The next Pokémon game is right around the corner now, but with Scarlet and Violet only out in 2022, the big question was what direction it would take us in. There were a couple of options in the mix, so we’ll take you through all of them below, but the Pokémon Direct in February 2024 confirmed that the next game will be Pokémon Legends Z-A.
Set in Lumiose City, the capital of the Kalos region, Legends Z-A will be the sequel to Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which debuted the Legends mechanics back in 2022. It will be a historical prequel to Pokémon X and Y, so there will be a lot of parallels. Kalos was modeled on France and Lumiose City is the game’s equivalent to Paris, so there’s going to be a lot of incredible architecture in the game, which features heavily in the teaser trailer below:
AdvertisementWhat about the next game after Pokémon Legends Z-A
We were always expecting there to be a couple of DLC expansions for Scarlet and Violet in the twelve months after the release. As everyone and their Mabosstiff knows, The Teal Mask arrived in Autumn 2023 and The Indigo Disk followed later in the year. However, they don’t count as the next game, as such. To make it into our list of contenders, they needed to be a core series game in one way shape or form.
The June Nintendo Direct announced Detective Pikachu Returns, but this isn’t really a true Pokémon series game. It’s more of a spin-off title, so again it didn’t really count. You can see it in action in the video below and it came out on the Nintendo Switch on October 6th 2023 with relatively lackluster reviews.
What we can say with a good level of certainty is that the next core series title after Legends Z-A could well be a new generation game, but it’s not our top prediction. Instead, we’re predicting a remake of one of the earlier games in the series, similar to Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl in 2021.
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Option 1: We’ll get a Pokémon remake for the next game after Z-A
The most likely answer is that the next Pokémon game after Z-A will be a remake of an earlier title with graphics like Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee in 2018 (pictured above). That was a remake of Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow, which covered the very first game in the series from the Game Boy days.
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The only other remake we’ve had for the Nintendo Switch is the Diamond and Pearl duo mentioned above. Before 2018 the entire series was exclusively released on hand-held consoles like the Game Boy, Advance and DS. It’s only the Nintendo Switch that introduced home console gaming to the series, probably because it’s got both hand-held and TV gaming functionality.
With two remakes in the bag and Pokémon Legends Arceus acting as an ancient prequel to Diamond and Pearl, that leaves just 5 options for the next game. The first of these is Gold and Silver, but this already had a Heart and Soul remake for the Nintendo DS in 2009.
That doesn’t necessarily rule it out. In fact, maybe it would be easier to do a Switch or successor console port with the slightly updated remake in play. However, it’s possible that it’s less likely considering the fact that Gold and Silver has already had one update already.
It has had pretty big sales numbers over the years with a little over 42 million copies sold worldwide across the three versions of the game (the original, Pokémon Crystal and the 2009 remake). That gives it a lot of potential older gamers that would pick it up in a heart beat for nostalgia’s sake alone, as well as the newer generation of players.
Another option is Ruby and Sapphire, which first came out in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance, but it also had a remake with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire re-porting it for the Nintendo 3DS in 2014. The only games not to get a remake yet are Pokémon Black and White (and its sequel), and X and Y, so these are the most likely contenders for the next game.
Both would be a lot of fun, but X and Y came out on the 3DS in 2013, which wasn’t that long ago, so maybe it’s the less likely of the two. Pokémon Black and White, on the other hand came out on the standard DS hand-held console back in 2010, so it’s not quite as recent.
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It was the first installment of generation 5. It’s set in the Unova region, which was modeled on New York, complete with seasonal weather cycles and big city streets. It was the second most successful Pokémon game on the Nintendo DS behind Diamond and Pearl, which adds to the potential of it being the next game to come out after Scarlet and Violet.
The only other remake contender is Sun and Moon. It’s the game we’d most like to see next, but it only came out on the Nintendo 3DS in 2016. It had the Ultra treatment a year later, so it’ll be surprising to get a remake so soon after its initial release, so Black and White is our top tip for the next remake title.
The only side note to add is that with Pokémon Legends Z-A be the next game, it might make sense to do a remake of X and Y later in 2025. We’ll probably get another Pokémon Direct at the end of the summer 2024, so we’re expecting something to be announced then.
Option 2: We get another Pokémon Legends game
It seems unlikely that there would be a Pokémon Legends title without a remake and with Diamond and Pearl already covered in Arceus that just leaves Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee. That would give it an ancient Kanto region setting, which would be pretty cool, along with possible links in the story for Mew in the mix.
