Welcome to the first issue of the year! We hope that everyone has had a great start to 2026. For those who missed the announcement, we have changed our schedule to publish at least one issue per month. In this issue, we are sharing our interview with a great fansite called Greenfield City, which shares resources, useful facts, experiences, and opinions. It launched in 2025, and we are thrilled to speak to its webmaster, Goolix!

We have also recapped some of the major Pokémon news which was shared over the past couple of months, to bring our readers up to date.

Finally, we are currently running a poll to determine which Pokémon game is your favourite! We hope to reveal these results in our next newsletter. You can learn more about the poll and vote here.

Pokémon will mark its 30th anniversary next month

POKÉMON LEGENDS: Z-A

• Pokémon Legends: Z-A's DLC expansion, Mega Dimension, was released on December 10th, 2025, debuting 18 new Mega Evolutions. The expansion included the previously revealed Mega Raichu X, Mega Raichu Y, Mega Chimecho, Mega Baxcalibur, and Mega Zeraora, as well as the newly revealed Mega Lucario Z and several others. The official Pokédex was also updated with official artwork for all of the new Mega Evolutions that debuted in Legends: Z-A.

Source: Mega Dimension, Mega Lucario Z debut, Pokédex

• On December 2nd, 2025, alongside Mega Lucario Z being revealed, the Project M side mission was added to Legends: Z-A's base game. To start the mission, the player must first receive a new Mystery Gift, containing both Mewtwonite X and Mewtwonite Y. After receiving Mewtwo's Mega Stones, a mission to battle and capture a Level 70 Mewtwo in the depths of Lysandre Labs becomes available to the player.

Source: Pokémon

• Seasons of Legends: Z-A's Online Ranked Battles have continued regularly since the game's release, with Baxcalibrite debuting in Season 4 and Sceptilite debuting in Season 5, making Mega Baxcalibur and Mega Sceptile available for the first time in Legends: Z-A. Season 6 begins tomorrow (January 30th, 2026) and features the debut of the Swampertite, with Blazikenite set to debut in the following season. To date, all Mega Stones that debuted as rewards for Online Ranked Battles (Greninjite, Delphoxite, Chesnaughtite, Baxcalibrite, and Sceptilite) have remained available as prizes for achieving lower Z-A ranks in the following seasons.

Source: Pokémon, Season 4 rewards, Season 5 rewards

• New icons of Mega Evolutions and characters from Legends: Z-A for use on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 were added to the Nintendo Switch Online app on January 25th, 2026, for 10 Platinum Coins, including the male and female player characters, Canari, Taragon, AZ, Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Raichu X, Mega Raichu Y, Mega Dragonite, and Mega Eelektross. Several Legends: Z-A backgrounds were also added for 5 Platinum Coins.

Source: Nintendo Switch Online app

POKÉMON TCG

• The third Mega Evolution expansion, the special set Ascended Heroes, will be released tomorrow (January 30th, 2026)! Ascended Heroes includes over 290 cards and will consist of cards from the 2025 Japanese High Class Set, MEGA Dream ex, and the Japanese Start Deck 100 Battle Collection releases.

Source: Pokémon

• The expansion after that, Perfect Order, will be released on March 27th, 2026. Perfect Order includes over 120 cards, which primarily originate from the Japanese Munikis Zero expansion. It is the first expansion fully dedicated to Legends: Z-A's characters, setting, and Pokémon after MEGA Dream ex had introduced some of the new Mega Evolutions among many reprints. Perfect Order's spotlight Pokémon is Mega Zygarde ex, with Mega Clefable ex, Mega Starmie ex, Meowth ex, Naveen, and Jacinthe also appearing.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON TCG POCKET

• The most recent expansion in TCG Pocket, Fantastical Parade, was released on January 29th, 2026, featuring Mega Gardevoir ex, Mega Mawile ex, Teal Mask Ogerpon ex, and more, as well as adding new Stadium cards to the game.

