Over the past year, we’ve had a ton of Pokémon across all mediums, from video games to cards to music albums. As the 25th anniversary finally comes to a close this Sunday, we’re being offered yet another Pokémon Day treat to begin the next year.
As with most Pokémon Days, the anniversary of the original release of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green in Japan, we’re getting promised a nice 14 minute Pokémon Day Direct. Leading up to Sunday, each day for the week prior has offered little tidbits of news and events for various Pokémon games already out in the wild (area), like Pokémon Masters EX and Pokémon Sword and Shield. This means that this year’s Direct will have cut out the fat as a far cry comparison to last year’s nearly 20 minute Direct on Pokémon Day.
But, what could it hold?
There’s a laundry list of items that could be in this slim Direct. They could even get all of them, if they rattled them off at a minute a piece. It’s unlikely, but that’s the only way we’re getting it all. But, I have a dramatically realistic idea of what could possibly play out, based on only educated thought and gut feeling.
We could get trailers for previously announced projects like Detective Pikachu 2 or Pokémon Sleep. I honestly don’t think we’ll see both, but if the trailers are short, they could possibly both fit. I feel like they’d want to give a slight bit more time to either of these projects in a Direct, so it’s way more likely that we’ll see Detective Pikachu 2. I hate to be that guy, but Pokémon Sleep’s concept feels like that ship has sailed since no one utilized the Poké Ball Plus as much anymore and might just have quietly been put to bed for good. So, I’m going with “Trailer for Detective Pikachu 2”. It’ll continue the story of the 2016 game and possibly include elements that originated in the 2019 movie.
Home, Sweet Pokémon Home
It’s not often we see two mainline Pokémon games come out so close together. But, one of the major features is eventual Pokémon Home capabilities that usually comes just a handful of months after a major release. This Direct will very likely mention Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, as well as the recently released Pokémon Legends: Arceus, as getting Home capabilities. It’s a shoe in announcement and I feel bad for having to include it on the prediction list as such a low hanging fruit. But, it had to be said.
Pokémon Home will probably have some sort of Mystery Gift for the new update, offering a Hisui form of a Pokémon for logging in, etc., or trading a Pokémon from any of the new games. Like I said, it’s an obvious one.
Moving on, there will likely be a short trailer for the new Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, the replacement for Pokémon Trading Card Game Online. The Beta is currently happening in Canada, meaning the game is coming fairly soon. It was clearly set to come out late 2021, due to the transition of code cards that come in Pokémon TCG products in November. So, let’s predict late Spring 2022.
The Future is in the Past
For the main course: Pokémon Legends: Arceus DLC. If Sword and Shield were any indication of how DLC will be handled for the new game, I can see them offering two new areas that can open up on the map with a whole additional story for each. This would also increase the possible Pokémon to the Pokédex as new types would be available in new areas.
Now, we can get crazy with ideas. Let me start with a minor spoiler warning for Pokémon Legends: Arceus’s main story. But, I hope we see the Sinjoh Ruins at the least. It’d be a fantastic way to hint toward that beautiful Gen 2 connection. For those that don’t know, Sinnoh (or Hisui in the past) is directly north of Generation 2’s Johto and is connected by the ruins of Sinjoh (Sinnoh and Johto, get it?). Interestingly, the region wasn’t named Sinnoh until much later, near the end of the new game, meaning that Sinjoh Ruins could have been Sinjoh Village for a while. You know, a perfect place to tell a story of a new village that gets devastated and abandoned. This area clearly should have all Johto Pokémon, obviously.
But, I digress. The DLC will likely tell some new fascinating story and could tie itself back into Sword and Shield, or even what’s to come in the future.
Speaking of the future, 14 minutes is a perfect amount of time to offer a final dessert: a teaser of Generation 9. I’m not expecting any real reveals here, but more of a confirmation of what’s next. I still think the region could be based on India, based on various hints we’ve had in the past, but we’ve yet to see a region based in South America as well.
I guess we will see what is coming this Sunday, February 27th. That’ll be at the usual 9 AM Eastern Standard Time, so get up early, have yourself a big bowl of out-of-date Pokémon brand cereal, brush your teeth alongside Pokémon Smile, and find a nice place to sit for roughly a quarter of an hour. I’m crossing my fingers and hope I’m at least partially (mostly) right here.
Make sure to go follow Prof. Chime on social media and let him know what your predictions are for tomorrow’s Presents!