Welcome to Vol. 4, issue 7 of Johto Times! In this issue, we are exploring the collection of Joponnes, a Grimer and Muk collector, who tells us all about his “Slime Army”. Plus, we have a recap of the latest Pokémon news and the results of our recent Favourite Starter Pokémon Poll.

We are also proud to confirm we are now affiliated with Bulbagarden, a community which has been extremely supportive towards Johto Times ever since we began our project back in February 2023, as well as one of our closest friends. I am honoured to display their button, and support the work of such a great team! They join our three other affiliates: The Cave of Dragonflies, PokéJungle, and Psypoke. These are websites which align with our values and show support for what we do, and who we have a huge amount of admiration and support for.

Visit the Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibition at Chicago's Field Museum until April 11th, 2027

GENERAL

• The Pokémon Company have shared updated figures on their corporate website, reflecting sales as of March 2026. Over 515 million software units (up from 489 million in March 2025), and over 85 billion Pokémon cards (up from 75 billion) have been produced.

Source: Pokémon

• The Pokémon Fossil Museum exhibition has opened at Chicago’s Field Museum in the United States and will run until April 11th, 2027. The exhibition features character illustrations and life-size models of the fossil items from the video games, such as the Dome Fossil, as well as displays of fossilized Pokémon such as Kabutops and Tyrantrum. The official Pokémon Center has released merchandise for the exhibition, including tote bags, pins, caps, T-shirts, home goods, and plushes of Fossil Pokémon along with an Excavator Pikachu. A stamped promo card of Archeops from the White Flare expansion will be given to ticket holders.

Source: Fossil Museum, Collection

• Noto Satoyama Airport in Japan has announced that it will be renovated and reopened as "Noto Satoyama Pokémon With You Airport" from July 7th, 2026 until the end of September 2029: "Ishikawa Prefecture and the Pokémon With You Foundation have partnered to bring smiles to the areas affected by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. They are working to cheer up children affected by the disaster and to support tourism to revitalize the region." The airport will feature many unique Pokémon-themed events and displays.

Source: Youtube Teaser

• The official Pokémon YouTube channel has released a behind-the-scenes video that details the recording of the Main Theme of Pokémon Wind and Waves with NHK Symphony Orchestra - Tokyo.

Source: Youtube

• A fourteen minute animated special, Dragonite and the Special Delivery, has been uploaded to the official Pokémon YouTube channel: "This animated short features Hana, a girl from Paldea who dreams of becoming an ace mail carrier, just like her hero, Dragonite. When she comes across a letter with no address, she makes it her mission to find the sender."

Source: Youtube, Pokémon

• The next batch of episodes from Pokémon Horizons: Season 3 — Rising Hope Part 3 will be released on Netflix in the United States on June 26th, 2026.

Source: Pokémon

• A 336-page hardcover book, Pokémon Deluxe Character Guide, has been made available for pre-order and will be released from Pikachu Press on August 25th, 2026. "Drawing on information and content from the Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon video games, and the Pokémon animated series, the Pokémon Deluxe Character Guide features every Pokémon from Kanto to Paldea." Pokémon has also provided sample pages for the Swords of Justice and Forces of Nature from the Unova region. A limited edition set will be released, which comes with two animation prints, two video game prints, a TCG collector box and playmat, and a Certificate of Authenticity.

Source: Pokémon

TCG POCKET

• The newest expansion in TCG Pocket, Paradox Drive, was released on May 27th, 2026. It features Paradox Pokémon such as Koraidon ex, Miraidon ex, Iron Bundle ex, Raging Bolt, and more, as well as new Trainer cards such as Professor Turo and Professor Sada. The expansion adds the Ancient and Future categories into TCG Pocket, a mechanic originating in the physical TCG. On May 20th, 2026, it was announced that TCG Pocket has surpassed 200 million lifetime downloads.

Source: Pokémon

CHAMPIONS

• Season M-2 in Pokémon Champions began on May 13th, 2026 and will run until June 17th, 2026. The May 2026 Monthly Challenge series offers a Gallade, 100 Quick Coupons, and a title for participating in three or more battles. The Battle Pass for Season M-2 also launched, offering rewards such as VP, Training Tickets, Teammate Tickets, Kangaskhan and Skarmory Icons, clothing for the player's avatar, and recruitment of Kangaskhan and Gengar, as well as their Mega Stones.

Source: In-app news

POKÉMON GO

• The next Pokémon GO season has been officially announced. Forever Forward will run between June 2nd until September 8th, 2026. It was announced through a YouTube video. The 10th anniversary of Pokemon Go will occur during the season, and a full list of events taking place can be found on the official website.

Source: YouTube, Pokémon GO

Feature: Joponnes Grimer Collection

We all have our favourite Pokémon, and for many of us we like to collect items and merchandise of them. Perhaps you love that adorable little electric mouse Pokémon, Pikachu? Or one of the many Eevee evolutions? Well, move aside as Joponnes’s slime army is here! This Pokémon fan tells us all about his Grimer and Muk items, and why these often overlooked Pokémon became a focus of his collection.

