Pokemon X & Y Players Get Free Torchic Starting October 12th

Good news for those planning to pick up Pokemon X and Y when they make their North American debut on October 12th. Torchic, one of the three “starter” Pokemon that the player could choose to kick off their adventure back in Pokemon Ruby and Pokemon Sapphire on the Game Boy Advance, will be made available as a free bonus download via Nintendo Network starting on the game’s launch day.

Like many Pokemon, Torchic has the ability to evolve into more powerful creatures as it gains experience, in this case first becoming Combusken and then Blaziken. As a bonus, Blaziken has been given the new-to-the-series ability of Mega Evolution, allowing it to temporarily become the even more powerful Mega Blaziken in battle. This can only be accessed by using an item known as Blazikenite, which thankfully will come with every downloadable Torchic.

The official Pokemon website doesn’t specify when this promotion will end, but it does say that if players miss this opportunity, they will not be able to access Mega Blaziken, hinting at the possibility that Blazikenite will only be available via this limited-time download. All the more reason to pick up Pokemon X or Pokemon Y at launch, it seems.