Source: Pokémon

• Crimson Blaze, was released on December 16th, 2025, focusing on Mega Venusaur ex, Mega Charizard Y ex, and Mega Blastoise ex, and consists of 69 cards in the base set with 103 cards total, including secret rares. Crimson Blaze-themed Mega Charizard Y covers and backdrops are available throughout January 2026. Booster packs from the limited special Deluxe Pack ex expansion were also available to open between January 15th and January 28th, 2026.

Source: Pokémon

POKÉMON GO

• On December 8th, 2025, Pokémon GO announced the addition of the long-awaited Remote Trade feature. To unlock the Remote Trade ability, players must achieve the newest level of Friendship added to the game, Forever Friends, which requires 180 total points of Friendship (double the amount of points required to become Best Friends). One Remote Trade can be unlocked at a time between a pair of Forever Friends, at which point the players can select and finalize a Pokémon they are willing to trade, with no distance restriction placed on the trade. After completing a Remote Trade, the function will have to be unlocked again by accumulating additional points of Friendship between a pair of Forever Friends.

Source: Pokémon GO

GENERAL

• Pokémon commemorated the start of 2026 as the year of the franchise’s 30th anniversary by posting a short animation with Pikachu on Twitter to promote Pokémon Day 2026. The logo for Pokémon 30 was also revealed in the clip.

Source: @Pokemon_cojp on Twitter

• Universal Studios Japan has announced a partnership with The Pokémon Company “on a global collaboration rooted in storytelling.” They stated that “by drawing from its expansive worlds and beloved characters, we’re working together to develop new innovative experiences that resonate with fans worldwide.”

Source: Universal Creative

• The first-ever LEGO Pokémon sets were revealed on January 12th, 2026, with pre-orders through LEGO and Pokémon Center's storefronts starting upon reveal. The LEGO sets will be released on February 27th, 2026, and include a 587-piece set of Eevee, a 2,050-piece set of Pikachu with a Pokéball, and a 6,838-piece set featuring Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise. The LEGO Pokémon Kanto Region Badge Collection is also available as a bonus for pre-ordering the Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise set.

Source: Pokémon

• The book Pokécology: An Illustrated Guide to Pokémon Ecology, released in Japan in May 2025, will be translated into English and released in the United States and Canada on April 21st, 2026 and in the United Kingdom on April 23rd, 2026. It was written by Yoshinari Yonehara, a researcher of Agricultural and Life Sciences from the University of Tokyo, and illustrated by Chihiro Kinoshita, a Marine Biologist also from the University of Tokyo. The 208-page guide examines "the similarities, differences, generalities, and relationships between Pokémon ecologies."

Source: Pokémon

• A Pokécology exhibit will launch in the United Kingdom's Natural History Museum to celebrate the release of Pokécology: An Illustrated Guide to Pokémon Ecology. A pop-up shop in Cranbourne Boutique will be open from January 26th, 2026, until April 19th, 2026, and a special Pikachu at the Museum oversize promo card will be available as a gift with purchases from the shop beginning January 30th.

Source: Pokémon

• The first batch of episodes for Pokémon Horizons: Season 3 were released on Netflix on January 6th, 2026 under the name Rising Hope Part 1. Part 3 of Season 2 – The Search for Laqua, was also released on January 14th on Amazon, Apple TV, and YouTube.

Source: Season 3 Part 1, Season 2 Part 3

• The companion app that teaches players the basic mechanics of the Pokémon GOITA board game was released on iOS and Android in Japan on December 17th, 2025.

Source: Google Play, iOS

Feature: Interview with Greenfield City

Greenfield City is a fansite for Pokémon and Sonic the Hedgehog, which shares resources, useful facts, experiences, and opinion pieces. The goal of the project is to bring together historical information in one place that is cited and easy to understand. In this interview, I speak to its webmaster, Goolix, and learn more about what Greenfield City has to offer.

---

Greenfield City’s logo

It's great to speak with you, Goolix! Please introduce yourself and your website!

Goolix:

Hello! My name is Goolix and I’m a Pokémon fansite creator. I’m the webmaster over at Greenfield City, a Pokémon (and Sonic) fansite where I write about random fun things I find in these series. Some of it is documenting facts about the games, some of it is creative essays, and some of it is games and tools.

Greenfield City soft-launched on February 14th, 2025, and features content on both Pokémon and the Sonic the Hedgehog series. What encouraged you to create your website?

