It's Pokemon Day!

What's that? Oh, just the birthday of Pokemon, which turns 22 this year. The Pokemon Company is celebrating the franchise’s anniversary, on 27 February, by announcing a new skill/app thing for Google Home and Amazon Alexa-enabled devices. Called Pikachu Talk, it will give your smart hardware the ability to talk to you in the voice of Pikachu, one of the most famous Pokemon creatures.

Once Pikachu Talk is enabled, you can ask the yellow mouse questions, and it will respond in its own gibberish, which means you won't be able to understand a thing, but hey, the idea is cute. In the future, whenever you want to talk to Pikachu, you can just say, “Alexa, ask Pikachu to talk.” or “Google, ask Pikachu to talk.” Pikachu will greet you with various Piks, Pikas, Pika-pis, and Pikachus.

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Pokemon Company

How to get Pikachu Talk

Amazon Alexa

  1. Open the Alexa app on your mobile device.
  2. On the home page, press the drop-down menu on the top left corner.
  3. Select Skills to open up the Amazon store.
  4. Search “Pikachu,” which will bring up the Pikachu Talk skill.
  5. Press Enable and your Alexa will be ready to talk like Pikachu.
  6. Alternatively, just ask Alexa to enable the Pikachu Talk skill.

Google Home

  1. Open your Google Home app.
  2. Select “Browse” on the bottom of the app.
  3. Select the search (magnifying glass) function.
  4. Enter “Pikachu” to download the Pikachu Talk app.
  5. Press Enable and your Google Home will be ready to talk like Pikachu.

What to say to Pikachu Talk

Try out these phrases:

  • “Use Thunderbolt.”
  • “Tell me a funny story.”
  • “Sing Happy Birthday.”
  • “Say pizza 10 times.”
  • “Bye, Pikachu.”
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Pokemon Company

What about the Pokemon lenses?

Last, but not least, you can also celebrate Pokemon Day by using Pokemon-themed lenses in your Snapchat photos and videos. Starting February 27, the first of three new Snapchat lenses, Bulbasaur, will be released. Charmander will arrive later, followed by Squirtle. Each lens will showcase emoji and "beautification effects", as well as the features Pokemon creature popping onto the screen.

These Pokemon Snapchat lenses will be available for only a short time.

How to use Pokemon lenses in Snapchat

  1. Open Snapchat for Android or iOS.
  2. With the camera facing toward you, tap on your face to launch Lenses.
  3. Swipe through the carousel of lenses to choose a lens.
  4. Tap to select one and press and hold the capture button to start recording.