A new, free Pokémon game just launched on iPhone and Android

pulse

January 24, 2017 6:52 PM

Like Pokémon? Like free stuff? Good news: There's a new, totally free Pokémon game available now on your iPhone or Android phone. It's called "Pokémon Duel," and it looks intense.

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As if it weren't obvious from the ridiculously busy images above, "Pokémon Duel" is an entirely different beast than the wildly popular "Pokémon Go," which launched last summer. Instead of capturing Pokémon in the real world, you'll collect figurines in "Pokémon Duel." And instead of battling other Pokémon at gyms in the real world, you take it to other players online in "Pokémon Duel."

It's also completely unlike the traditional Pokémon games you've played on Nintendo handheld consoles since the days of the Game Boy.

You don't "catch 'em all" in "Pokémon Duel" — instead, you assemble a team of six powerful Pokémon capable of taking an opponent's territory. (The grid above, on the left, is what this looks like.) Above all else, the focus is on battling other actual human players online.

Your Pokémon can be powered up, and your choice of power-ups and tactics determine how well you do in battle. In so many words, this is a far more complex Pokémon game than most. That said, hey, it's free! There are some free-to-play hooks in there — stuff you can buy — but it's otherwise totally free.

If you wanna snag the game on iPhone, it's here on the iTunes App Store. If you want it on Android, you can snag it from Google Play here. And if you're still not sold on this free thing, check out the trailer for more info:

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