Pokemon Deluxe Character Guide Official Review

Published Aug 25, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT Sam Woods is TheGamer’s Senior Reporter. He’s been in games journalism since 2020 and has undertaken a variety of roles in that time. These have included roles such as SEO Editor, Managing Editor at DualShockers, and Global Head of Gaming, and he's also been seen on the BBC. He was promoted to the Senior Reporter position in 2025 following a series of high-quality reports and exclusives for TheGamer. Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game. Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games. Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion. He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times. Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises. If there’s one thing you should, and maybe already do, know about me, it’s that I’m a massive, massive Pokemon fan. It’s undoubtedly the series I’ve put the most time into, and I still own all the games, loads of Pokemon tat, and an obscene collection of Pokemon trading cards. Alongside this, my bookshelf is filled with tons of Pokemon books. I have Pokedexes, an encyclopedia, two Japanese Pokemon Where’s Waldo books, strategy guides, and some manga, to name just a few. Any new book is welcome in my eyes, so when the opportunity to review the Pokemon Deluxe Character Guide arose, I jumped at it. I’ve now had time to read it all, admire the art, and critique what's inside, and you can check out my thoughts below. A Pretty Book Stuffed With Filler Photograph by Sam Woods. The Pokemon Deluxe Character Guide is big. It’s 336 pages chock-full of information on each of the game’s 1025 different Pokemon. It’s fully licensed and comes complete with images and details starting with Bulbasaur and ending with Pecharunt, but is it any good? That’s a tough one. We’ll start with the front cover. This is going to be a book that looks good on your shelf. It’s clean, simple, and emblazoned with golden outlines that give it a genuine premium feel. That feeling continues as you flick through the opening pages. Pokemon president Tsunekazu Ishihara pens the foreword, sharing his delight at how far Pokemon has come, before we reach our first Pokemon: Pikachu. The game’s mascot is blessed with six pages to itself. A page with its different designs over the years, an introduction to the Pokemon, two pages showing off some of its most popular cards, and then two dedicated to its appearances in the Pokemon anime and video games. There are tons of images of Pikachu, from some of its most iconic anime moments to its appearances in games. Each is accompanied by a fact or snappy quote. This is where the inconsistencies start to creep in, and certain aspects feel a little… lazy. Some screenshots are paired with genuine facts or solid flavor text, such as one describing Pikachu’s battle with the angry flock of Spearow in the anime’s first episode. Others add nothing. There’s a screenshot of a Pikachu snoozing in Sword and Shield. You could use any number of facts about the Pokemon’s appearance in that game, but instead, it reads “We could all use a little nap sometimes, just like Pikachu in Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield.” This continues throughout. The layout of the book, which I’ll touch on in more detail later, relegates some Pokemon to sharing a page with three or four others, while some of the more popular evolution lines get a page to themselves. While you might think that those with more page real estate would have the better information, it’s often the opposite. Pokemon with a fraction of a page have a concise fact about them; those with a whole page are stuffed with filler. Take Heracross, for example. It shares a page with Sneasel, Teddiursa, Ursaring, Slugma, and Magcargo. Its information reads: "Heracross is normally docile, and feeds primarily on sap and nectar. But it is also very strong, and takes pride in its ability to fling away opponents much heavier than itself." Enlightening. Photograph by Sam Woods. Gardevoir, which shares a page with its evolutionary line, features a Gardevoir Pokemon card; it’s accompanied by the text: "Gardevoir is one of the most iconic characters of the Pokemon TCG. For over 20 years, it has shown up in various forms with powerful, game-changing effects. This doesn’t really mean anything. Munchlax’s page is similar. It has one of the Pokemon’s cards with flavor text that effectively rewrites the information on the card, and a screenshot of Munchlax in battle in Sword and Shield that reads: "A wild Munchlax seems to have been out searching for a meal." It doesn’t tell you why it seems to have been searching for a meal, and the picture doesn’t look like it has, but that’s what we’re told. It feels like a lot of words for the sake of words. One of my biggest issues with the book is its lack of uniformity. One of my biggest issues with the book is its lack of uniformity. Some Pokemon are joined by their cards, others by screenshots of them in games, and some by nothing. It’s understandable given just how many Pokemon there are, but it makes the pages look a little amateurish. There’s no consistent layout, so it’s a bit messy. I say this as a huge fan of the TCG, this book would have been infinitely better without smatterings of random Pokemon cards throughout. They mess with the layout and add nothing substantial to the offering. It’s almost like they were added just to appease fans of the TCG, which is now more popular than ever, for better or worse. Photograph by Sam Woods. I’ve been playing Pokemon for 30 years now, and I’ve been writing about it for the last seven. I consider my knowledge of the franchise to be pretty good, so this book didn’t really teach me anything. Some of the pictures are pretty, but I was hoping for something that offered a little more of a behind-the-scenes look at each creature. Therefore, if you’re a seasoned Pokemon fan, I find it hard to recommend the Pokemon Deluxe Character Guide as more than a pretty display piece for a shelf. For a younger fan or someone new to the franchise, though, this book is great. Pretty pictures, facts about each, and a dedicated section for Legendary and Mythical Pokemon. It strikes me as the perfect gift for a Pokemon fan. Pokémon Deluxe Character Guide 2.5/5 Title Pokémon Deluxe Character Guide Author Pokémon Genre Video Games / Reference Pages 336 Publication Date 25 August 2026 Age Range 6 years and up Pros & Cons Pretty Pictures Looks Great On A Shelf Poor Page Layout Stuffed With Filler Facts Inconsistent Pokemon Information