'It's like a Tamagotchi for adults': how Garmin's new Pokmon Sleep
integration emotionally blackmailed me into a better bedtime routine

Date:
Mon, 16 Mar 2026 12:14:04 +0000

Description:
Garmin's new Pokmon Sleep integration is Super Effective at guilt-tripping me into going to bed early.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get the TechRadar Newsletter Sign up for
breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are
now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter I looked at my watch. It was only 1pm, and Bulbasaur was already asleep.

For the last few days, I have been getting to grips with Garmin 's new Pokmon Sleep integration, released to coincide with last week's World Sleep Day (and the long-running franchise's 30th anniversary). As well as integration with the Pokmon Sleep app, the collab also debuted new watch faces that react to your current sleep and Body Battery. As Garmin users likely know, Body
Battery is a metric that helps determine daily readiness for activity, a
score from 0-100 based on sleep quality, activity, stress and heart rate variability. Body Battery depletes during the day, and gets restored at
night. Article continues below You may like How to get 49 Pokmon watch faces on your Garmin watch for free I tried to improve my sleep using expert advice for 4 weeks and recorded it all on my Oura Ring and it worked Can sleep trackers really detect sleep apnea? I tested 3 top models to find out

A Body Battery of 100 means you're fully rested and ready to take on the day, resulting in a happy, energetic-looking Pokmon pal on your wrist. This particular Pokmon Sleep integration feature is very clever: it's like a Tamagotchi for adults, and you 'feed' the digital animal by taking care of yourself and getting good sleep. I hadn't seen Bulbasaur look happy and energetic at all, even after I first downloaded the Pokmon Sleep watch face
on my Garmin Fenix 8 Pro (the best Garmin watch overall, if you don't mind paying the premium) the previous day. As soon as I enabled the integration
and picked my Pokmon, Bulbasaur's face dropped into a neutral expression,
then a droopy, tired one, falling asleep around 8pm. It was another four
hours before I finally followed suit and went to bed. I woke up with a Body Battery of 49. Not only had I exhausted my reserves the previous day, but I only regained around 40% of my capacity, despite a decent-ish sleep score of 78. Consequently, Bulbasaur awoke looking tired, and fell asleep by the early afternoon as my Body Battery score depleted once again. (Image credit:
Future) I knew what was to blame, of course: I'm in the middle of a very busy house move, which also includes a fair bit of renovation. I've been spending evenings and weekends packing, painting and DIY-ing, cursing to myself as I attack skirting boards with the wrong type of saw for the job, shirking water for coffee, and throwing salty frozen meals in the oven at 9pm because I'm
too tired to cook. None of this is conducive to waking up well-rested. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

I've been tempted to take my watch off for this, or least disable the Pokmon Sleep integration so I don't feel responsible for a sleep-deprived starter 'mon. A report from Newcastle University found that fitness trackers can actually be a source of stress, citing research indicating that "the negative psychological reactions that arise from the features and designs of fitness technologies such as feedback systems, goal-setting functions, and gamified or social elements.

"For instance, unmet goals or negative feedback can make consumers feel anxious and guilty, while comparative aspects of these technologies are associated with stress."

In what was already a stressful time as I juggled work and the house move process, the pressure to take care of myself could have piled yet more stress on. Gamifying wellness means you feel good when you 'win', but you also feel bad when you 'lose'. A bad sleep score on my wrist makes me feel like I've failed in a way, but waking up to an exhausted little plant-creature adds another emotional layer to the disappointment. What to read next I got these tiny snore-masking buds hoping for better sleep, but now I wear them for walking and yoga too 12 of the best sleep-hacking gadgets by a former Sleep Editor I just traded in my Polar running watch for a Garmin after learning a rather expensive lesson (Image credit: Getty Images) Nevertheless, I was determined to see Bulbasaur happy. Despite being as busy as ever and eating late yet again, I made a concerted effort to optimize my sleep as best I
could over the next two nights. I rehydrated as soon as I got in, made a
point of switching a mid-stress comfort snack (chocolate) to a healthy one ( apple ), and eventually went to bed armed with a chamomile tea and a book, leaving my phone in the other room. No more doomscrolling to distract myself from my lengthy jobs list.

Success! After night two, Bulbasaur awoke with a big smile on its face, feeling happy and energized. It lasted around 30 minutes before his
expression shifted back to neutral, indicating that I still had a ways to go to improve my Body Battery score, but I did manage to snap a picture as soon as I saw it.

This is the brilliance of Garmin's new Pokmon Sleep integration: Bulbasaur managed to convince me (via emotional blackmail) that even a little self-care is worth it, as I'm now equipped with more energy to attack another busy
week. Pokmon's shameless gamification of my health helped me reclaim a
nightly routine, even if it guilt-tripped me into it.

The watch faces are free to download if you're a Garmin user. If Bulbasaur doesn't do it for you, there's 47 other Pokmon to choose from, as well as a 'Snorlax & Friends' watch face here's how to download your watch face of choice . The best Garmin watches for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best Garmin watches 1. Best overall: Garmin Venu
4 2. Best premium: Garmin Fenix 8 3. Best budget: Garmin Vivoactive 6 Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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