Pokemon Weekly News Roundup [April 3 - 9]

Hey guys, [member='Chris'] here with something I'll be doing every week from now on - the Pokémon Weekly News Roundup! This will include a more compact version of the week's news regarding the Pokémon Video Games, Anime, Trading Cards, Merchandise and any other Special Announcements that are made. It'll also be a place to discuss sch topics without having the site flooded with separate topics for literally everything. So, without further ado, let's get right into it!

VIDEO GAMES
For the main series:
A new distribution has gone live for Pokémon Sun and Moon. Using the code "INTIMIDATE", players will be able to redeem 4 Mega Stones; Mawilite, Beedrillite, Audinite and Medichamite. It is unclear when this event will end.
The 802nd Pokémon, Marshadow, has been officially revealed by The Pokémon Company via this YouTube video. However, no details about the Pokémon itself, or how it shall be distributed, have been disclosed.

For the spin-offs:
Pokémon Shuffle has received its weekly update, which has included new Special Stages. Check in on your game to see what's available!
Pokémon Shuffle has also received a hard update, bringing it to Version 1.4.6 (3DS) / 1.10 (mobile), and introducing Generation 8 Pokémon to the game. There have also been many balance changes to some Pokémon and abilities, check Serebii.net for more details.
Pokémon Duel has updated to include a Fire Gym challenge. For the duration of the challenge, Fire-type Pokémon with 1 or 2 MP will have their MP increased by 1, and Ground-type Pokémon will have the power of their attacks increased by 20. Note that these changes only occur when battling in the Fire Gym Cup.
Pokémon GO has received an update, which includes bug and text fixes, support for Tradition Chinese, and slight aesthetic changes. Some other information has been found via data-mining, which will be included in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

Within the game's update came new text strings for a mechanic known as "raids". It is being hypothesised that this will pertain to capturing Legendary Pokémon, similar to how a group of people raided Times Square to capture Mewtwo in the first Pokémon GO trailer.

ANIME
For the main series anime:
2 new episodes have aired this week in Japan in the form of a 1-hour special. These episodes were titled "The Promise Between Ash and Pikachu!" and "Is is Time for Litten to Set Off!". Next week's episode will be titled "Beware of Shovels!"

For the movies:
A new trailer has been added to the Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel for the next Pokémon movie: "Pokémon the Movie 20; Pokémon - I Choose You!" In it, several never-before seen characters are revealed to be part of the movie, meaning that this movie isn't just a reboot of the first season of the anime as we all first expected. Marshadow is also set to appear in the film, and the trailer can be watched here. A synopsis for the movie has been added to Japanese websites, and translated by the community. The synopsis is included in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

To all Pokémon fans: This is the story of the duo's "meeting" and "promise". This is the creation of the 20th anniversary movie! Pocket Monsters, or "Pokémon" for short: Mysterious lifeforms that hide many secrets. There are still many things we don't know about their ecology. Even today, Pokémon Trainers continue their adventures with the aim of encountering Pokémon never before seen...

Ash, a boy living in Pallet Town, greeted the morning of his 10th birthday, the day he could become qualified to become a Pokémon Trainer. Ash's heart was filled with a desire for Pokémon he has never seen before and a world he has never seen before, but while he was meant to be given a Pokémon that would become his partner at the Oak Laboratories, he ended up severely oversleeping, and all that was left for him was a single Pikachu, a Pokémon that did not get attached to humans. "Do you hate me? I like you!" Even though the two were at odds with one another, their friendship deepened little by little, and as they looked up at the legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh that flew through the sky on the day they set off, Ash and Pikachu swore an oath as they held one of its Rainbow Wings: "Let's go meet it together one day!" And thus, Pikachu and Ash, who set off on his journey to become the world's greatest Pokémon Master, end up meeting the Trainers Makoto and Soji on their way before getting told a legend concerning Ho-Oh.

"Those who, guided by the Rainbow Wing, meet with Ho-Oh, shall become the Heroes of the Rainbow." Ash and the others end up getting guided by Marshadow, a mysterious Pokémon that had been lurking in Ash's shadow without anyone realizing, and make their way to Mount Tensei, where Ho-Oh lives, but a strong opponent appears before them. Will the duo manage to reach Ho-Oh?! In order for them to fulfill the promise they swore on the day the departed, the two of them now begin an adventure that will last until they become "true partners"!

TRADING CARD GAME
Lots of new trading cards have been revealed. Notable releases are the reprint of Shaymin-EX in "Best of XY", the release of "Mega Sharpedo-EX" and "Mega Camerupt-EX" product images, and the inclusion of Acerola as a Trainer and Full Art card in the expansion set "SM2+". All of these and more, as well as translated Japanese cards, can be found over at PokeBeach's TCG Page.

MERCHANDISE
Lots of new pieces of Pokémon merchandise have been revealed. Notable releases are the Spring Merchandise added to the Pokémon Center website, and the unveiling of Decidueye, Incinceroar and Primarina plushies coming to Japanese Pokémon Centers. All of these and more can be found over at Pokeshopper.com's News Page.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
There have been no special announcements made for this week.


Well, that's it for this week! Feel free to discuss any of the news down below, and I'll see you all next week! This is [member='Chris'], signing out!