What is Pokemon Sleep?

After remaining silent for over two years, new details on Pokémon Sleep have finally emerged, but what actually is it?

It’s been a joke every time The Pokémon Company has had something to announce since 2019, but the fabled Pokémon Sleep is finally here. This app was first teased in May 2019, but then went completely silent for almost three years. Many fans believed that it had been silently killed during the pandemic, but in January some more evidence of its existence was found.

Some data miners found references to Pokémon Sleep support in Pokémon Go in January 2022, revealing not only some kind of connection between the two games but a new accessory for Pokémon Go too.

Now, after today’s Pokémon Presents stream, all of this has finally been confirmed, but the reveal was a little weird and has left some fans wondering what the deal is with this app. Is it a proper game? Or just a tool? And how does it connect to Pokémon Go? We’ll answer those questions now.

What does Pokémon Sleep do?

At its heart, Pokémon Sleep is a sleep-tracking app. These are apps that you leave on your bedside table or by your pillow as you sleep at night and measure how deep your sleep is by tracking things like how much you’re moving, and how much noise you’re making as you snooze. More advanced apps can also monitor things like you’re breathing rate and heart rate, making them very useful tools.

Exactly what capabilities Pokémon Sleep will have aren’t entirely clear yet, but what it does have is lots of cute Pokémon.

The app will assess the quality of your sleep and give you a rating based on how deep it was, and how long it lasted. These will let you unlock more Pokémon in the app’s interface, which will all sleep in different styles.

What is the Pokémon Go Plus+?

To go along with all the ridiculous names of the new Pokémon in the Pokémon Scarlet & Violet DLC, the Pokémon Go Plus+ (pronounced: plus plus), is an accessory that will be available from July 14, 2023. This item lets you place one of your Pokémon inside it and will alert you of nearby Pokéstops as well as throw Pokéballs.

It can also be used in conjunction with Pokémon Sleep, using it as a device to track your sleep every night. The Pikachu inside it will sing you a lullaby every night and will get friendlier the more you sleep alongside it. Whether that’s cute or creepy is up to you.