Skip to main content

Target is giving away a free Pokémon for 'Pokémon Sun and Moon' players

Heat Up Your Pokémon Battles with Charizard!
For a limited time, Target stores will be giving away a free Level 50 Charizard for the popular Nintendo 3DS game Pokémon Sun and Moon. You’ve only got a couple of weeks to claim your critter, so be sure to drop by and grab your free download code as soon as possible.

The Charizard comes raring for battle and ready to add to your party, with the Dragon Dance, Flare Blitz, Fly, and Earthquake moves. It also comes with the powerful Blaze ability and a Red Card held item. The code only works with the original game and not the upcoming Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon, which don’t arrive until November.

It’s all part of a promotion, and the retail giant hopes that while you’re in the electronics department you’ll also purchase the Target exclusive Pokémon TCG: Charizard-GX Premium Collection, which includes a Charizard-GX promo card, a collector’s pin, and some other cool swag.

After getting your code:

  • Select Mystery Gift on the main menu.
  • Select Receive Gift.
  • Select Get with Code/Password, then Yes, and then Yes again to connect to the internet.
  • Enter the code to get your Charizard.
  • Visit a delivery person in any Pokémon Center to pick up Charizard.
  • Save your game!

Be sure to redeem your code before February 4, 2018.

Pokémon Sun and Moon are the ridiculously popular latest entries in the venerable Pokémon franchise that stretches back 20 years, and quickly became the best-selling games in Nintendo’s history when they were released.

Featuring a beautiful tropical island setting, the latest Pokémon games include a variety of new creatures as well as the old favorites to discover, including some that are quite rare and difficult to find. Graphically, it’s quite a step up from previous entries in the series, with detailed Pokémon models and animations. There are also regional differences in the Pokémon you’ll discover in different areas, and detailed Pokémon lore spread throughout the islands that address questions Pokémon trainers have pondered about for years.

Then there’s the Pokémon Bank, a downloadable app that lets you transfer Pokémon between games and even store them temporarily online. You can bump Pokémon from your old games up into Sun and Moon, or if you’re trading in your old cartridge, you can save the Pokémon you’ve collected for your new game.

The free Charizard giveaway is available at your local Target store between October 1-14.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Austin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mark’s first encounter with high-tech was a TRS-80. He spent 20 years working for Nintendo and Xbox as a writer and…
Nintendo’s eShop closures are a necessary, but messy move
A Nintendo Wii U gamepad flat on a table.

Nintendo last week announced its intentions to shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops, the systems' digital storefronts, in March 2023. This decision was disappointing for hardcore fans who stuck with Nintendo during that rocky era and extremely worrying as many of the games available on the platforms won't be preserved.
More significant Wii U games and a handful of 3DS titles were ported to Switch, but many titles are still stuck on those systems and can’t be ported. Once the digital storefront shutdowns, digital-only titles will be gone forever, and physical copies of these titles will get more expensive and harder to experience. Fans and game preservationists have not been pleased by this decision, with the Video Game History Foundation giving the most candid response.
https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg/status/1494398068346654720
Following this announcement, Digital Trends spoke to an industry analyst and game preservationists to get a better idea of what exactly caused Nintendo to shut down these stores and to learn how it could do a better job at preserving its legacy.
Why is Nintendo shutting down the 3DS and Wii eShops?
Officially, Nintendo’s FAQ on the eShop closures says “this is part of the natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time." The answer doesn’t get into specifics and might confuse those still playing games on the system or fans of games only available on Wii U or 3DS. Omdia Principal Analyst Matthew Bailey explains Nintendo’s user base argument in more detail, highlighting the massive gap between the number of people playing the Switch as opposed to the Wii U.
“While Omdia expects the number of Switch consoles in active use to exceed 90 million on a global basis this year, the Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022,” he explains. “Even when you include the more enduring 3DS family of consoles into the equation, the Switch still comfortably accounts for over 90% of Nintendo’s total active console install base.”
If one is going off just the numbers, it’s sensible that Nintendo would want to focus on the majority of its players. Bailey admits that “Switch users are already reaping the benefits of Nintendo’s singular first-party development focus on one platform.” Still, one might argue that Nintendo should just let the eShops remain up even if it isn’t actively updating or maintaining them.

Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t see that as possible due to cost and security issues. Game Over Thrity, a Twitter user with over 20 years of experience working on IT projects and infrastructure, shed some light on what might have influenced Nintendo’s decision-making in a thread.
“As these systems age, they require patches, security, special contracts, updates, and personnel that know how they were built (and maintained),” his Twitter thread explains. “As time goes on, there are security holes, servers, code, infrastructure, etc., that can’t be brought up to modern standards. It becomes a constant struggle between maintaining legacy systems, paying people to do so, and trying to keep up with global regulations. It’s not cheap by any means. They can’t just ‘leave the lights on’ and stop supporting them. What if someone hacked the payment processor?”
With every passing year, the Wii U and 3DS eShops likely became more expensive to maintain and an increased security risk for the video game publisher. Instead of investing the time and resources into pleasing a smaller amount of players, the easier option is to turn everything off entirely. While he isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, Game Over Thirty’s assessment aligns with what we’ve heard from Nintendo and Omdia.
"The Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022."

Read more
Nintendo is ending Wii U and 3DS eShop service
Photos of the 3DS eShops

Nintendo has announced the end of its eShop service for the Wii U console and 3DS handheld. The eShop will stay live on those devices until late March 2023, after which players will no longer be able to purchase games or download eShop apps and services for those devices.

After the closure, players will still be able to redownload games and DLC that they already own, use online play, and download software updates.

Read more
Free New Pokémon Snap DLC adds three new courses and 20 Pokémon
new pokemon snap dlc

New Pokémon Snap is getting its first batch of DLC since the game launched in April. The free update adds three new courses to the game, as well as 20 Pokémon.

A free content update is coming to New Pokémon Snap!

Read more