Kids

Pokémon Goes Nostalgic With New Tamagotchi-Style Toy

by Kevyn Gohu
September 10, 2025

Pokémon reveals a new product with more nostalgic feels: a pokéball-shaped tamagotchi-style toy

Many kids who couldn’t adopt pets because of allergies or home restrictions had a Tamagotchi. Functioning like a real pet, these little toys had digital animals that kids could feed, play with, and walk with. But it’s a lot more exciting now as Pokémon, collaborating with big toy company Takara Tomy, is releasing a Pokémon Tamagotchi toy!

The days of taking care of a Tamagotchi

Growing up, having a Tamagotchi was like a social status symbol. Every kid wanted to have one because it was like having a pet, minus the usual mess. Even the pet’s toiletries were all contained in a single device. And for parents, that was a lot easier to manage.

While kids back in the day wished for cats, dogs, birds, or horses as pets, kids of today, and probably some kids at heart, have always dreamed of having a Pokémon for a pet. A fire-breathing Charizard to fly them to school instantly or a Lapras to “surf” them to the next island for a beach destination—the possibilities are now endless, especially with over 1,025 official creatures.

Kids will get to interact with their “partner” Pokémon, too! As of now, the official list of partner Pokémon includes: Pikachu, Eevee, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, Lucario, and Sylveon. They’re also fully voiced and will respond to how the player interacts with them. According to Japan Essential, it also has a battle feature wherein players can fight over 157 different Pokémon.

Takara Tomy may also be a familiar name for dads, especially if they’re familiar with the old spinning top game: Beyblade. They’ve also produced toys under Disney!

Good old days with Tamagotchi and Pokémon

The new toy is a blast from the past for many parents. They’ll remember the days when they used to brag about how old their Tamagotchi was or when they made friends by simply “linking” up.

Even Pokémon did that for many millennials. Before it became so competitive, kids just enjoyed collecting and trading Pokémon. Battles were often constrained to the game, or whoever had a dangling, tangled mess of a link cable.

While the Pokémon Poke-nade Monster Ball may not be as sophisticated as a tablet or a smartphone, it does share the joys of raising a superpowered pet. Besides, if we want to test our kids and see if they’re truly responsible enough to handle a furbaby, getting them a Tamagotchi may be one way to start this coming October 11, 2025.