2016 is Pokemon’s 20th Anniversary

You might have heard rumours floating around that the next major installment for the Pokemon series will be released sometime in 2016. That’s kind of a given though since the last major release was Pokemon X & Y back in 2013 so we’re definitely due for the next main Pokemon title sometime soon. What’s interesting though is that next year will be Pokemon’s 20th anniversary. The first two games – Pokemon Red and Green released in Japan on February 27th, 1996 which means that the Pokemon series turns 20 early next year.

Now I’m a huge Pokemon fan so I’m really excited. I can’t help but wonder if they’ll do something akin to The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses which is a four-movement symphony that recounts various storylines in the Legend of Zelda series through orchestral renditions. They went on a worldwide tour for Zelda’s 25th anniversary in 2011. Here’s them playing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:

Will Pokemon be getting the same treatment? Here are a few of my guesses to how Pokemon’s 20th birthday will be celebrated, ordered from most likely to least likely:

• The Probable

We’ll just see the release of Pokemon “Z” (the sequel to Pokemon X and Y), maybe even with an added twist of having two sequels to both X and Y. We saw how they changed up the usual formula with Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 and I’m all for it. In fact I’ll even bet that Game Freak will go ahead and throw another curve-ball with either the naming of the game or its format. I mean we all thought that Pokemon Grey was the most logical name for the sequel to Pokemon Black and White. And the same is the case for X and Y. Pokemon ZX and ZY* anyone? On top of that we might even see see the release of an anniversary edition of Pokemon Red and Blue or other classic Pokemon games on the Nintendo e-shop.

*the names will probably be better than mine

• The Less Probable

What if they remade Pokemon Red and Blue again? What better way to show just how far the series has come from its humble roots? It’s actually been a theory of mine for a while now that Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen were originally released as a kind of anniversary homage for the 10th anniversary (although they released in 2004 but close enough) and they decided to stick with the remake motif for every subsequent generation.

Out of all the outcomes, this is probably the one I least want to happen. Frankly the only remakes I’m hoping to see are the ones for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. And on that note…

• The Impossible

They’ll remake Pokemon Diamond and Pearl! To celebrate two decades of Pokemon, Game Freak will release the remakes for two of my favourite Pokemon games in the entire series (arguably a contender for one of my favourite games period). But since this won’t be happening anytime soon I’ll begrudgingly return to my Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remake party of one…