In case you hadn’t heard, 2021 is going to be a particularly important year for Pokémon.
February 27th, specifically, marks the franchise’s 25th anniversary and it goes without saying that celebrations will be in order. The festivities will include, among many other things, we’re sure, various games, of which, according to new details provided by a reputable insider, there will be four in total. As relayed by Kelios over on Twitter, two of these, Pokémon Snap and Pokémon Unite, are already known about, thanks to their official announcement as part of a special Direct broadcast earlier this year, but what of the remaining pair?
Well, Kelios says one of these will be a sequel to 3DS outing Detective Pikachu, while the final release, a mainline RPG entry, will be remakes. The natural conclusion to make, then, is that Generation IV’s Diamond & Pearl are the titles being referred to, as they’re chronologically next in line to get modernized updates, following 2014’s Alpha Sapphire & Omega Ruby.
Had Game Freak not decided to release DLC expansions for Sword & Shield this year, one could argue that 2020 would have otherwise been when Pokéfans would have headed back to the Sinnoh region, but if additions to Galar ultimately mean the developer has had more time to make sure that Gen IV’s return goes off without a hitch, this is certainly a more preferable outcome.
As always, it’s worth cautioning against taking any of the above as gospel, though given Kelios’ proven track record, we’d be surprised to see a different outcome. As for when you can expect to learn more, some fans believe this week’s Thanksgiving Day parade will serve as the platform for a big Pokémon announcement, though we’re not so sure. See here for the full story.
