Trainers,

Over the last week, we saw over 2 million fans from around the world join together to celebrate their love for Pokémon and Pokémon GO at Pikachu Outbreak hosted by The Pokémon Company and Pokémon GO events supported by Niantic in Yokohama, Japan. It was incredible to witness so many Pokémon GO Trainers spend hours traversing the city of Yokohama and its beautiful parks to catch over 120 million Pokémon, including over 15 million Pikachu.

Pokémon GO Park captured the essence of real-world gaming, with hundreds of thousands of Trainers exploring Yokohama’s beautiful parks and the surrounding area with friends each day. At Pokémon GO Stadium on Monday, August 14, we saw the power and excitement around teaming up with friends and other players as Trainers battled Mewtwo and accomplished Pokémon GO’s biggest challenge yet.

When we set out to create Pokémon GO and envisioned its real-world events, we had a goal to offer players from all walks of life the opportunity to build new friendships and discover new and unique ways to explore the world around them. The events in Yokohama are an example of what Pokémon GO can do in the hands of its passionate community. It was a sight to behold as Trainers bonded over Pokémon and Pokémon GO, strengthened friendships, and shared personal experiences with one another.

The celebration didn’t end there. We recently revealed details about Exclusive Raid Battles, so make sure to continue to team up with your friends in Raid Battles near you for a chance to earn an invitation to battle and catch Pokémon such as Mewtwo when Exclusive Raid Battles are available.

As we celebrate a record-breaking week, we are also reflecting on ways we can continue to improve these real-world events on a large scale on multiple levels. We’re looking forward to bringing Pokémon GO’s real-world events to Europe as part of the Pokémon GO Safari Zone activities in partnership with Unibail-Rodamco. Keep an eye on the official Pokémon GO social channels for further details. This past week’s events in Yokohama will go down in history as one of the biggest real-world gaming events yet… and we’re only just beginning.

—The Niantic team