Pokémon fans are pointing to what they think are hints of a Switch announcement, according to rumors
Pokémon fans are in heavy speculation mode this about the series’ upcoming Switch version, which has yet to be officially revealed. But potential leaks, a number of tweets and other seemingly compelling evidence has fans convinced that they already know what that Nintendo Switch game is.
The below “hints,” as the Pokémon community calls them, are all unconfirmed, as is any other supposed information. But that hasn’t stopped the internet from believing that Pokémon’s Switch debut will be a dual release called Pokémon Let’s Go!, even if there’s just as much reason to wave this all off as fiction.
Without further ado, let’s go get into the current slate of rumors.
The biggest clue, according to fans, Twitter and forum users, comes from 4chan. A thread on the image board’s Pokémon section suggests that Pokémon Let’s Go! Pikachu Edition and Pokémon Let’s Go! Eevee Edition are two Switch games coming this fall, the first pair from the Pokémon franchise to hit the console. Attached is art of a potential logo for these titles, which users see as lending further credence to the alleged leak.
It’s important to note that there’s a tiny trademark logo in the lower right-hand corner of the artwork, but there doesn’t appear to be a matching trademark filing. There’s also the matter of its actual production; it looks unfinished, even hand-drawn. (We’ve reached out to The Pokémon Company for confirmation of the logo’s legitimacy, as well as the rest of the rumors in this piece.)
So there’s reason to have doubt about the logo’s veracity. But an earlier thread from 4chan contains details that do sound more plausible.
All the way back on March 31, a separate thread claimed to offer the first details of the upcoming Pokémon Switch game. This anonymous user wrote that Let’s Go! would be “[ Pokémon Yellow] remakes for Switch” sold in both Pikachu and Eevee versions; the games would star Red and Blue, the original trainer and rival from the first-gen of the franchise. As for gameplay, the user said that Pokémon would both follow the player and offer their help to clear paths, surf and perform other typically moveset-based actions.
This all sounds like a departure from what we’d expect: a standard Pokémon role-playing game for Switch. But The Pokémon Company has a history of experimenting with its first release from the franchise on a new Nintendo console. Remember the racing spinoff Pokémon Dash for Nintendo DS? Or Pokémon Rumble Blast for Nintendo 3DS? (Your answer might be no, but it just goes to show that perhaps we should lower our expectations.)
The most surprising thing included in the so-called leak? That the Let’s Go! games would offer Pokémon Go integration, with a similar capture system to the mobile game. There would even be an accessory that would physically link the two games together.
It would make sense for The Pokémon Company to further capitalize on Pokémon Go ’s success. After all, producer Junichi Masuda did tell Game Informer in 2016 that he hoped to figure out a way to connect the main series games to Pokémon Go.
“We want to have a kind of way to connect the two, or have a way for people who enjoyed one to enjoy some of their progress in the other,” Masuda said. “But that will definitely come down the road.”
And in terms of the accessory, The Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara told Bloomberg in September that he wasn’t ruling out additional peripherals for the Switch game.
“I can’t say that we’ll release accessories, but I’d like to think of that possibility.”
In Game Informer’s 2017 video interview with Masuda and Sun and Moon director Shigeru Ohmori, both mentioned that the Switch is suitable for playing outside as well — a perfect fit for Pokémon Go -style play.
In that same interview, however, both designers seemed to insist that the Pokémon game they were working on was a role-playing game. Pokémon Let’s Go! sounds RPG-adjacent, but not the full-fledged entry we’d expect.
At this point, major Pokémon sites like Serebii have reported on this info as strictly unconfirmed rumors. Serebii.net, the best-known Pokémon fan site, included a round-up of the info in a news post. Its owner, Joe Merrick, commented on how difficult the decision to report on the rumors was for him.
“I’m so unbelievably conflicted,” he tweeted. When asked whether he thinks the information is accurate, he responded, “I feel sick.”
I’ve been umming and ahhing about whether or not to post this for hours. I am so unbelievably conflicted. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I ignored this. https://t.co/tvcftLUhbz
At least two other Twitter users have chimed in to adamantly confirm the rumors, however. Pixelpar, a member of the Pokémon social media community, even spent the month of April illustrating a variety of hints at what he purported the Pokémon Switch game would be. A video compilation is below; the details are similar to that of the 4chan post, albeit with some very nice drawings.
The last thing to address are the supposed two versions of the game. Pikachu has always been a big deal. But what about Eevee? The normal-type Pokémon is similarly beloved, but The Pokémon Company has paid an increasing amount of attention to it as of late. A new merch collection co-starring Pikachu and Eevee hits the Japanese Pokémon Center on May 19, which some think seems like more than a random collab.
Going based off merch has led the Pokémon community dramatically astray before, however. A line called Look to the Stars left many convinced that a game called Pokémon Stars would come to either Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Switch last May, compounded by months of anonymously sourced rumors and reports. That game obviously never happened; we got Ultra Moon an d Ultra Sun instead.
Anyway, more Eevee goodness: The recently launched Poké Times Twitter has a nice photo set featuring just Pikachu and its pal Eevee.
ポケモンカフェのサイトでも紹介していますが、情報局からも楽しみ方をご紹介 ❗️ ポケモンカフェにはかわいい「映える」スポットがたくさんあるんです みなさんも、とっておきの１枚を目指して撮影してみてくださいね ✨ https://t.co/LS7hUct1V2 pic.twitter.com/TrOEINpX6r
Producer Junichi Masuda tweeted an image from the Game Freak account last week, which has just enough hint of Eevee to make the more conspiratorial Pokémon fans take it as a sign that Let’s Go! is A Thing.
今朝、株ポケモンでデカイボール発見(笑) pic.twitter.com/U3YDR6i7kY
This seems like a major stretch; it really just looks like an innocuous picture.
