As a keen runner who’s loved Pokémon since playing Pokémon Red on my Game Boy, there aren’t many collaborations that could make me more excited than Garmin joining forces with my beloved Pocket Monsters.
You can now use the best Garmin watches with Pokémon Sleep, an app that rewards a good night’s rest with Pokémon to fill out a special Sleep Style Dex, and that’s not the end of the good news for fans of both brands.
To celebrate the partnership, two free Pokémon watch faces are now available on Garmin watches, though there is a catch: only Garmin watches with AMOLED displays can get the new faces.
Link your Garmin with Pokémon Sleep
Pokémon Sleep is one of the very few Pokémon apps that I haven’t already tried, and that’s partly because I wear a Garmin Forerunner 970, and the sleep tracking didn’t link to the app as it does with an Apple Watch.
You can track your sleep using your smartphone for Pokémon Sleep by placing it next to you on your mattress, but that seemed both a hassle and likely to be inaccurate.
Now that Garmin watches are compatible, you can link Pokémon Sleep with Garmin Connect so your sleep stats are synced over, and I can start collecting Pokémon in yet another app.
Two free Pokémon watch faces
I’m excited to start using Pokémon Sleep, but probably even more thrilled by the new faces, because I love trying out the best Garmin watch faces in general.
One of the new faces is called ‘Snorlax & Friends’ face and features the famously sleepy Pokémon along with the Kanto starters and Pikachu.
My preferred face of the two is the “I Choose You” face, which allows you to select from 48 different Pokémon.
With both faces, the Pokémon shown will adjust their pose throughout the day based on the Body Battery measurement from your Garmin, so they’ll get sleepier as your energy levels drop.
While regrettably my own favorite Pokémon — Poliwag — is not available, my kids have been cycling through the various Eeveelutions on my watch face.
You can show several stats alongside your preferred Pokémon, so it’s still a functional watch face as well, and well worth installing if you’re also a Garmin/Pokémon fan.
