What trainers are anticipating with the 25th Anniversary of Pokemon

2021 marks the 25th anniversary of Pokemon as a franchise as a whole. The whole year will anticipate new games, celebrations, and activities that will occur all over the world!

As trainers look forward to what the year 2021 has in store for them, they are even more thrilled to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Pokemon as a franchise. The world-famous pocket monster collecting and battling video game from Gamefreak has thrived since its debut in 1996 and continues to reach a new generation of players. Even outside the major core games that have dominated the handheld gaming market, Pokemon has extended its boundaries even into the mobile gaming world with Pokemon Go! Nintendo is ready to celebrate one of their most successful franchises with the fans that have demonstrated their dedication towards all things Pokemon. There are almost some guaranteed events that will be anticipated that will most likely happen this year.

New Games to be released

It is almost certain that a new game or an anniversary remake will be released this year for Pokemon trainers young and old to anticipate. Fans have rumored the thought that a Generation IV remake is on the verge of being released for the Nintendo Switch. The last remake that was released was Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, remakes of the Generation III games in 2014. The last games went hand-in-hand with the current game releases of Pokemon X and Y; any remake for Generation IV will obviously have the same in-game relationship with Pokemon Sword and Shield. For any region that has any major exploring features that would be incredible to see as a remastered game on the Nintendo Switch, it would be Sinnoh. It is almost inevitable to anticipate that a game will be released this year from Generation IV.

A long-awaited sequel that was a guilty pleasure for the earliest of Pokemon fans is the New Pokemon Snap that is to be released later this year. Announced last summer during Pokemon Presents, this spin-off photography and adventure game should have plenty of Pokemon since its original release on the Nintendo 64. The original game only featured Generation I Pokemon of the original 151 species. The teasing trailer featured Pokemon from almost every generation, so it should include a great majority of the Pokedex from the entire Pokemon world! With the first announcement of new games that are to be released for the anniversary of Pokemon, we should receive a release date for this game at some point this year.

There is no doubt about ruling out the possibility of other Pokemon games to be released in 2021. After all, it is a big deal for the franchise to reach twenty-five years and Nintendo will make sure this is given the ultimate celebration!

The celebration shared with Pokemon Go!

When the twentieth anniversary of Pokemon was celebrated five years ago, the biggest announcement to date was the release of the mobile game Pokemon Go for iOS and Android users. Five years later, this mobile game has been an absolute smash for the Pokemon franchise and has even introduced a new level of players and Pokemon fans. PoGo has introduced a new level of fun for players for the ones who have not been actively participating with the main core series; even more so introducing the same level of fun when seeing new Pokemon for the first time. It has been a huge success with introducing a new style of gameplay for users, even more so with bringing the playing style of PoGo to the videogame realm with the Let’s Go series; the first Pokemon game to be featured on Nintendo Switch!

Brining the twenty-fifth anniversary of the franchise and the fifth anniversary of PoGo together, there is much anticipation that there will be a handful of events that celebrate Pokemon all year long. For instance, during February there will be a Pokemon Go Tour: Kanto event which is currently on sale for $11.99 for players to participate in. This will most likely be an ongoing promotion that features all regions from the core gamer series for PoGo players to interact and catch Pokemon from every region of the Pokemon world. This should be the only major promotion for the game. There should be even bigger expectations for a larger celebration when the physical date of the anniversary of the app’s release approaches in July.

Other Pokemon anniversary elements to celebrate

The celebration of Pokemon does not stop at the games alone. Pokemon fans who are dedicated collectors of the trading card game can most likely anticipate that some anniversary sets will be released to commemorate twenty-five years of Pokemon. During the twentieth anniversary, Pokemon TCG: XY-Evolutions were the big decks that celebrated the original release of Pokemon TCG with the re-release of original set cards with some updated features. Collectors can definitely anticipate the same concept with the most recent expansion sets that are partnered with TCG Sword & Shield. These cards will definitely be rare editions that Pokemon collectors will look forward to adding to their collection.

In addition to trading cards, Funko POP will be releasing a rare silver Pikachu that will celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Pokemon franchise. The POP will be released in March, and can already be made for preorder for Pokemon fans to purchase.

Finally, what makes celebrating Pokemon during their anniversary any sweeter than one of their animated movies invading theaters worldwide this upcoming year? Pokemon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle should be making its international release this year. The story features new mythical Pokemon, Zarude the rogue-monkey Pokemon that is a major protector of the jungle! With a new Pokemon that is featured during a film, what follows is that is majorly distributed digitally via Mystery Gift for trainers to add to their recent copy of Pokemon Sword or Shield. Secrets of the Jungle may not be the only major film released for Pokemon and their anniversary this year. There might be a secret series to be released, just like Pokemon Origins once was.

The celebration of Pokemon is a huge benchmark for video games and entertainment. Twenty-five years of inspiring children to “be the very best like no one ever was,” and then some can only yield one of the biggest impacts of culture that has reached so many nations. The celebration of the anniversary will be something worth getting involved in if you are a Pokemon fan. A great year is in store for us, trainers, so let the festivities begin!