Game Freak really is making a laundry game, and tomorrow's weather is part of the gameplay

Ame no Chi Hare Onna is being developed by Game Freak and CHRONOGATE for iOS and Android, with Shigeru Ohmori serving as both director and producer.

Its central idea is summarized as “tomorrow's weather becomes magic.” Weathernews data is integrated directly into the game rather than being used as a purely cosmetic forecast display.

Checking the forecast is part of preparing to play

Sun, rain, cloud and snow can change the daily experience. Players organize patrol teams around real conditions before sending magical girls known as Hare Onna out into a modern Japanese setting.

Each Hare Onna works with a Kumorin, a divine messenger that helps turn weather into magical power. The girls transform and fight entities responsible for abnormal weather.

Game Freak says weather information appears directly inside the game, meaning a real forecast can influence planning rather than simply changing a background texture.

Then the magical outfit goes into the wash

Combat dirties the Haregi outfits the girls wear after transforming. Their condition has to be restored through washing before the next patrol.

That gives the game its official “laundry game” classification: patrol, transform, fight, dirty the outfit, wash it, go again.

It is an extremely ordinary household routine turned into an RPG-like maintenance loop.

This is a Game Freak original rather than a disguised Pokémon spin-off

Ohmori's name inevitably attracts attention because of his history directing Pokémon games, but the new project establishes its own cast and rules.

Himawari Harewatari is the first major Hare Onna introduced, accompanied by Pon Arai, a tanuki-like Kumorin with a particular enthusiasm for laundry.

Characters are associated with different parts of Japan, and Game Freak has already revealed additional students including one based in Okinawa and a British exchange student.

The TGS booth commits completely to the idea

Game Freak has built a dedicated Ame no Chi Hare Onna area for Tokyo Game Show 2026. It includes a life-size recreation of the girls' club room, mascot appearances and an interactive display where visitors can speak with Pon Arai.

There is also the “Machine Sentacky,” a small truck combined with a washing machine. Its rear section doubles as a stage for weather forecast segments presented with Weathernews.

Visitors can receive branded laundry detergent, while another giveaway is only distributed when it actually rains around Makuhari during the public days of the show.

The first forecast is Japan only

Ame no Chi Hare Onna is scheduled to launch this winter in Japan for iOS and Android as a free-to-play game with in-app purchases.

No international version has been announced. Its current design is specifically connected to weather data across Japan, which makes localisation more complicated than translating menus and dialogue.