NetEase has partnered with The Pokemon Company to bring Pokemon Quest to the Chinese market.

As reported by Reuters, a local version of the free-to-play RPG will be made available in China, marking the first official Pokemon release on mobile in the country.

Japanese studio and long-term Pokemon developer Game Freak is working with NetEase on the title.

Highly anticipated

“The Pokemon Quest partnership is a new start and highly anticipated,” said NetEase vice president Ethan Wang.

Pokemon Quest was originally released on Nintendo Switch in May 2018 before launching on mobile in June 2018. No release date has been given for the Chinese version of the game.

News of the Pokemon deal comes alongside the announcement that NetEase is partnering with Marvel to bring new games, TV shows and comics to China and beyond.

After the success that Pokemon Go has garnered on mobile, it's no surprise that the Pokemon Company has been looking to expand the IP more. Recently the firm unveiled that Pokemon Rumble Rush would be launching on iOS and Android.