Goolix:

I was inspired by some Pokémon websites I had seen on Neocities. I was impressed that they were well-organized, good-looking, and they had content I hadn’t seen before on any Pokémon site. It reminded me of how much fun I had back in the day making fansites and it made me want to give it another go. I began with Sonic because I wanted a place to organize information on Chao (virtual pets in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2). I ended up adding some Pokémon stuff anyway because I wanted to write down observations I made on Pokémon music, fashion collabs, towns, etc.

For this interview I would like to focus on the Pokémon side of your website. What type of content has been the most appealing to include?

Goolix:

I really like writing things that I don’t think other people have encountered before! Part of this is collecting information that I don’t think is easy to come across, like a list of all the Pokémon fashion collabs or stuff on Pokémon ROM hacking if you don’t know about programming. Part of this is my own analyses and commentary. I really like looking at the music in the Pokémon games because it’s more diverse than people give it credit for. In general, I try to find things that are new – if someone else has already written on a topic, I sort of shrug and move on to the next one!

Greenfield City’s website layout, as of January 2026

I enjoyed reading the essays on your website, especially the one titled "Pokémon, Individuality, and Sociality", where you touched on shared stories across generations. It’s something that resonates with me personally in how we’ve shared memories from fans on Johto Times. When it comes to the essays you write, how do you decide on the topics you want to share?

Goolix:

I’m always writing essays. I’m very long-winded! It helps that the Pokémon world isn’t exactly the strictest when it comes to world-building, so it’s really funny to ask the question, “If we take the games at face value, what can we deduce about the world?” I’m also a big fan of taking non-serious things seriously. When you combine these instincts, you get these essays.

Pokémon as a franchise is also going on thirty years old, and I’m lucky enough to have grown up with this franchise and fandom, which gives me a lot to think about how people relate to it. I see a lot of kids nowadays with Pokémon shirts and backpacks, which is nice. So much has changed from my childhood to now, but somehow Pokémon can still be something that different childhoods have in common.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a whole page dedicated to Billboard Articles, PR statements shared by the American music publication of the same name. What encouraged you to publish these?

Goolix:

One project I was working on was documenting the rise and fall of Pokémania, the peak Pokémon madness from 1999-2002 in the United States. I wanted to know when it started and how people who weren’t Pokémon fans reacted to it. I accidentally found these articles during my research and I thought they were such an interesting peek into the business side of Pokémon. I was amazed nobody had apparently found these or discussed them before. I hoped that by transcribing them, I would make it easier for fans to read them and learn from them.

My absolute favourite part of your website is the Johto Mail Generator, where you can type your message into the box, add your name, and choose the type of Mail you want it displayed on. This takes me right back to writing letters in Pokémon Crystal and sending them to my friend Mason via Pokémon trade. Please tell us how you came up with the idea for this!

Goolix:

I was kind of surprised when I found that there wasn’t a Johto Mail Generator elsewhere! It seemed like something that should have already been made. I specifically liked Johto Mail because you could actually type out what you wanted instead of having to use all the cryptic phrases in Gen 3. I do remember writing one piece of mail… that I don’t think I ever sent :) Johto Mail seems a little forgotten by people, so I hope it will remind people of this feature.

Greenfield City’s Johto Mail Generator

Out of everything on the website, what content are you most proud of?

Goolix:

Ah, that’s hard! I’m proud of the ‘Pokémon fashion dress-up game’ because it’s another one of those things where I felt like it should exist. I have a lot of extensions I’d love to do with it, like having it show how much money the outfit you’re making costs, flipping or cropping the clothes. It’s very silly and old-school web and I like just opening it up and playing with it sometimes.

What can you tell us about your first introduction to Pokémon?

Goolix:

Pokémon has been in my life for so long that I don’t actually think I remember when I first got introduced to it. I lived through the first wave of Pokémania so it was just everywhere at the time. I was watching the anime, buying just about any merch I could convince my parents to buy. My first Pokémon game was actually Stadium, so I didn’t know you could just walk around in the Pokémon world until I got Crystal as my first mainline game. I collected the trading cards but just because I liked the art; I had no idea how to play. I was just really immersed in the Pokémon world; it was a launchpad for imagination.

