Welcome to Vol. 3, issue 46 of Johto Times! This week, I'm very excited to share our interview with one of the very oldest Pokémon fansites: The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine. This short-lived website shared information about Pokémon prior to its official American release and gave fans a taste of what was about to come. We also have a recap of the latest Pokémon news!

We plan to leave our original home on Substack in December and begin sharing our words exclusively on our website with Volume 4 in January 2026. For our readers who enjoy Johto Times from their inbox, there is no need to worry and you will still receive emails as usual. Feel free to bookmark our website to stay up to date in any case.

We also recently launched the Johto Times community forum. We would love to invite you all to talk about Pokémon and share your opinions on our newsletter!

Finally, we are also actively using Bluesky if you would like an additional way of keeping in touch with us!

Downloadable content for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, "Mega Dimension", will release on December 10th, 2025

POKÉMON LEGENDS: Z-A

• A new trailer for Mega Dimension has been released, confirming the DLC's December 10th, 2025 release date. In Mega Dimension, the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa uses its portals to bring the cast of Legends: Z-A to another dimension that is home to Alpha Pokémon above Level 100, many returning older Pokémon that were not present in the base game, and several new Mega Evolutions, including Mega Raichu X, Mega Raichu Y, Mega Chimecho, and Mega Baxcalibur. Baxcaliburite will release as a prize in Season 4's Online Ranked Battles. Additional news about Mega Dimension will be released on November 19th, 2025.

Source: Pokémon

• An extra mission, Shine Bright Like a Gemstone, released on November 6th, 2025, through Mystery Gift. This free download gives players the Diancite hold item, and opens a mission after completing the main storyline in which Emma and her Espurr, Mimi, lead the player to an encounter with a Level 70 Diancie. Diancie must be captured to complete the mission, and the player can battle Diancie repeatedly until successfully capturing the Mythical.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON POKOPIA

• The release date for the new life-simulation spinoff game, Pokopia, has been announced as March 5, 2026. The title will be released exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2 as a Game Key Card, requiring 10 GB of free space on the player's Nintendo Switch 2. Pre-orders for Pokopia are available now.

Source: Pokémon

• New details have been shared today on the upcoming Pokémon Pokopia, a relaxing life simulation game, releasing on March 6th, 2026, for Nintendo Switch 2. A new trailer released today sharing an in-depth look at this title, showcasing how Ditto, the character you control throughout the game, can copy the abilities of other Pokémon and use them to traverse and improve the world you play in. With the help of Professor Tangrowth, players can create a utopia where Pokémon and humans can live together. Other new "mysterious" Pokémon will make their debut in Pokémon Pokopia, including a Pikachu with drooping ears called Peakychu, a Snorlax which has moss growing all over its body called Mosslax, and Smearguru, a vibrantly coloured Smeargle.

Source: Pokémon, Extended Trailer

POKÉMON GO

• Pokémon Go has announced the dates for next season's Community Days. As is tradition, December's Community Day is a two-day recap event in which all Community Day spotlight Pokémon from 2025 will be featured again, with some species featured on December 6th, 2025, and others on December 7th, 2025. Next season's Community Day Classic occurs on Sunday, January 4th, 2026, with January's Community Day taking place on Sunday, January 18th, 2026, and February Community Day on Sunday, February 1st, 2026. It is not yet known what the featured Pokémon will be on these later three Community Days.

Source: Pokémon Go blog

GENERAL

• PokéPark KANTO's grand opening date has been announced as Thursday, February 5th, 2026. The attraction is a 26,000 square meter Pokémon-themed amusement park, located within Yomiuriland in Tama Hills, Tokyo. Two types of tickets for the park will go on sale on November 21st, 2025: the Trainer's Pass allows access to the Pokémon Forest area of the park, the Town Pass allows access to the Sedge Town area of the park, and the Ace Trainer's Pass allows access to both.

Source: Pokemon

Feature: Interview with The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine

In August 1998, North America was about to be introduced to Pokémon for the first time. Despite Pocket Monsters being incredibly popular in Japan from early 1996, the localisation of the franchise had yet to launch. The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine was one of the very earliest Pokémon fansites which offered information and resources to inform the earliest English-speaking Pokémon fans to understand what the franchise was all about.

I discovered this website a long time ago, and after a long search I was able to track down the two people behind the website, Cas and Eire, who very kindly answered my questions about their old website.

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A recreated logo of The Cleft of Dimensions (Credit: Johto Times)

It’s great to be speaking with you both! Can you please introduce yourselves to our readers?

Cas:

Hi, I'm Cas! I'm one half of the former duo behind The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine. I'm an IT professional located in Canada where I live with my partner Eire along with my roommate and my three cats!

Eire:

I'm Eire, the other half of the aforementioned former duo. I'm also an IT professional.

The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine soft launched on June 22nd, 1998, and was updated frequently from August that year, making it one of the earliest English Pokémon fansites. What encouraged you to create the website in the first place?

Cas:

Back in 1997–1998, I worked for CompuServe's Video Gaming Central forum. In 1998, I had the wonderful and unique opportunity to go to the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3) at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. There, they revealed the North American release of Pokémon – I played the English-language beta version of Pokémon Blue and I instantly became enamoured [with] the world and its monsters.

The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine in August 1998

When the website opened, Pokémon hadn’t even launched in the United States, or anywhere outside of Japan! What was it like trying to run a fansite and report accurate information before the series had an English-language release?

