Evidence for Pokémon Direct THIS WEEK Found

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Intrepid gamers have dug deep to uncover evidence that suggests a new Nintendo Direct is likely be held this week. They have based this on the pattern which Nintendo follows when updating their site ahead of upcoming presentations.

Although Pokémon games are not usually announced at the American E3 gaming convention, they are commonly revealed during the month of May. Information on the follow-up to last year’s Pokémon Sun & Moon is highly expected before the end of the month.

This means that the next direct to come from Nintendo has a high probability of focusing on Pokémon and what’s next for the main series.

Sound the hype horn!

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1,506 thoughts on “Evidence for Pokémon Direct THIS WEEK Found”

  3. Gotta love how you didn’t make an article about this until Joe mentioned all the things announced in May hahaha Yo love him so much lol Anyway I do think a Direct is coming. Whether it’s a Pokemon Direct we’ll have to just wait and see. The way I see it we have 3 options for a new Pokemon game. The first being a kind of boring 3rd version of SM. It may be on the Switch or not, but in any event it matches the closest to Eurogamers rumor. The second option is DP remakes. I think I’d be fine with this as long as they fix the major issues with DP like the pacing, the Pokemon type distribution, etc. They do that and I’ll be down. The third option comes from all the Kanto/Johto pushing they seem to be doing with the movie. The movies usually are there to promote whatever games are coming out around that time (before or after it doesn’t matter). This time we have a movie set in Kanto that heavily features Johto legendary Pokemon. Sure Marshadow is in there, but obviously the focus is on Ho-oh. Makes you wonder, if the next game is really another Alola game then why is the focus on an entirely different region? Even if they were gonna do a Kanto journey for Ash in the movie they could still shoehorn Alola Pokemon in is left and right to tie into SM or whatever a 3rd game for them would be. Despite this the only Alola Pokemon in it that we’ve seen are Incineroar and Marshadow. It’s an eyebrow raiser lol

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    • I mean Joe is kinda the leading authority of Pokemon news of all kinds
      He made his namesake and he does it well

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      • I mean I’ll give credit where credit is due, but Joe is also kind of a schmuck too. I think he thinks very highly of himself and often has his own head up his ass. That said again he does have a pretty great website for information lol

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    • I’d much rather have a sequel to Sun and Moon than a third version. But I think DP remakes are next due to the walking with pokemon found in SM’s coding.

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      • Same for the sequel, but remember that the walking Pokemon feature really caught it’s stride in Johto soooooo……..lol

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        • Yeah, but DP was the one who introduced the concept 😉 Another Kanto game is possible, but I’m not entirely sure everyone would be too thrilled. Maybe if it made Kanto and Johto more interesting and told a new story I’d be down.

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          • Yeah, but it only allowed “cute” Pokemon. So unless they open it up to other Pokemon it won’t make any sense to have ALL of the Pokemon as walkers

          • They can just have all pokemon available to walk in the overworld, and then only cute ones in Amity Square. There are items and stuff in there

  4. Molto interessante! Honestly I’m not sure if this is evidence, but with the “stars” event coming up very soon, I’d say it will happen.

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  7. what if the pokemon in the image for Look upon the stars are getting megas or regional forms in the new games (yes ik there is some pokemon who have megas and legends can’t get regional variants )
    https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rJG8gUR7NrdNnkCCsrvZ66ZDp2c=/0x0:900×639/920×613/filters:focal(397×230:541×374):format(webp)/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54564171/31307668734c807a8a2f563f3c8d5c7af6243e85.0.jpg

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  9. i hope we get some news soon
    i for one have been feeling like shit for the last 3 days with every orifice from the neck up and need some hype to spark my immune system

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    • Well if people are right in their speculation we should have a direct of some kind (Pokemon or no) by Wednesday. Maybe Thursday at the very latest.

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  11. With all this news about the New 2DS XL and Nintendo keeping up their 3DS output until 2018, I’m really starting to doubt that Stars will be on Switch. But…what if they did a dual release? Pokémon Earth on New 3DS and Pokémon Stars on Switch?

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    • I already said this, but i disagree with it being two different versions. we are gonna get one version (stars) and its gonna be a dual release New 3ds and Switch like Fire Emblem warriors is doing

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    • I mean they like to switch up their formula a lot (like with the BW sequels), so its not too out there.

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      • They also did it with Mystery Dungeon many years ago. In this case I guess we’re dealing with a much bigger leap than GBA to DS, but technically these are both handhelds!

