‘Pokémon Sleep’ Launches Soon To Help You Catch Z’s Instead Of Battles
Set your alarms, everyone—or have Jigglypuff sing you a morning tune, whichever floats your boat. The Pokémon Company has announced that its Pokémon Sleep app, a project dormant since 2019, is finally stirring awake this summer.
For the uninitiated, yep, there’s Pokémon GO and there’s Pokémon Sleep. The former motivates hopeful trainers to take longer walks and stay active, while the latter trains them to get a good night’s sleep. Pokémon Sleep tracks your slumber patterns and aims to get you excited for the new day.
It’s been a big year for The Pokémon Company thus far. Earlier, it announced that Ash and Pikachu were retiring after 25 years on screen, and it later introduced a new Pikachu. Now, the brand has teased the first gameplay for the sleep-tracker-slash-game.
Here, you’ll be taken to an island where Professor Neroli studies Pokémon sleeping habits. Amazingly, you seem to be one of the subjects too.
To kick off the nightly routine, players will need to place their smartphones by their pillow—presumably after tapping a ‘start’ button—and then go to bed. While they catch some shuteye, their sleep will be measured and analyzed into one of three types: ‘Dozing’, ‘Snoozing’, and ‘Slumbering’.
You snooze to win, not lose. Players are rewarded for their nap or sleep quality when they unlock new Pokémon sleep types.
Characters that match your sleeping style will gather around Snorlax for a group nap. Over time, when your slumber pattern evolves, you could even discover rare, less-studied sleeping habits. Some species have a variety of resting styles, the company notes.
Users can also work with an upcoming Pokéball-like gadget developed by Nintendo, called the Pokémon GO Plus+, to start and end the process. The device is also built in with an accelerometer, an alarm, and lullabies in the voice of Pikachu.
It’s time to say, “Forty winks, I choose you,” when Pokémon Sleep rolls out of bed this summer for Android and iOS users.
Have a first peek at the game below.
[via Polygon and Kotaku, video screenshots via The Official Pokémon YouTube channel]
