Leave some milk and nanab berries out for PokéSanta
PokémonDay is nearly here! The ancient celebration of Pokémon, established in 2016, is currently considered the most important holiday on every religious calendar.
As department stores start hanging theirPokémonDay decorations, all eyes are turned toward the Pokémon Company to see what will be announced. WillPokémon ScarletandVioletreceive DLC? Will they become functioning video games? Will we get updates from some of the series’ many sub-franchises, likePokémon Mystery DungeonorPokkén Tournament? Nobody knows! But I know one game we probablywon’tsee isPokémon Sleep.
Oh, man, rememberPokémon Sleep?
Think back with me for just a moment on the halcyon days of 2019. In late May,the Pokémon Company held a press conferencewhere it announced a handful of promising projects. The most popular among these was probablyPokémon HOME, the Nintendo Switch alternative to the 3DS transfer servicePokémon Bank. There was alsoPokémon Masters, a free-to-play mobile game. BothPokémon HOMEandPokémon Mastersare currently available. But the Pokémon Company also announced an app that is not currently available:Pokémon Sleep.
WhenPokémon Sleepwas announced it was described as a mobile game featuring a “gameplay experience unlike any other,” one in which the player would…uh…go to sleep. We never got another detail on the game, so it’s hard to say what, exactly, it would have been. All we really know is that it was a mobile title that would have taken advantage of thePokémon GO Plus+, a follow-up to thePokémon GO Plusinteractive bracelet that was pitched solely to make the Pokémon Company’s SEO and marketing team cry.
ThePokémon GO Plus+was also never released.
Where did it all go?
So will we ever seePokémon Sleep? Will we ever get to see thePokémon GO Plus+? I’m not certain. Both products were initially expected in 2020, and we haven’t heard a single word about either of them since they both missed their deadlines. To be honest, that makes me a little sad.
Pokémon Sleepwas going to be developed by SELECT BUTTON, Inc., the studio behindPokémon: Magikarp Jump. That game wasn’t an interactive Pokémon-themed sleep aid, but it did have a similarly silly elevator pitch—it was aPokémongame about raising a Magikarp to jump higher than any other fish in the land. And it was great! It wasn’t some kind of unsung masterpiece, but it was a goofy, pleasant diversion that I played quite a bit back in the day.
I’m not sayingPokémon Sleepwould have been a great game, if only a clumsily-named bracelet was sold at GameStop. In all likelihood, it would have been a fairly ineffective sleep aid masquerading as a mobile game. Still, SELECT BUTTON has demonstrated an ability to turn a thin, silly idea into a charming game. I don’t know ifPokémon Sleepwould have helped me develop a much-needed sleep-tracking habit. I sincerely doubt that it would have taken the world by storm the wayPokémon GOdid. Still, I can’t help but wonder about what might have been.
A glimmer of hope
If you, like me, long to know what a world withPokémon Sleepin it would look like, then I’d caution against losing hope just yet. The game isn’t showing many signs of life, but there’s still a chance. Back in January,Dexertoreported that Reddit usermilotic03had spotted a recent patent filed by the Pokémon Company on the (now-defunct)Pokémon Sleepwebsite.
I’ve personally found it difficult to get too optimistic about this. Nearly four consecutive years of official silence isn’t exactly promising, even if work is technically happening behind the scenes. Still, it’s a sign that the Pokémon Company hasn’t abandoned this weird, unnecessary project just yet, and I always want to live in a world with more weird, unnecessary projects. So when I gather around the hearth with my family, the way I do everyPokémonDay, I’ll ensure to take a break between the traditionalPokémonDay feast and the jovialPokémonDay caroling to offer up one lastPokémonDay wish for aPokémonDay miracle.
I think I need this app. I have not been getting enough sleep.
Related:Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players unearth hidden DLC teasers that you likely missedonDot Esports