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      • You’re definitely right, but it’s the only logical way I can see them satisfying the GameXplain rumors and also maintaining 3DS support. It could very easily be just 3DS after all, though.

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        • It would certainly be epic! I might be slightly let down if the game is just for 3DS, because I’m dying to see how pokemon would translate to the Switch..but I guess it’s slightly more likely that this year at least we’ll get a pokemon title on the 3DS

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    • That honestly sounds much harder then it’d be worth. At that point you need to make sure that the two devices can communicate with one another in person, which I have no idea if they can right now. That also assumes that they can easily raise the quality of the games visuals and models to that of the switch, which you can’t really, and a number of other problems.

      But there’s nothing wrong with dreaming big. Just don’t let your dreams cloud logic.

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    • They need Stars more to sell Switch hardware rather than selling software copies. By making it an exclusive they could possible improve the momentum for Switch. If people want Pokémon on 3DS, there’s like 20 games to choose from.

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      • The strange thing is, didn’t Game Freak say they were only going to watch the Switch for now? They must have been talking about Gen 8 right?

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    • I think they’ll have to pull “Stars” back till 2018, because I doubt they’ll have for Switch already, especially GF a re hiring programmers for Switch

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  12. What do you think they’ll announce this week?
    A. Kanto Sequel
    B. Sinnoh Remake
    C. Pokemon “Stars”
    D. None of the above

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  13. Welp Fire emblem devs stated Echoes is the last main series game for the 3ds, now i hope Pokemon transitions over the Switch

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      • the only big winter game we know for the 3ds is Kirby. the other games are more summer release, Then fire emblem warriors in the falls, pretty small line up for 3ds unless e3 has alot of 3ds games planned

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        • -patiently waits for Kirby to come to the Switch-

          E3 will really tell us what to expect from the future of the 3DS. I imagine the line up will be rather scarce. The WiiU was basically dead last year at E3, so we’ll have to see how the 3DS handles the new competition.

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      • I bet it’ll be more gradual than the WiiU’s sudden death xD

        They just released the new 2DS, so I don’t think they’ll pull the plug on it so soon. I’d say it’ll at least last till next holiday season.

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  14. Why does everyone think Stars or whatever is gonna be on the Switch?
    that means no backwards compatibility and i know for a fact they’re gonna keep Pokemon games on the main handheld strictly

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        • Saying one thing and doing another is entirely different. Evidence for Switch move in the not-too-distant future:
          1) SM pushed boundaries for Pokemon on 3DS.
          2) Gamefreak hiring people who can work with Switch. GF doesn’t do the spin off games, and their other titles are basically hilariously non-existent, so I think this is really all the evidence you need
          3) If Nintendo really is releasing just the handheld version of the Switch, that completely undermines the 3DS

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          • what does 1 and 3 have to do with anything especially the 3rd the handheld switch is beyond stupid

          • Well point 1 means that the 3DS can’t handle pokemon for too much longer unless they don’t plan on expanding upon the franchise graphically.

            Point 3, if true, would be a huge red flag for the death of the 3DS.

          • exactly the freaking 3DS needs to exist, and Pokemon is its lifeblood
            giving a main-series Pokemon to the Switch means less big sellers

          • Then they can just move everything to the Switch. Fire Emblem is already going there. Kirby and Animal Crossing are bound to follow

          • Idk, it can’t last forever. It’s already had a 6 year run, that’s pretty good for a console. And I don’t see it dying so soon, so add 1.5 – 2 more years for the system.

          • Fire Emblem’s kind of a bad thing to compare too since it’s always jumped around whether its a home console or handheld game. It usually just goes to which ever device they feel like putting it on, even if its objectively a bad choice, like putting a game on the SNES when the N64 was already out and already showing its age. In this case Nintendo hasn’t announced anything new from the tech side(yet) and moving to the switch is the logical thing to do for them to move the series forward, and probably for the worse since the last attempts of putting the game on a home console were less then good.

          • True, but that’s just because of common sense. Develop for the device that has roughly 50-60 million units sold, or the failure of a home console. It just made sense. And even then they had been making games for the DS before awakening so they were more familiar with the format, and Awakening was the game that they were told that if it sold poorly, the series was going to be canceled and thus probably had a small budget to begin with(which probably explains why the 3D models didn’t have feet. Too expensive to make).

          • Geez, that’s pretty harsh. But you’re right, the 3DS does have a lot of units sold. Axing it won’t be so easy, nor would it be smart to do it suddenly. A gradual phase out is what we might see.

