The Pokemon 20th Anniversary celebration continues, as Nintendo offers up another free mythical Pokemon in July that is sure to please fans of the series.

Never let it be said that Nintendo doesn't know how to treat long-time fans of some of the publisher's biggest properties. Nintendo announced early in the year that it would be offering one free mythical Pokemon a month until the end of 2016 as part of its year-long celebration of Pokemon's 20th anniversary and was met with high praise from trainers worldwide. The giveaway has been a success up until this point, as series favorites like Mew and Celebi have already found new homes with plenty of eager Pokemon fans.

Now that we've survived the early summer onslaught of new game hype and migrated to a July month that has already seen Canadian Pokemon fans get creative with their love of the Nintendo franchise, it's time for a new mythical Pokemon to find its way out into the wild. While the last few months of mythical releases might not have involved the favorites of many, July looks to make that up in a big way, as fans can now download the mythical hedgehog Shaymin onto their Pokemon games.

As always, gamers can acquire their new mythical Pokemon on either Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, Pokemon: Omega Ruby, or Pokemon: Alpha Sapphire by simply following a simple set of instructions, detailed here in last month's Pokemon announcement. Shaymin, as with many mythical Pokemon, does not evolve, but does have a nifty sky form that can be activated by trainers who use a Gracidea flower on the mystic hedgehog during the day.

Beyond Shaymin's quirks as a Pokemon and its usefulness on trainer's teams, however, is the fact that Shaymin is one of the more beloved mythical Pokemon in recent years. That's a difficult feat given many old-school players' vocal support of the game's early mythical creatures, so it makes sense that during what some believe to be the Year of Pokemon in 2016 that Nintendo would appeal to new and old fans alike with Shaymin.

This month's release is also accompanied by the debut of the Pokemon TCG: Mythical Pokemon Collection Shaymin pack, which is on sale now and includes a new Shaymin promo card and a pin of the adorable yet fierce hedgehog. It's yet another example of the masterful way Nintendo has handled the first half of Pokemon's 20th anniversary, a six month period that didn't feature much in the way of new releases. Now that Nintendo has managed to keep fans happy through the dry spell, however, things are looking up - Pokemon GO should arrive in July, and Pokemon Sun and Moon isn't too far down the road either.

Pokemon X/Y and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire are available on Nintendo 3Ds.

Source: GameInformer