Pokémon Coming to Mobile

Pokémon, the wildly popular trading card, computer game and TV series from Japan, is coming to mobile handsets thanks to a deal between Nintendo and developer Square-Enix.

This marks another uptake in the firms' relationships, ollowing a nadir in the two company's interactions during the Nintendo 64 era. Both publishers have since begun to work together again, with Square Enix publishing Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles on the GameCube and a number of portable releases from the series' history. The company is also working directly with Nintendo properties for the first time since collaborative effort Super Mario RPG on the SNES, in the technically advanced Nintendo DS title Mario Basket 3 on 3.

The Pokémon mobile application will be part email and part cirtual-pet game.