The Villain Arc enters a new phase this week, with the official Pokémon Masters EX social media accounts announcing that the next Chapter in the main story's Villain Arc, the Johto Chapter, will begin this week on May 18th, at 11:00pm (PT). As Team Rocket's plots to take control of the Pasio region continue, Giovanni will also debut in a new Sygna Suit sync pair, partnered with his signature Nidoking.

The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo has announced that an update to Pokémon HOME version 2.0.0 will be available in the coming weeks. This update will allow recently released Pokémon titles, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond, Pokémon Shining Pearl, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, to be mutually compatible to past games Pokémon Sword, Pokémon Shield, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu!, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, and Pokémon GO.

The Pokémon Company International has announced that the 25th season of the long-running Pokémon animated series will be known as Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series when it sees its international release later this year. The series will continue to follow Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu, as well as Goh and Chloe, as they embark on their latest adventures in the Pokémon world. For viewers in the United States, Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series will premiere on Netflix later this year.

The 2022 edition of the Pokémon GO Water Festival event has begun, and will be running through until May 20th, at 8:00 p.m. local time. In this event, Lapras wearing a scarf, Dewpider, Araquanid, the Legendary Pokémon Tapu Fini, and Shiny Binacle will all be making their Pokémon GO debuts. New Water Festival Scarf avatar items will also be available in the in-game shop during and after the event.

Niantic has announced details for the in-person Pokémon GO Fest 2022 event that will be held in two locations in Sapporo, Japan, from August 5th to August 7th. During the event dates, all Trainers in Sapporo will have access to special Pokémon GO Fest 2022 raids, including Cresselia and Darkrai in five-star raids.

Pokémon Masters EX is putting a spotlight on Sinnoh's Elite Four with the game's latest Solo Event and Spotlight Scouts. Solo Event: Sinnoh Elite Four Assemble, and associated Spotlight Scouts, will be running through until May 26th. Cabalion's Legendary Arena and the Battle Villa will both also be available until May 23rd.

After the madness of the holidays, the January-March quarter is typically much slower for consumer products, with things typically slowing down following any initial New Year's sales. But if Nintendo's taught us anything over the years, it's that it's not a typical company. Nintendo's latest quarterly investor briefing has revealed that their January-March quarter has seen a solid improvement over the previous year, with much of that improvement owing to the continued strong performance of the latest entries in the Pokémon franchise.

Pokémon UNITE's official Twitter account has announced that the Psychic-type Eeveelution, Espeon, will be joining the game's roster from May 16th, as a ranged attacker. Espeon is the second playable Eeveelution in the free-to-start title, following the addition of Sylveon to the roster last October.

This week, the official Pokémon Anime Twitter account released a new key visual to commemorate recent developments in the Pokémon anime. The poster features the top eight trainers ranked in the Pokémon World Coronation Series, a championship to determine the world's strongest Trainer, with their Pokémon. From left to right, the trainers are: Lance with his Gyrados, Alain with his Charizard, Diantha with her Gardevoir, Ash with his Pikachu, Leon with his Charizard, Cynthia with her Garchomp, Steven with his Metagross, and Iris with her Haxorus.

Continuing Pokémon Masters EX's celebration of 40 Million Downloads, and arriving just in time for Japan's Golden Week holidays, the "weakest Pokémon" Magikarp is currently being featured in a special Daily Battle event, giving players the chance to form sync pairs with shiny Magikarp. This event is available in-game now, and will run through to May 15th, at 10:59pm (PT).

Niantic has announced details of the in-person Pokémon GO Fest 2022 event in Berlin, Germany, which will be held at the Britzer Garten, from July 1st to July 3rd. During the event dates, all Trainers in Berlin will have access to special Pokémon GO Fest 2022 raids, including Cresselia and Darkrai in five-star raids.

The Japanese jewelry company U-TREASURE, who is known for partnering with many Japan-based and international media franchises to make character-based jewelry, will be releasing a new set of Pokémon-themed rings on May 31st. These new rings are a continuation of the U-TREASURE Pokémon ring line, which recently saw the addition of wedding and engagement rings featuring Gengar. The new rings will feature the popular Mythical Pokémon Mew, and will be available in variety of different materials.

Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield's May 2022 Season for Ranked Battles (Season 30) has begun. This season will run through until 4:59 p.m. (PDT) on May 31st.

Several events have begun in Pokémon Café ReMix with the start of the month of May.

The monthly update for Pokémon GO in May 2022 is now live in-game. These events will be running from May 1st, at 1:00 p.m. to June 1st, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7).

With Twitch Plays Pokémon having been featured in the recent Catch a Million to Conquer Kids’ Cancer charity event in support of St. Baldrick's Foundation, we thought now might be a good time to share some recent research relating to the Twitch Plays Pokémon phenomenon. Our latest featured article for this series comes from Jenny Saucerman & Dennis Ramirez, both from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Both authors completed their PhDs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, studying Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on digital media. Jenny Saucerman's work primarily focuses on gender and STEM, gender and gaming, and Pokémon. She was one of the winners of Xbox’s Women in Gaming Award at the 2015 Game Developers’ Conference. Dennis Ramirez research has focused on evaluation of educational games. He has over a decade of experience making games professionally and independently, working with groups including OLPC, NIH, NSF, and the DoD.

The new Pokémon Garden Wedding line of merchandise from the Pokémon Center was announced earlier this week on April 28th. This new range of products features wedding-related items, perfect for any fans who want to have a fun-filled Pokémon wedding. Paired with U-TREASURE's Pokémon-themed wedding and engagement rings, a lifelong-remembered event featuring Pokémon is within reach! Pokémon Garden Wedding goods will be sold in Pokémon Center stores starting from May 14th, and offered online on the Pokémon Center website starting from May 12th.

The Pokémon Company International has revealed more details on the Pokémon GO special expansion of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, that will be released globally starting on July 1, 2022.

Niantic has announced full details of the Pokémon GO Fest 2022 that will be held on June 4th and June 5th. A Pokémon GO Fest 2022: Finale event will also be held on August 27th. Tickets for the event are available now. This year's event is all about Shaymin, the Gratitude Pokémon, which will be available to ticket holders only as a reward for completing special research.

The Mega Evolution update in Pokémon GO is now live globally. To celebrate this Mega update, the A Mega Moment event will be held from April 29th, at 10:00 a.m. local time to May 1st, at 8:00 p.m. local time.