Pokemon Smile Offers First Update in Over a Year

Over the last 25 years, the Pokemon franchise has offered a number of unique spin-offs, but Pokemon Smile just might be one of its most unusual. Released back in June 2020, the mobile game encourages younger players to rescue Pokemon from bacteria by brushing their teeth. Since launch, there has been no additional content, but that recently changed when The Pokemon Company dropped a surprise update for the game. The update adds new features, while also expanding the Pokemon available to catch. Originally, the game only offered Pokemon that debuted in the Kanto region, but the new update adds four Pokemon from later regions: Smeargle, Dedenne, Mime Jr., and Ludicolo.

Information on the update was shared online by Serebii.net. While the four new Pokemon added to the game might seem like unusual choices, Serebii webmaster Joe Merrick points out that these four (alongside Pikachu and Eevee) are the mascots for the monpoke line of merchandise currently available in Japan. The merchandise is targeted at young children, offering adorable bibs, clothing, plush toys, tableware, chairs, and a lot more. At this time, none of this merchandise is currently offered in North America, but hopefully Pokemon fans with young kids (or kids on the way) will have the chance to scoop them up. Readers can find more information about the line right here.

Given the fact that Pokemon Smile and monpoke are both targeting the youngest Pokemon fans, these new Pokemon additions make a lot of sense! The designs used for Pokemon Smile also strongly resemble those used in the new merchandise, so the connection works well.

It will be interesting to see if this update leads to more for Pokemon Smile, or if this is just a one-time thing for the game. More than a year between updates is an awful long time to wait, but there are more than 700 Pokemon unaccounted for in the mobile title. That could keep kids busy brushing for a long time to come!

Have you played Pokemon Smile with your kids? Are you happy to see the app get an update? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!