Nintendo is celebrating 20 years of Pokemon in a number of ways. From re-releases of classic games to events all year long, there is plenty of Pokemon to go around, whether you are a longtime fan of the iconic monster-collecting franchise or a new player.
You can now add one additional way to celebrate to the already-long list of Pokemon-related festivities this year: the Pokemon Photo Booth app. No, it's not a new version of Pokemon Snap (unfortunately). Available now as a free download on iOS devices and coming soon to Android, the app allows users to snap pictures (or use existing ones) and then add Pokemon-related captions and filters to them.
For example, have you ever wanted to challenge other trainers to battle via picture message? Or put a pokeball filter over everyday images? Now, you can, with the touch of your smartphone screen.
It's all pretty simple and straightforward, but given Nintendo fans, this app might soon be one of the best things to happen to Pokemon all year. If you're familiar with the Miiverse on Nintendo's Wii U console, you'll know that Nintendo fans are wildly creative, hilarious and sometimes, more than a little creepy.
Give those same rabid fans easy to use tools that can take normal images and "pokefy" them, and no doubt, the Web will soon be littered with "___ wants to battle" jokes that are almost definitely not going to be safe for work. We can't wait to see what the Internet cooks up with this.
In other Pokemon news, Nintendo is throwing a Pokemon-centric Nintendo direct later this week. It's unclear if a new game will be announced during the direct, but fans can almost certainly expect new footage and details on Pokken Tournament, releasing for the Wii U in March. If you're feeling the Pokemon nostalgia like never before, you can take a trip down memory lane and relive this disturbing American advertisement for Pokemon Red and Blue. The franchise has come a long, long way since those early years, and here's to hoping it will be around for many more.
