Pokemon Crystal Coming to Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console

Another Pokemon game is officially coming to Virtual Console.

Nintendo officially announced that Pokemon Crystal is coming to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on January 28, 2018. The re-release will include a way for players to encounter and capture the mythical Pokemon Celebi. After beating the Elite Four, players can obtain the GS Ball (an item familiar to Pokemon anime fans) and take it to the Ilex Forest shrine, where it will summon a wild Celebi. This feature was available in Japan's version of Pokemon Crystal, but never made it to the United States.

Re-encounter the Mythical Pokémon Celebi when the groundbreaking #PokemonCrystal comes to Nintendo eShop for #3DS on Jan. 26! pic.twitter.com/sUZtomk0vf

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) December 14, 2017

Pokemon Crystal was the "companion" game to Pokemon Gold and Silver and was a groundbreaking game for the Pokemon franchise. The game was the first to make Legendary Pokemon a part of the main storyline, a feature that has become a fixture in future Pokemon games. During Pokemon Crystal, players have the opportunity to capture Suicune as part of the main storyline after encountering it multiple times throughout the Johto region.

Nintendo re-released Pokemon Gold and Silver as Virtual Console titles earlier this year, spurring speculation that Pokemon Crystal was also on the way. A British game store "leaked" the Pokemon Crystal announcement earlier this month when it started taking pre-orders for the new games.

Players can either purchase a code to download Pokemon Crystal from stores, or simply buy it directly off of the Nintendo eShop next month.