and you know it.

The Scarlet & Violet expansion to the Pokémon Trading Card Game, will be released worldwide on March 31st, 2023. Following on from the update Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese homepage on Friday afternoon Japanese time, which revealed the majority of the remaining new cards for the upcoming set, The Pokémon Company International has released additional information on the new set, including the numbers of special rare cards in the expansion, as well as images of the designs for Boosters and Elite Trainer Boxes.

Continuing on from the launch of the Kalos Chapter of Villain Arc yesterday, a brand new Extreme Battle event, Into the Bllazing Chamber, has now begun in in Pokémon Masters EX, running until the end of this month, together with a one-time only 5★-Select Special Scout.

An update on the Pokémon Trading Card Game's official Japanese homepage has revealed the majority of the remaining new cards for the upcoming Scarlet and Violet expansion pack, including the debut cards of many Pokémon first revealed in the newest entries to the franchise.