Named after the classic Pokémon tagline, the show is a trivia competition between three contestants that incorporates Pokémon into the mechanics: Correctly answering a question allows the player to catch a Pokémon, and the win condition is catching all four Victory Pokémon. There are also viewer participation mechanics, such as voting. The show will be hosted by writer, actor and musician Brian David Gilbert. In addition to his work on Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, Brian has also worked on the comedy analysis series Unraveled at Polygon, and on the game show Um, Actually on Dropout. An explanation video accompanied the announcement on Pokémon's website, while the first episode of the new show will broadcast live on Twitch on June 27th at approximately 10:45am (PDT) / 1:45pm (EDT). This first episode is scheduled to be two hours in length.
As you would expect, all of the questions in this game show are Pokémon themed, with an example slide from the video showing three topics: Video Games, Pokémon Center, and Pokémon TCG Pocket. Questions are multiple choice, with the example slides showing four answers per question. Players have to buzz in before answering, with each player being allowed to buzz in once.
In addition to the "Victory Pokémon", Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, and Pikachu, that players will need to catch to win the game, contestants will be able to assemble a collection of Pokémon, each of which has its own One-Time Effect that the contestants can use to boost their performance or hinder their opponent's. For example, Porygon is included as a Supportive Pokémon, whose effect allows a contestant to talk to the Twitch chat to help them answer a question. The Victory Pokémon will have stronger One-Time Effects, but are balanced by needing two copies of the Pokémon to use them instead of one. Using a One-Time Effect does not cause players to lose their Pokémon, but players can only have six Pokémon in their collection at a time. When at capacity, players can still gain Pokémon by swapping out one of their existing Pokémon. Including the four Victory Pokémon, a total of 13 different Pokémon have been revealed thus far.
A table of all known Pokémon is listed below. The effect of each Pokémon is themed around a specific move.
Victory Pokémon Supportive Pokémon Disruptive Pokémon ????? Bulbasaur
Sweet Scent - "Select 1 of 3 Pokémon for the next question."Ditto
Transform - "Copy a Pokémon already in your collection."Ekans
Poison Sting - "Remove an active Pokémon from another player's collection (their choice)."Magikarp
Splash - Does nothing. The video implies something interesting may happen if players collect many Magikarp.Squirtle Eevee
Helping Hand - "Discuss an answer the question together with another player."Koffing
Smog - "Remove a random Pokémon from another player's collection."Charmander Exeggcute
Extrasensory - "Questions in this round are sensory."Drowsee
Disable -"Block the One-Time Effect of one Pokémon in the target player's collection.Pikachu Porygon
Conversion - "Discuss with Twitch to answer this question."Meowth
Thief - "Steal a Pokémon from another player's collection."
