Heck Yeah, Here's What to Expect on Pokemon Day, February 27

Monday, February 27 is a momentous day that will surely go down in the annals of history. Hell yeah, my dudes, it’s Pokémon Day. The first Pokémon games came out in Japan on this day in 1996, meaning that Pikachu is now old enough to drink. To honor this occasion, Nintendo is throwing a bunch of events, both inside various video games and IRL, in celebration. Here’s what to expect on Pokémon Day, the most important day of the whole goddamn year.

For anybody out there still playing Pokémon GO, Nintendo and Niantic are adding a special Pikachu to the game in addition to all the new Generation 2 Pokémon they added last week. From February 26 to March 6, players will be able to find a special Pikachu wearing “a festive party hat.” The Pikachu will keep the hat even after the event ends, so keep an eye out.

That, sadly, is probably the best in-game event. Anybody playing the latest installments in the main series of games, Pokémon Sun and Moon, can go to an actual, brick-and-mortar GameStop store to get an in-game Bottle Cap that lets them improve a Pokémon’s hidden stat value. Meanwhile, The Pokémon Trading Card Game Online is adding extra bonuses, and the two-year-old Nintendo 3DS game Pokémon Shuffle is also going to have some sort of celebration, although a Nintendo press release could not or would not elaborate on what it might be.

There’s also going to be new opportunities to buy stuff. A new batch of collectible Gallery Figures, including figurines of Eevee, Mew, Magikarp, and Pikachu, will go on sale over at the Pokémon Center website. A new Pokémon movie, Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, will be up for sale on the iTunes Store, Google Play, and Amazon, as will a special bundle of anime episodes following Ash and Co. through the Johto region. Also, there’s a special Pikachu Yellow Edition New Nintendo 3DS XL, but that comes out before Pokémon Day, which seems kinda bogus.

If you’re understandably underwhelmed by this slate of events — a sorry offering that makes one question if Nintendo even cares about Pokémon Day — there are two last things to get hype for. First, Twitch will stream some of the best moments from past video and trading card game competitions, which is fun if you’re into PokéSports. Second, Pokémon TV, which you can watch on the website or the app, is going to do a free marathon of some Pokémon movies, including Pokémon: The First Movie.

Dang, guys … remember Pokémon: The First Movie? Remember when Ash dies? And then Pikachu cries and all the other Pokémon cry and it brings him back to life? Pretty heavy stuff.

Anyway, that’s Pokémon Day this year. Go out and catch something good.