Cas:

When I came back from E3, I scoured all the Japanese websites I could find in order to relay as much information as possible to English-speaking fans. Since the series had debuted in Japan in 1996, I felt it was important to help English-speakers get ready to welcome the series.

Eire:

I lack Cas' knowledge of Japanese, so my role was mainly as moral support and as a sounding board. I was of more help once the English dub of the Pokémon anime began to air on television.

The Cleft Of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine published information on the Pokémon anime, the original Game Boy games, merchandise, and official announcements. Out of all your content, what were your favourites?

Cas:

I was really proud of being able to post clips from the anime. I had an ATI All-In-Wonder capture card and I put that poor thing through its paces. Classes permitting, I usually recorded clips a few hours after the episodes aired!

One of my favourite pieces of content was your Pocket Pikachu Diary, where you kept a log of how your journey with the device was going. At the time of writing this interview, I have just walked one million steps with mine! I saw a lot of similarities with your diary and my own experiences with the product. What are your memories of writing it?

Cas:

One million steps! That's a huge accomplishment!

Would you believe I still have it after all this time? I was a lot more active back when I was in college since my classes were all over campus!

The biggest memory I have is the feeling of satisfaction of walking with Pikachu and being able to journey with him. The battery has long since died in mine, but you're encouraging me to start my journey anew with him. Hopefully he forgives me!

Cas’s Pocket Pikachu diary from January 1999

You managed the website with your life partner back then, and it was lovely to hear that you were both still together twenty-seven years later (and counting)! What was it like working on the website together back then?

Cas:

Yep, we're still together! Things have changed so much, but our love for each other remains as strong as ever.

I don't think I could have kept up with the site as long as I did without Eire. She was and ever will be my rock, and we make the best team ever.

Eire:

We did our best to share the work, something we do even now. Cas is my other half, and I've never regretted a day we've been together.

The last update on the website is from March 25th, 1999, and the website remained online until around late 2000. What were the reasons behind its closure?

Cas:

Our host, Dragonfire, approached me around that time and advised me that the traffic generated from the site was becoming untenable. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure it was because of all the movie clips being downloaded – keep in mind YouTube didn't exist back then and everything was a direct download!

Also, despite the help we were getting on the site [from] various people, we were both getting overwhelmed by the amount of e-mails we were getting. Around the time we closed our e-mail for the site, we were getting around 300 non-spam e-mails per day!

Those reasons, combined with the fact that I was in my last year of college, prompted me to finally take down the site. It was a really hard decision to make.

The final update of The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine, on March 25th, 1999 (discovered on an old CD that Cas was able to provide)

Despite the website only being online for a couple of years, I feel like you did a great job at teaching people what Pokémon was all about and represented it fairly well during those earliest days. Looking back, what are you most proud of when it comes to your old website?

Cas:

I'm exactly proud of that – bringing Pokémon to the English-speaking community and bringing them news about the series. I'm hoping we did a good job in the short time we had with the community!

Pokémon was clearly something very special to you both back then. What was it like to grow up with the series during the “Pokémania” craze?

Cas:

We were already adults (barely) when the series came out, but it was absolutely fantastic! I feel that the series was very formative for me at least – it helped me learn Japanese and let me meet some wonderful people!

Eire:

It was actually quite interesting to get in at the very beginning of a craze... it's simply amazing how much in popularity it's grown ever since.

Photographs of Cas’s Pokémon plushies she received from E3 1998

Do you have any special Pokémon related items or merchandise which mean something to you?

Cas:

I have quite a few! I'm proud to say that I still have the Nintendo Pokémon press kit from E3 1998 in its original folder. It's a bit banged up now, but I plan on digitizing it in the next couple of weeks so it's preserved.

As mentioned before, I still have my PokePika! I hope he forgives me for neglecting him for so long, and I hope to start new adventures with him soon!

I also have the Pikachu no Natsu Yasumi (Pikachu's Summer Vacation) book that was given when the movie came out in Japan! That'll be harder to scan... This thing's huge!

Since you created the website in 1998, Pokémon has expanded greatly, with nine generations and over one thousand Pokémon and Pokémon forms! What are your thoughts on the franchise as it has continued to grow throughout the years?

Cas:

The Pokémon series is ever-evolving and I feel its appeal remains the same throughout the years. My favourite game's still Pokémon Crystal, but I've enjoyed all the games so far! I can't wait to see what they do with the franchise next!

Eire:

Pokémon still has legs to it! I'm looking forward to playing Pokémon Z-A when it comes out, like I've played every mainline game and the odd spinoff.

Cas’s Pokémon press kit obtained at E3 1998, which contains early information about Pokémon, including stickers featuring Pokémon with names that were changed upon release

Cas and Eire, thank you so much for taking the time to speak to me about The Cleft of Dimensions Pokémon Shrine. Do you have any closing comments you would like to make to our readers, and anyone who may have visited the website during the time it was online?

Cas:

Thank you so much to everyone who had ever visited the site and who ever wrote in! I know the site's time online was short, but I hope it brought people joy and fond memories!

Eire:

Thank you to everyone who came to our site. If we helped bring people into the fandom, then I feel we succeeded.

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Additional photographs

Cas’s Pocket Pikachu

A Pokémon advertisement from Cas’s E3 press kit

A photograph of sticker sheets containing all 150 Pokémon. Many names were not finalised at the time, which is mentioned at the bottom of each page

Cas’s newspaper clippings about Pokémon

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A huge thank you to both Cas and Eire for taking the time to answer our questions. The service you provided while working on The Cleft of Dimensions surely helped a lot of early fans understand and appreciate the Pokémon phenomenon that was to come!