New Pokémon 30th Anniversary Release Officially Releasing December
Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more.
Sign in to your ScreenRant account
Even as we approach the end of the year, Pokémon continues to celebrate its 30th anniversary, and now, a brand-new celebratory release has been announced, arriving in December. Although we aren’t getting the release of Pokémon Winds and Waves this year, which will inaugurate Generation 10 for the classic franchise, The Pokémon Company has been making an effort to adequately celebrate the Pokémon series and all of its history. We’ve seen tons of nice releases this year, such as premium enamel pins of fan-favorite games, new designs for classic Pokémon, and much more.
We are getting closer to the end of 2026, but the celebrations are far from ending, if a new announcement serves as evidence. According to a report by Game Rant, the Pokémon franchise is getting a new release in December, celebrating the franchise’s 30 years of existence. Technically speaking, there are three new releases, though they compose a single, larger collection meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary. For now, these new releases seem to be exclusive to Japan, meaning fans in other markets may need to make an effort to acquire them.
The new Pokémon 30th anniversary collection release in question is a series of unique artbooks that cover different periods over these 30 years of history. There are three different volumes, each spanning a different era. For example, Volume 1 will cover the period between 1996 and 2009; technically, this means that it will feature artwork from the very first games, Pokémon Red and Green, up until Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, arguably the very best games in the series, even if they are remakes of Gen 2.
Meanwhile, Volume 2 covers releases from 2010 to 2017, including all core title releases between Black and White and Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Finally, Volume 3 will cover 2018 to 2025, spanning from Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! to the Mega Dimension DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A. According to the report, the three books will be released on December 18, at 5,500 yen each – which translates to about $35 each, or $105 for the complete set with all three books.
As seen in the report, each book will have roughly 500 pages of content, centered around the artwork of the games for each period that they cover. Expect to see tons of artwork you’ve seen over the past 30 years, plus brand-new unpublished concept art, according to Game Rant. For die-hard fans of the series, this new release will be unmissable. The new Pokémon 30th anniversary release will cover all nine Generations so far, which is quite surprising.
The new books will be simultaneously released on the Japanese website Overlap, though they cannot be purchased right now. The website showcases precisely which games each artbook covers. The 30th anniversary book release for Pokémon may be enjoyed by foreigners, though you’ll have to put in an effort to acquire these items through the Japanese website.
Luckily, if these books are a bit too pricey or obtaining them is too hard given the regional restrictions, there are other ways of celebrating the franchise. There are other smaller releases, such as pins and shirts, and it seems like there’s a push to keep on celebrating Pokémon even after we get past its 30th anniversary period.
- TV Show(s)
- Pokémon
- Video Game(s)
- Pokemon Red and Blue, Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Gold and Silver, Pokémon Crystal, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire, Pokemon Sapphire, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Pokemon Platinum, Pokemon Black and White, Pokemon Black and White 2, Pokemon X and Y, Pokemon Sun and Moon, Pokemon Sword and Shield, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Pokemon Winds and Waves, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Pokemon Legends Z-A
- First Film
- Pokemon: The First Movie
- First TV Show
- Pokémon
- First Game
- Pokemon Red and Blue
- Genres
- RPG
Pokémon is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori, launched by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures in 1996. Centered on fictional creatures called Pokémon, the series spans video games, trading cards, animation, films, merchandise, and competitive events. Players assume the role of Trainers who capture, battle, and trade Pokémon. It is one of the highest-grossing entertainment franchises in history.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.