Pokémon Event History Index & Mission

Hey there! You’ve found the index page to this website’s effort to chronicle Pokémon event and distribution history. Nice!

First things first, I suppose: what is an “event Pokémon”? In short, that’s an umbrella term encompassing any Pokémon not obtainable through routine gameplay. Instead, a player would have to go out and attend, purchase, play, win or complete some preconceived thing to acquire it. Or, increasingly, just have some manner of WiFi access and the ability to punch in a serial code. (Boo!)

Ever since the very first CoroCoro Mew distribution back in April-May 1996, the world has seen thousands upon thousands of event Pokémon to mark, commemorate, or venerate one matter or another.

Which is equally what makes them so uniquely fascinating! Event Pokémon are time capsules – or rather, they’re products of a particular time and place that by their very nature, are often reflective of it, windows into it. And of course, there’s backstory. As the life of the Pokémon franchise stretches out into the future, the wealth and richness of its past continues to grow. There are innumerable stories of creator-player interaction, of sheer fandom delight or disappointment, of success, failure, and narrowly avoided failure, often with event Pokémon peripheral, tangential, or even at the heart of them. By exploring these event Pokémon, then, we can get a handle on the fabric of history surrounding them – and hopefully tell a good story in the process.

In practical terms, it demands a great deal of detective work to unearth the Pokémon essence of ages past and regale you with these tales, which I hope shines through. But I’ve blabbered on for far too long. This is meant to be an index page, after all.

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Generation 3: Hoenn

PCNY Project
PokeCenter New York is long dead. But its enigmatic event Pokémon are very much alive! This project aims to discover and document as much as possible about the Center’s special ‘Mons, with a focus on distribution history and preservation. Less story-driven, more documentation-oriented.
– Primer: Meet PC New York
– Discover PCNY Campaigns! (August 2003 – January 2005)
– For matters of origins, authenticity and ownership, visit the PCNY Preservation Records!
– Investigate PCNY Chronology Research!
– Browse GenII here!

Have a contribution to make? Some enduring enigmas are laid out here!

Heroic Hoenn: Event Explorations
An eclectic blend of uniquely interesting in-lifes topped off by a dollop of mail-ins, Hoenn was much more than a mere intermediate step in the evolution towards a grander vision. Constraints foster creativity, and in the event space, Hoenn certainly found unique ways to sell event Pokémon to the man.

Shogakukan × Pokémon Stamp Rally Series
– Stamp Absol (September 2003)
– Stamp Pichu – COMING SOON!

– FLET’S Sunday Wobbuffet (July – August 2005)

Generation 4: Sinnoh

Daisuki Club GTS Project
Count on the Pokémon official fanclub to put together some of Generation 4’s most off-beat events, with no better example than the staff exchange distributions built to showcase DPPt’s flagship new feature: the Global Trade Station. In this series, we can take a deep dive to peel back the mysteries of the all but forgotten Daisuki GTS events.
– Essentials: Introduction
– Act 1: Let’s! WiFi! Daisuki Club GTS Adventures (December 2006 – March 2007)
– Act 2: The Magikarp of Love (February 2007)
– Act 3: GameFreak Psyduck & Nintendo Heracross (August 2007)
– Act 4: Daisuki Goes Platinum (February – April 2009)

Spectacular Sinnoh: Event Explorations
The dawn of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl and its expanded wondercard and WiFi functionalities inspired a fresh wave of charming and imaginative events at the intersection of real and virtual life. From event and film distributions to Pokémon Sunday to anniversary celebrations, read their stories here.

A Brave New World: Japan’s First In-Lifes
– Pokémon Tenth Anniversary Concert Chatot (October – December 2006)
– Ready? Battle! Winter Festa MagBuzz (November – December 2006)
– Pale Blue Blob: the Genesis of Manaphy (December 2006 – January 2007)
– Pokémon Festa PalCity: a Nationwide Party (July – September 2007)

Pokémon Sunday’s Homegrown Heroes
– Superstar Shokotan’s Dazzling Tropius (February 2007)
– Catfish Comedy: Sunday’s Yamamoto Whiscash (March 2007)
– Octopus Heroics: Sunday’s Golgo Octillery (October 2007)
– BONUS: Chief Golgo’s Enigmatic “Goruchans” (August 2009)

Showtime! Movie 10: The Rise of Darkrai
– Film Anniversary “10th” Deoxys (July – September 2007)
– Phantom of the Opera: Cinema “Eigakan” Darkrai (July – September 2007)

Marching Towards Platinum
– Fabulous Five: The Saikyou Strongest Class (November 2007 – March 2008)
– Twelfth Anniversary “TOKYO” Pichu (February 2008)

American Adventures
– Toys ‘R Us “TRU” Manaphy (September 2007)
– Toys ‘R Us “ALAMOS” Darkrai (May / June 2008)
– Toys ‘R Us “TRU” Dragonite (November 2008)

Generation 6: Kalos

Kool Kalos: Event Explorations
Fine wines, chateaus in a abundance, and a French lean to sustain the region. Pioneering 3D gameplay, the global serial code and arcade interactions, Generation Kalos propelled Pokémon into the modern era.

Pokémon XY Debuts
– CoroCoro Garchomp (November 2013)

Tretta to XY Series
– Nuketta Wobbuffet (December 2013 – February 2014)
– Red Alert! Tretta Rotom (October – December 2014)

Generation 8: Galar

PokeTimes Exchange Series
On a few rare occasions in Generation Galar, Pokémon official news outlet PokéTimes (ポケタイムス) put together staffer-to-fan trade initiatives and sent out juicy PokeTimes-branded ‘Mons for trade via Link Trade or the GTS. These are their stories.

– Surprise! PokeTimes Clefairy! (April 2020)
– PokeTimes Returns! Chansey! (July 2020)
– Christmas 2021: Celebrities, PokeTimes, VJump & More! (December 2021)
– GTS Action! PokeTimes Bidoof! (May 2022)