I am curious to learn more about your time with classic Pokémon fansites of the past, or even the ones still online to this day! What are your memories and experiences with them?

Goolix:

I’ve been visiting Pokémon fansites since 2003! The earliest one I know for sure I visited was Pokémon Elite 2000. When I was a kid, I apparently found their list of Pokémon from Gen 3, before the games were released in English. By 2004, I had somehow found The Cave of Dragonflies, which really impressed me with the quality of content that it had. I also liked sites like Eevee’s HQ, Valley of Nightmares, and Mew’s Hangout. I really liked original content and sites where you could feel the creator’s personality through their work. I honestly remember too much niche trivia from this period of time: Eevee’s HQ going on hiatus and multiple other sites following suit; CuteNews getting hacked and big security concerns about PHP; arguments about frames and browser wars and getting your HTML verified for correctness; status games of Proboards vs. Invisionfree vs. vBulletin… It was a fun time.

For modern sites, I like Blue Moon Falls, which I’ve learned a lot from! Pamtre Berry and Buried Relic are also very charming and informative. Pamtre Berry feels very much like a modern site with its focus on things like how to play R/S once the clock runs out, or sharing these books the creator made as a kid. And I also have to give a second shout out to The Cave of Dragonflies, even if it was not made in the modern era, for continuing to post new content today. It’s been interesting to see how the type of content has changed from when I read the site in the beginning. I really enjoy the essays and the breakdowns of formulas in the games.

Unfortunately, every other Pokémon website I used to visit is defunct. I get the feeling that the fansite experience really peaked around 2007, and began slowly declining after, and then sharply declining in the 2010s. In 2006-2007, it felt like a new site was being launched every week, even if it got abandoned just a few months in. In 2011, there just… weren’t a lot of new sites being made, period. And the old ones started going offline over that decade. It was looking pretty dire for a while. Neocities appears to have played a big part in the small revival of independent fansites. I also notice that the Neocities sites I like all began in the 2020s. I hope there will be more to come!

A photograph of Goolix’s Pokédex, featuring Pikachu

At the time of writing, your website is quite recent, almost one year old! I am curious to hear your future plans for Greenfield City!

Goolix:

I plan to continue making pages! I have a habit of making big projects and getting burnt out on them, so I want to pace myself with the content. That being said, I do want to keep researching Pokémania, and also to write some content on Pokémon fansites of the 2000s. I'd like to add more artistic content, too.

I would love to learn about the special Pokémon items and merchandise you have which mean something to you. What can you share?

Goolix:

I do have some special items that have just been around for a long time and are very charming. I have the 1999 Tiger Electronics Pikachu Camera. Unfortunately I don’t know what happened to any photos I took with those, but when I was a kid it was just as fun to pretend to take photos with it. The button to take a photo is a Diglett; how cute is that?! I also have the 1999 Tiger Electronics Pokédex. I have memories of typing random Pokémon names in there and watching the little sprites bob around.

One of my most cherished Pokémon items that I have is a shirt from the Pokémon Center in New York City that existed before 2005. It closed down just a year later so I was really lucky to get it!

A photograph of Goolix’s Pokémon camera

Goolix, thank you for taking the time to tell me about your fansite and your thoughts, feelings, and memories on Pokémon! Do you have any closing comments you would like to make to our readers, and to fans of Greenfield City?

Goolix:

Thank you to anyone who has visited and enjoyed Greenfield City! I really didn’t think my site would get any attention in its first year, and it’s been great every time I hear from visitors! I hope to keep making cool content for a while.

Thank you to everyone who visited and participated in the fansite culture back in the day, and thank you to everyone who is participating today! I love the efforts taken to preserve and remember this period of time. I hope you’ll find something you like in the websites you see today. And if you have your own idea, I encourage you to make your own site – it’s so much fun!

---

A huge thank you to Goolix for taking the time to speak to us, and tell us all about Greenfield City! We wish the site all the very best of luck for its future!

Interview conducted on: December 24th, 2025
Interview published on: January 29th, 2026