Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series McDonald's Happy Meal x Pokémon launch: Release date and how to collect all trading cards Ready for the world to go wild? Joseph Green is the Global Shopping Editor for Mashable. He covers VPNs, headphones, fitness gear, dating sites, streaming, and shopping events like Black Friday and Prime Day. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

Mashable Selects Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Safety Net Versus Creator Playbook In My Bag Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off All Series Everything you need to solve'Connections' #1199. The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you're always prepared. The game is all about finding the common threads between words. And just like, resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier--so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's solution.

Pokémon fans prepare for'biggest day in a decade' For most people, Wednesday will be just another day - the midweek hump at school or work. The Japanese brand has become one of the most recognisable in the world, with its colourful creatures appearing in video games and on shop shelves across the world. But perhaps most synonymous with the Pokémon phenomenon is its trading card game, which has been played, bought and sold between collectors for the last three decades. Wednesday marks the release of Pokémon's 30th anniversary range - a day one collector described as the brand's biggest day in the last decade, if not more. Gus Hall, owner of Evolution Games in Halifax, said he expected fans to queue before shops open to get their hands on the first release of the cards.

Look Up Safety Net Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Hub Versus Say More Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List Mashable Selects Switch Off Trending Now In My Bag VidCon with Mashable All Series Everything you need to know to beat the scalpers. Ben Williams is a freelance writer at Mashable, having joined the team in June 2025. With over 10 years experience in gaming, tech, TV, anime, and film, there's nothing he hasn't covered. Alongside Ben's other work at IGN, Radio Times, Eurogamer, UNILAD Tech, and Rock Paper Shotgun, he also has bylines at sites like GamesRadar+, PCGamesN, ScreenSphere, Twinfinite, ScreenRant, GGRecon, and more. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

This year in the Japanese city of Yokohama the streets were paved with gold – in the form of giant Pokémon cards. From rare holographics on glass palisades to a Pikachu card the size of a small garden to tiled floors covered with common creatures, the city's interconnected malls paid tribute to the Pokémon trading card game, while the world's best players went head to head at the Pacifico convention centre at the annual world championships. Nine billion of these cards have been produced to date, 21% of those since 2021, sold in 76 countries and 13 different languages. They were so popular in 00s playgrounds that they were often banned from schools – a phenomenon that's repeating itself now, after the cards enjoyed a pandemic boost courtesy of bored kids and nostalgic millennials. YouTuber Logan Paul made headlines when he spent $5 million on a single card in July 2021.

As a kid growing up outside of Seattle, Douglas Haines rarely played with Pokémon cards. He remembers his pastor brought a small barbecue to Sunday school for kids to burn their trading cards. The way the church saw it: "Pokémon evolved, and evolution was bad," Haines said. The collectible cards fit into the same banned bucket as Harry Potter and Dungeons & Dragons. As a replacement for the Pokémon cards, the church offered biblical trading cards depicting scenes like Daniel in the lion's den, Haines said.

Children today have grown up with the Internet being an integral part of their lives. Babies use tablets to swipe through games and interactive programs. Toddlers can navigate apps on a smartphone. By the time children hit middle school, technology is a natural part of their everyday life, both in school and at home. And of course, their grasp on technological concepts comes, in some cases, faster for them than for their parents. How do you explain a concept like contextual search to a 12-year-old girl or boy?