Intentional or otherwise, The Pokémon Company has been causing quite a stir on social media over the last 24 hours due to a seemingly innocent off-the-cuff comment. Over on Twitter, the overseer of all things involving the world’s most successful entertainment franchise has been counting down to a special virtual concert due to go ahead this weekend in celebration of the Gotta Catch ‘Em All craze’s 25th anniversary.
As part of this, each day leading up to the event has been marked with recognition of the three starter Pokémon from each region, beginning with Sword and Shield‘s Sobble, Scorbunny and Grookey, and presumably due to end with tributes to the OG starters Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur. Today, however, is the turn of Sinnoh’s Piplup, Turtwig and Chimchar: recognition of which has whipped the fan base into a frenzy due to some choice wording.
“Let’s go, Sinnoh! Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup are preparing for Pokémon Day – it’s only 4 days away!”, reads the post. As for why something so seemingly unremarkable has caused such a fuss, the words “let’s go” have prompted many fans to assume that this is The Pokémon Company’s way of teasing sequels to 2018’s Let’s Go, Pikachu and Eevee set in the Gen IV region.
Considering their status as casual-friendly installments lacking several features found in the core RPG series, the fear is that Game Freak will skip out on fully reimagining Diamond & Pearl for the Switch in favor of releasing more accessible versions. Whether that should be considered a positive or negative largely comes down to personal preference, but suffice it to say, folks on Twitter aren’t particularly impressed by the thought.
It’s worth noting, of course, that this could simply be little more than a coincidence and that nothing of the sort exists, but we’ll just have to wait and see. With any luck, a previously rumored Pokémon Direct will be confirmed any moment now and provide all the answers fans seek.
Published: Feb 24, 2021 10:07 am