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Joponnes has amassed quite the collection of Grimer and Muk items over the years, with multiple shelves dedicated to these slimy creatures, featuring figures, charms, coins, trading cards, and more

Joponnes:

Hi, I'm Joponnes! I collect a lot of things regarding Pokémon, my passion got started as a kid and after the childhood Pokémon phase, Pokémon Go brought me back as an adult. My main collection and the one I'm most passionate about is my Grimer and Muk collection, or as a like to call it: my slime army. I don't remember the exact time when I started collecting them but Grimer and Muk have always been in my top Pokémon. They aren't exactly the most popular ones out of my top picks but I have a lot of sympathy for the rejected ones so eventually they became my number one favourites. It started with English cards but slowly goals like Japanese cards or stickers were added and as the photos show now it's basically anything with Grimer or Muk on it!

I'm in a lucky position that I have already acquired my most cherished items. The two cards that I want to mention are my Topps Chrome Sparkle-Chrome Muk and my cosmos foil Fossil [expansion] Muk as both of them and the process of getting them is something i'll remember for the rest of my life. Topps Chrome Chrome-Sparkle Muk was my first true big hunt regarding slime cards and it took multiple years of daily searches and numerous amount of contacted people to get my copy. With cosmos foil Fossil [expansion] Muk it wasn't that much about searches but instead gathering funds and waiting for an opportunity to buy the card. I do have some big items that I'm missing but many of those are stretch goals, [the] biggest of them being a trash can Grimer that's being used in some Japanese Pokémon exhibitions and museums, but I think it's very uncertain if one ever becomes available for public and in that case if it would anyway ever be affordable.

Cosmos foil Fossil [expansion] Muk, a test print for the new holofoil pattern with only a handful of known copies

Joponnes:

Outside [of my] slime army, the collections I cherish the most are my Wizards of the Coast set collection and my topps collection since those I started as a kid and got to finish as an adult. Topps cards were the first Pokémon product I got as a kid and finding the last pieces for that collection was a wild ride, so finishing especially that collection was huge for me. And naturally the first sets of TCG cards are special for me like they are for so many others. [The] Pokémon Company makes absolutely gorgeous cards in the modern sets we have lately gotten and I have multiple side collections where i can include those too, but it's anyway these old cards that mean the most to me and bring a ton of nostalgy.

I'm proud of how much I've managed to collect during all these years, some people have even said that [my] slime army has inspired them in species collecting and things like that always make me somewhat flabbergasted. But I hope people keep getting joy when they see my collection and overall from Pokémon!

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Additional photographs

Topps Movie 2000 First Appearance cards, featuring Lugia, Slowking, Bellossom, Elekid, Ledyba and Hoothoot

Topps Johto Series 1 hologram cards featuring some of the toughest cards to find for Joponnes

Topps Chrome promotional uncut sheet featuring a selection of first generation Pokémon

A poster that says “Join the 10th Anniversary Celebration” to promote an unreleased set of Topps Pokémon cards

Every different variant of Grimer Topps cards

Every different variant of Muk Topps cards

A jumbo Bandai carddass animation card, featuring Grimer and Muk, with Pikachu, Magnemite and Magneton

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A huge thank you to Joponnes for taking the time to educate us on his incredible collection! It’s great to see some underappreciated Pokémon get some love, and we wish you the best of luck with finding even more cool items in the future!

Johto Times Favourite Starter Pokémon Poll 2026 (Results)

Earlier this month, we ran a poll across our social media channels to determine the fans’ favourite starter Pokémon in the year 2026. Each day, the Pokémon with the fewest votes were eliminated from the contest until only one remained. Here are the results of that poll!

1st: Chikorita (Winner on May 17th, 2026)
2nd: Mudkip (Eliminated on May 17th, 2026)
3rd: Rowlet (Eliminated on May 16th, 2026)
4th: Totodile (Eliminated on May 15th, 2026)
5th: Cyndaquil and Oshawott (Eliminated on May 14th, 2026)
6th: Sprigatito (Eliminated on May 13th, 2026)
7th: Treecko (Eliminated on May 12th, 2026)
8th: Snivy and Fennekin (Eliminated on May 11th, 2026)
9th: Popplio (Eliminated on May 10th, 2026)
10th: Chespin (Eliminated on May 9th, 2026)
11th: Charmander, Turtwig, and Fuecoco (Eliminated on May 8th, 2026)
12th: Scorbunny and Sobble (Eliminated on May 7th, 2026)
13th: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Piplup (Eliminated on May 6th, 2026)
14th: Tepig, Litten, and Gecqua (Eliminated on May 5th, 2026)
15th: Torchic (Eliminated on May 4th, 2026)
16th: Froakie (Eliminated on May 3rd, 2026)
17th: Pikachu, Eevee, and Chimchar (Eliminated on May 2nd, 2026)
18th: Grookey, Quaxly, Browt, and Pombon (Eliminated on May 1st, 2026)

A huge thank you to everyone who voted! We will continue to experiment and try different polls in the future!