Pokemon-themed Splatoon Splatfest coming up on February 19

Splatoon fans will be excited to hear that Nintendo has announced that the next Splatfest competition will be held this weekend, starting Friday, February 19 at 10 PM PT, and ending Saturday, February 20 at 10 PM PT. The competition will be happening simultaneously around the world, but players will only be matched with other players from their region, and results will be tallied by region.

The teams in the North American competition will be themed after Pokemon Red and Blue, no doubt in honor of the 20th anniversary of the first games’ release in Japan. Although the original Japanese games were actually Red Version and Green Version, Nintendo is using a “Red vs. Blue” theme for the North American region.

For the duration of the event, each player’s character will receive a snazzy Pokemon-themed t-shirt to show which side they’re on.

How does a Splatfest work, you ask? Well, a post about this event on the official Splatoon “Inkformation Center” news page elaborates on that:

Players all across the Americas are divided into two teams. You pick your Splatfest team at the Splatfest booth in the plaza prior to the Splatfest. You won’t be able to change your team once you pick, so look deeply inside your soul before devoting yourself to a team. Or you could just flip a coin or something.

Choose a Splatfest team to get a Splatfest t-shirt that shows all the other Inklings which side you’re on. You’ll have to give it back once the Splatfest concludes, but it comes with three empty slots, so do what you can to earn Gear Abilities for your new shirt before the event goes live! You’ll wear that t-shirt whenever you participate in a Splatfest battle.

From the time the festival has been announced in-game until it ends, you can make Splatfest-specific Miiverse posts at the mailbox in the plaza. Try firing off some passionate messages of support for your team! Your message or drawing might just end up decorating the plaza during the Splatfest!

Once the Splatfest starts, Regular and Ranked Battles will a brief hiatus. The winning team is announced by Callie and Marie at the end of the Splatfest.

Splatfests have their own ranking system, separate from Ranked Battle. Your final ranking at the end of Splatfest can earn you Super Sea Snails, which you can take to Spyke to enhance your gear.

Sounds fun, though interested Splatoon fans who’ve already made other plans for this weekend (such as, say, attending a convention) may be less than thrilled about the timing. But it will be interesting to see which version of the original Pokemon wins.