Virtual music concerts have already proven to be insanely popular thanks to Fortnite, but was anybody expecting Pokemon to follow suit? Announced earlier today as part of the 25th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise this year, a virtual concert will be held later this month and will feature rapper Post Malone, though it will be streamed via YouTube, Twitch, and the official Pokemon website rather than be held in one of the games like the Fortnite ones.
Exact details about the concert are still scarce. The announcement trailer doesn't confirm much outside of Post Malone's presence, showing him prepare to come out on stage with a Poke Ball in his hand before turning into a CGI version of himself. The concert itself is set to take place on Pokemon Day, which is February 27th, at 7 pm EST / 4 pm PST/midnight on February 28th GMT, and is considered the start of the P25 Music program.
The program was one of the first things announced for the anniversary celebrations but, at the time, the only artist known to be involved with it was Katy Perry. It's not known if her collaboration will be part of the upcoming concert or a separate thing later in the year.
The Pokemon website also teases new announcements at the end of the concert, but it specifically mentions that they will be P25 Music-related, so don't expect a wild Diamond and Pearl remake announcement to suddenly appear. Or, for that matter, anything related to the games.
Eagle-eyed fans have noticed that three of the rings Malone is wearing in the trailer are colored red, blue, and green, which could either be referencing the very first Pokemon games or the Generation 3 titles: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. Regardless, this is probably just meant to be a cute reference and not indicative of new games or re-releases or anything of the sort.
Nintendo, Game Freak, and The Pokemon Company have been keeping a tight lid on their plans for the rest of the year but fans have already been given opportunities to begin celebrating. For instance, a new McDonald's promotion is giving fans young and old a chance to collect wholly unique trading cards that can be used in the trading card game itself.
Unfortunately, that has already become soured thanks to scalpers managing to hoard the cards and then selling them online, not too dissimilar to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S scalpers. Hopefully, McDonald's will take steps to try and prevent this from happening.
Source: Pokemon