          • While I do see some validity in your first two points, though could say that those points are a bit conjecture, I have an issue with the third. Its highly unlikely that Nintendo would release a handheld version of the switch since the things meant to be a home console first and there’s no real way of getting around it. Really the only way to effectively make a handheld switch would be to just not give it a dock, and that really wouldn’t lower the price in any real way. The joycons still have to be detachable, the screen can’t really get any smaller since most of the switches size is due to its battery, and that’s even ignoring that the switch is kinda horrible as a handheld from a dev perspective, which I’d argue are the one’s you have to win over over the consumers.

    • They didn’t want Pokémon on console because it would interfere with ‘going out in the world and trade and battle, showing everyone what you’ve got’. That problem is mostly solved with the Switch.

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      • Also, Switch is Nintendo their only new console/handheld going forward. They’re supporting 3DS for now because it sells and is cheap to make/develop for. There won’t be a seperate handheld in the near future unless Switch flops. No Pokémon on Switch would mean no Pokémon, period.

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        • Yeah I can’t see them releasing a direct successor for the 3DS. Otherwise, what was the point of the Switch, you know? Consolidating their consoles is a good idea, imo, because they dominate the handheld market and it would give that boost to their consoles. And they’d have to develop for less systems.

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      • eventually, but i still have the gut feeling that they won’t give it to the switch until a long while since they’re not just gonna drop the 3DS as a source of revenue, because as i said that Pokemon is the Handheld’s biggest seller

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        • but if the switch gets Pokemon wouldn’t that be a System Seller and boost sales by alot

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          • Not necessarily. Remember that handhelds tend to be quite cheap and a great gate way for kids into gaming, or those with a smaller budget. If pokemon were to jump to the switch we have to assume that the game would be a standard home console game costing $60, and with the switch being $300; that creates a huge barrier to entry that a lot of people might not be willing to buy into. It would certainly help drive the demand up for the console more, which is already very high, but it’s very likely that Pokemon in turn could lose millions of sales due to this higher price. Those millions might also be a drop in a bucket given pokemon pretty much always sells about 10 million+ units, so even half as many is still very good, but it also sends a bad message to investors, seeing less units sold which could be seen as a sign that pokemon is dying and its time to start pulling out before they lose any more money.

            And all of that is ignoring that Nintendo’s made it pretty clear that they know that the 3DS and Switch have two completely different markets and I’d be willing to bet probably are working on some device that will be the successor to the 3DS simply because they know that those two markets can never fully merge, since the 3DS does appeal to people on a budget and the switch really can’t.

          • This holiday is going to be nuts if they release Pokémon Stars and Mario Odyssey in the same month. Then there’s also the chance of Smash Bros. and other unannounced games coming as well before 2018. Things are looking up!

          • I really hope they bring Smash to the Switch or at least eventually get a new one out..it would make me feel less bad about selling my WiiU to get a Switch

          • you’re thinking the wrong way
            aside from Pokemon why else do people break down doors to put on the 3DS

          • So people start going to the Switch? The 3DS is dead. The new 3DS xl is for those young children who aren’t trusted with a Switch. It’s basically the Game Boy Mini or the Wii Mini.

          • Don’t say the 3DS is dead. Possible Superstar Saga remake/remaster whatever might be coming to it D: I need it!

        • It’s basically guaranteed, even without the strong rumors which indicate it’s on the way. They did say “within the first year”, so it could still come next February or something.

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  16. It would be funny if Diamond and Pearl got remakes on the Switch. They were the first Pokemon games to use 2 screens, and a switch to the Switch would mean they would then be on 1 screen. RIP Poketch?

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  17. Puhlease no new game is gonna be announced this week. Basing things off of patterns is crazy. Not only that Im sure Pokemon goes out of its way to break patterns.

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  18. so reading the life span of the DS
    2004-2011 7 years (DS DS LITE, DSi, DSi XL)
    3ds rn i think is 6 years old (3DS,3DS XL,2DS,N3DS,N3DSXL,N2DSXL)
    I say the N2DSXL is the Wii Mini of the 3ds and they are trying to push out a bit more sales of the 3ds family for this fiscal year.

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    • The DS lasted until 2012 at least, considering B2/W2 came to it that year, so there is always a chance of the 3DS lasting into 2019. But I really doubt it, by that point the Switch will have tons of games and become the preferred console.

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      • I was going based off when a successor was release more then when games were stopped being developed. but you make a good point

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        • Right, I guess I was just pointing out the overlap which exists between any two generations. You’re totally right about the New 2DS XL being the last push before focusing solely on Switch (possibly). They could also reveal a brand new handheld at E3 2019 to compete with their own Switch, because that’s a Nintendo thing to do!

