The upcoming Pokemon Presents will have 14 minutes of new information, and for a lot of fans this is big news even though Pokemon just released Legends: Arceus and the Gen 4 remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl. Both of these games have been successful, and while they’ve brought new Pokemon content to the Switch, they haven’t focused on new regions.
This has left many fans hopeful that the different Nintendo-related announcements happening early in 2022 will include the reveal of Pokemon’s ninth generation. This would introduce a new region for Pokemon fans to explore as well as new Pokemon and likely even some regional variants. News of Gen 9 was absent from the February 2022 Nintendo Direct which has turned a lot of attention to tomorrow's Pokemon Presents. However, as hopeful as many people are, they should be prepared for there to be no news about Gen 9.
Potential of The February 2022 Pokemon Presents
The length of the Pokemon Presents is expected to be about 14 minutes, which isn’t too substantial. There has been talk of rumored DLC for Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and if it proves to be true then fans could be looking at a showcase focused on this alongside some smaller topics. In this case, 14 minutes would be a perfect amount of time, but it also means that there won’t be a lot of space for a major new announcement.
The lack of fanfare surrounding this event also suggests that it might not come with something as major a reveal as a new generation. The February 24 announcement of the Pokemon Presents only gives a couple of days for the hype to build, and while a Nintendo Direct earlier this month delivered a lot of news without much of a heads-up, a short Pokemon Presents doesn’t seem as promising.
This doesn’t have to mean there won’t be any other big news. DLC for Pokemon Legends: Arceus would likely be well received by players, and it’s a perfect time for Pokemon Home to offer more features considering impending 3DS shutdowns. Fleshing out smaller stuff like this while revealing DLC for Pokemon’s newest game would be a solid plan, and an approach that doesn’t reveal too much very early in the year. Pokemon Gen 9 may not even release in 2022, which means the Pokemon Presents could serve as a precursor with a Gen 9 reveal later in the year - perhaps around E3.
A New Generation of Pokemon Games
The possibility of a Pokemon Gen 9 reveal at the Pokemon Presents isn’t completely off the table. There have been new Pokemon announcements all week in celebration of Pokemon Day, and the Pokemon Presents will be a part of the closer on Pokemon Day. Given the significance of Pokemon Day to both the brand and fans, this leaves the door open for a major reveal. This could be a lot of different things, but the most likely to draw in every fan of the series is the reveal of Gen 9.
Players have been brainstorming about what region will be focused on next, with some finding evidence that points toward an Indian region for Pokemon Gen 9, for example. There’s bound to be some great reveals if this is true, and given the amount of time since Pokemon Sword and Shield was released it feels like it’s time for Gen 9 to be announced.
Pokemon, and many other Nintendo games, are good at following patterns. For Pokemon games, this means having a new generation of games release every three-to-four years. Despite Pokemon Sword and Shield getting special max raid battles for Pokemon Day and its continued support, it has been almost three years since the Gen 8 games were released. Pokemon is quickly coming up on its longest amount of time since the release of a new generation of games, particularly prominent for the modern era.
Announcing a new generation at tomorrow’s Pokemon Presents would keep the pattern intact. An announcement could result in the new Pokemon Gen 9 releasing sometime later in the year like many of its more recent games, but a 2023 release date is more reasonable. Waiting until late 2023 for a new Pokemon game could mean that tomorrow’s Pokemon Presents won’t be when the Gen 9 reveal happens, as this could create too much of a gap between the announcement and release date.
It’s important to keep development time frames in mind. A lot has happened in the past couple of years that likely delayed work on Gen 9, and while a reveal at the Pokemon Presents tomorrow would be great, it’s still unlikely. Tomorrow’s Pokemon Presents will likely be focusing on future support for Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Pokemon Sword and Shield, as well as Pokemon GO.