It’s definitely got its merits, although, the other possibility is that they make a Legends game based on Sword and Shield. This would set it in Galar and with all of the mysteries and legendary story arcs it’s hard to discount it.
AdvertisementAnother option is that they do something similar to Arceus and wait for one of the remakes mentioned above to come out and then go back in time for that region. Our top pick was Pokémon Black and White, and with a large Unova region, which wasn’t fully explored in the original game, it could be a big future project for the Legends series.
The last game was an open zone game and with the issues Scarlet and Violet had with going fully open world it might be better to save a Black and White Legends title for future technologies. You can read more about the prospect of this in the section below, you can also visit our Pokémon Legends Arceus guide for tips to get to grips with the gaming mechanics it introduced.
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Option 3: Gen 10 comes after Z-A
With Pokémon Legends Z-A planned to release in 2025 that leaves a lot of room for the following game to be a new core series game. This would be the 10th generation of the game and it would be the sequel to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
There are no details as of yet, but we’d expect it to be another open world title, but with the possibility of enhanced tech to make it shine. You can read more about the prospect of the of the next Nintendo console in the section below, but everything is pointing in this direction at the moment.
What console will the next Pokémon game release on?
That’s all of our possible next Pokémon game options covered, but there’s a big question mark about what console it’ll come out on. There’s no official news as of yet from Nintendo, but six years is usually about right as a gap between systems.
The Switch came out in 2017, so that initially put 2023 in the frame for a new console. Add to that the fact that there was a new Zelda game out in 2023 with Tears Of The Kingdom following up on Breath Of The Wild and we had a lot of clues to pursue. But the year came and went without anything concrete, so we’re still left guessing.
AdvertisementA Switch Pro has been talked about for years now with no sign of anything concrete apart from the OLED model, which is just a bigger and better screen, so something else must be in the works. If there is a new console, which is usually signified by the presence of either a new Zelda or Mario game and a six year gap, then the next Pokémon game could possibly be a duel release.
This would mean better graphics and performance on a new system, which would add to the excitement, so fingers crossed the Super Switch does in fact come to pass. You can read more about the prospective new console with the link above, and hopefully we’ll find out more about it with the next big Nintendo Direct presentation.
We’ll update you with more details on the next Pokémon game as they’re confirmed, and you can read more about the next Nintendo Direct with the link below. You can also check out our computer games section to keep tabs on other releases. Visit the Pokémon website at www.pokemon.com/ for more details.
If you don’t already know, Pokémon games don’t normally get announced during a standard Nintendo Direct presentation. However, there’s a Pokémon Direct on February 27th, 2024, which is also Pokémon day, so that should give us more information about the series going forward.
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What about the new Pokémon TV series?
If you’ve seen the news that there’s a new Pokémon TV series in 2023, you might be wondering whether or not this will have any impact on the next game. The series is the first in the franchise not to feature Ash Kechum as the main character, so it’s definitely going to be a big moment.
However, the reality is that the series, Pokémon Horizons, will be set in Paldea with links to Scarlet and Violet. As such, the 2023 show will probably have very little impact on any new game that might be coming our way in the next year or so.
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The story introduces new character Liko and her starter ‘mon Sprigatito, similar to the 9th generation game. It’s possible that there might be a reveal towards the end of the series that could hint at the next steps for the game franchise too, so we’ll keep you posted. You can subscribe to our newsletter if you don’t want to miss out on any of the details.
Pokémon Horizons debuted on TV Tokyo in Japan from April 14th, 2023, so we’ll find out more about this relatively soon. In the UK it’s already available to watch on BBC and for the North American release date for the new show it follows Pokémon Ultimate Journeys on Netflix, so the streaming platform is the one to go for.
When can we expect the next Pokémon game to come out?
AdvertisementThe six million Pokémon dollar question is when will it get a release. The reality is that you don’t get many years without a new game of some kind for the franchise. In 2018, a year after the launch of the Switch, we had Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee and then in 2019 there was Sword and Shield.
In 2020 we had The Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra DLC and then 2021 gave us Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. 2022 gave us two new titles with Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Scarlet and Violet and then last year was all about the latter’s DLC release.
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This means that we’re due something new by the end of the year in the very least, but the possible launch of a new console for Nintendo could be the only spanner in the timeline machine. You don’t normally get a new Pokémon game out around the launch window, so we might have to wait until Q1 2025 before we get the next installment of the game.