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      • BW2 were also the worst selling main games if you account for the fact that there are two games instead of one.

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  19. Honestly it could go both ways. If Stars is an Alola sequel then it will probably stay on 3DS but if its just a third version then I see no reason why they wouldn’t put it on Switch. All those indie game devs talked about how easy it is to develop for the thing so GF could get a handle on it quickly

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      • The 3DS Pokemon games have had barebones content in exchange for 3D models and graphics. Is that GameFreak incompetence or system limitations?

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          • (yet they couldn’t even incorporate the Ultra Beasts better, y’all are just blinded by Lillie’s mommy issues)

          • Sorry but Lillie’s mommy issues is still the best plot in a Pokemon game. (Well Black and White’s was better but no one cared other than me apparently)

          • The way I see it, S/M had good characters to carry the so-so story, while X&Y had neither decent characters nor story to make it good.

          • XY had good characters. They just weren’t fleshed out. AZ had such potential. Sycamore is awesome, his theme is so french. Diantha is trash, but Lysandre was great.

          • Everyone felt like robots to me. The flare scientists weren’t given much personality outside the fat guy (xerosic or something). Sycamore was good, but kinda forgettable as well. He doesn’t do much other than give you Kanto starters. Lysandre was alright, but still a bit of a knock off Cyrus. He needed more to do. We only encountered him like twice and both of our battles with him are in the HQ right before his supposed death. Diantha was absolute trash, which is a shame because I like her design, her champ room, and her theme. AZ had potential too, but they really beat around the bush with him and hardly answered anything about him.

          • Can we point out how Lysander had this huge goal and intended that the button only be pressed if you chose the right one?

          • Also, you fight him THREE TIMES AT THE END OF THE FLARE ARK ONE AFTER THE OTHER

    • I’ll settle for a game with a shit ton of post content like B2W2. Also Battle Frontier, that’s a whole post game in and of itself

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        • Honestly..I’m burnt out on breeding and there’s literally nothing else to do unless you like repetitive battles.

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          • Or We’ve had the Battle Tower remix for 10 years, WHY have they STILL not added an online function to play with friends online

          • I totally forgot about the dancing part! I wish they were just completely redone. I like the idea of contests, I just hate the format. It basically all depends on chance rather than skill.

    • I know Ive said this a million times, but if pokemon does happen to be on the switch, it better have a LOT of content. There’s no reason for it to have same or less content than HGSS or SM. It NEEDS to have more. and if just the same old story and BAttle Tower Remix I will be beyond angry

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      • It’s also basically a port of Sun and Moon so they have plenty of time to add that stuff in. Thats why 3rd versions always have the most content and why Gen 6 is the worst one

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        • I dont just want little extra though. I want Complete new and amazing story. Maybe even a sequel like BW2. I want Challenge mode. I want cutscenes everywhere. I want amazing cutscenes! I want 2nd region. I want BAttle Frontier. The amount of stuff BoTw can do, GF can be on the same level (for a pokemon game)

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          • So every 2 steps triggers a cutscene like the first island in SuMo

          • Why are Gym Leader rematches still not a staple in the series?! Even in Sun and Moon, I want to re-battle all the trial captains as many times as I want.

          • Seriously! Can we please get places where we can battle high leveled trainers. Specifically Gym leader rematches. It makes no sense that it’s basically a guessing game. It needs to just stay back. Who doesnt love hearing the Gym theme more times than 8 (or just 4 in SM).

          • That’s the main reason I love Gym rematches, to hear the theme again! Yeah we can now hear it when we battle people online, but I still like getting to re-battle the main characters. This really bothered me in ORAS.

          • Me too! And I like seeing the gym leaders team grow, it just feels so nice. It’s like they are actually doing stuff in their free time rather than standing in one place

          • That amount of content might be a bit much. Zelda titles release like every 5 years so they have time to do a lot of content, while pokemon is either annually or biannually, and should stay as such. There’s still no excuse for no content like XY and S/M have though.

          • I’m ok with cutscenes as long as they’re interesting and not boring like the ones in ORAS

          • Lol I love cutscenes but I guess a skip button would be nice. Knowing me I would accidentally skip of them and cry.

  23. I just want to point out how weird it is that we’re actually talking about 2018/2019/2020 these days because it’s actually in our near future. I can still picture myself back in 2010 trying to imagine what Nintendo of 2020 would look like. Honestly, this is better than I could have imagined.

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