Earlier this year, a fan opened up a Darkness Ablaze Pokemon trading card pack and found an out-of-place Chimchar. Marked as #12 of 25, the image of the fire-type starter brandished a Pikachu logo with its cheeks stylized as a “2” and “5,” similar to the Pokemon 20th anniversary logo. This would indicate that the promo is celebrating Pokemon‘s 25th anniversary in 2021 with all eight generations of starters—including Pikachu—to make up the 25 holo reprints as a McDonald’s promotion.
But this isn’t all that the Pokemon franchise has in store for its silver anniversary. Over the last few months, rumors and speculation of upcoming remasters and ports to the Switch have been circulating around the gaming community in addition to what’s already been announced for 2021, and some of the possible leaks look promising when taking a look at the bigger picture.
Not only is it Pokemon‘s 25th anniversary next year, but it will also be Generation 8’s 15th anniversary. The Pokemon Company has gone back to its roots with remasters by starting with the first generation, FireRed and LeafGreen for the Game Boy Advance, and its most recent remakes were Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire for the 3DS, so it’s only natural that Diamond and Pearl remakes for the Switch would be next in line. Rumors state that Diamond and Pearl remakes will hit the Switch in November 2021, so it’ll be interesting to see if this is part of the anniversary plans.
Two Pokemon franchise games have already been confirmed as upcoming titles, and those are New Pokemon Snap and the mobile game Pokemon Unite. The original Pokemon Snap was one of the most beloved spinoffs of the franchise back in ’99 when it first released for the Nintendo 64, and fans of the first will finally get to see a successor, hopefully sometime soon. First announced at “Pokemon Presents,” it looks like New Pokemon Snap will feature similar mechanics to its predecessor, but will include Pokemon from all eight generations. A release date hasn’t yet been announced, which likely means it will come out sometime next year.
Pokemon Unite, on the other hand, many fans are far less excited for. The reveal for Pokemon Unite turned out to be the most disliked video on The Pokemon Company’s YouTube channel. Unite will be a MOBA fighting game for mobile devices in addition to the Switch, basically combining League of Legends with Pokemon. Though it will be “free to start” like League, fans are mainly concerned about Pokemon‘s decision to team up with the controversial Chinese company Tencent for development. Again, there’s no official release date yet, but based on screenshots that have surfaced on social media, the game will likely be ready for a 2021 release.
Game Freak loves to surprise its fans, so some believe it’s possible that Generation 9 games will be announced in 2021. Though not impossible, this seems less likely because Sword and Shield still have the DLC pack Crown Tundra to be released later this year, and possibly even a third rumored DLC on the way as well, which would release in 2021 if it does exist. If it is indeed real, Sword and Shield‘s third DLC may be tied to this anniversary, but anything more than that is unlikely.
More likely, the Johto region may receive a second round of remakes in the form of Pokemon Let’s Go 2. The reimagining of the Kanto region ended up selling nearly 11 million copies, so it would be a smart move for Nintendo to develop the Johto games in the same format. Also, the 25th anniversary is the year to gift silver, so perhaps Nintendo has plans to gift Silver to its fans in 2021.
Pokemon GO released on the Pokemon franchise’s 20th anniversary, so 2021 would also make it GO‘s 5th anniversary. The mobile game will inevitably have big plans to celebrate the double anniversary, but what shape that will take will likely stay a mystery until next year. This year’s 4th anniversary celebration saw the special Flying Pikachu and a Shiny version of it, as well as Legendary Raids and many other events. Perhaps 2021 Pokemon GO events will include more Shiny Legendary Pokemon and Mythical Pokemon not yet seen in the game.
Pokemon Sword and Shield is out now for the Nintendo Switch.
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