What To Expect From Tomorrow's Pokémon Presents
We are a little under 12 hours away from the latest Pokémon Presents presentation, which will shine some light on upcoming events within the franchise for the next few months, if not the next year. That said, there is a lot that could be announced in a 35 minute presentation so let's break down what could happen.
Guarantee
For starters, the release dates for the two DLC packs for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet will almost certainly be revealed since they are slated for Fall and Winter 2023 respectively. Since we are nearly in Fall, concrete dates need to come sooner rather than later. Considering how long the presentation is, a good amount of time will be spent showing off what the DLC has in it, what returning Pokémon will be featured, and what other features they will have.
Another guarantee is something related to the MOBA Pokémon Unite for the Nintendo Switch. Every presentation since the launch of the game has featured an announcement of a new event or playable character in Unite. The same can also be said for Pokemon Masters EX, which inadvertently leaked the date through a tie-in event.
The only other guarantee I can think of is a short trailer that showcases Pokémon Sleep, the new mobile app that gamifies and tracks your sleeping. This was originally announced during a Pokémon Presents and, since its launch, there has not been a Nintendo Direct or other major marketing event to showcase it to general audiences.
A Good Chance of Happening
Since the launch of the new Nintendo Switch Online Expansion apps for Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games, there have not been any of the Pokémon games for these two consoles made available yet. There is a robust history of Pokémon games making the virtual console with Red Rescue Team and Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire for sale on the Wii U and the first two generations available for purchase on the 3DS. That said, there is a near certain chance that some, if not all these games are dated during the presentation. I put it in this category however because there is a solid chance that Pokémon Red, Pokémon Blue, and Pokémon Yellow are stealth released by the end of the presentation. There is also the possibility that the mainline third generation games for the Game Boy Advance get teased for the Expansion.
There is also the strong possibility that a spin-off title for the Nintendo Switch gets announced. In the past, there has been a remake of Blue Rescue Team and a new Pokémon Snap but there has not been a spin-off in quite some time. In order of likelihood, I think the most obvious is a remake of Explorers of Sky, followed by (in order of likelihood) a Pokémon Ranger remake, a new Pokémon Trozei game for Switch, remakes of Pokémon Coliseum/XD: Gale of Darkness, a new Pokémon Rumble and a new Pokémon Conquest (or a remake of the original).
A Non-Zero Chance
There has been speculation about the next mainline game and what that could look like. Considering the fact that (with the exception of Pokémon Legends: Arceus which came out in January) Pokémon games tend to come out the Friday before Thanksgiving, it is unlikely that another mainline game will come out between the two DLC packs for Scarlet and Violet. This indicates we are looking at a November 2024 release date for new games. The question is what game goes where. They probably won't want to muddy the marketing and have the conversation in the aftermath of the presentation be dominated by speculation about the new games. I believe that the tenth generation is probably going to be in 2026 to both coincide with the 30th anniversary and also allow them the full opportunity to take advantage of whatever the Nintendo Switch's successor is. The smartest plan (assuming we follow old patterns) is to release a new Let's Go game in November 2025, a new remake in November 2024, and a new Legends game in January 2025. The Legends game and remake would most logically be Black and White remakes, considering how long it has been since players visited Unova and the fact that Unova has a deep and far reaching implied history with a singular legend that could lead to new forms. The Let's Go game would logically be Johto themed (maybe Let's Go Marill and Let's Go Togepi) because, as long as it has been since players went to Unova, it's been longer since they went to Johto. All that said, none of this is likely to get announced tomorrow but they could tease the next title coming via an announcement early next year.
