Confirming a report that emerged on Thursday, Nintendo today announced Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon. The games will be available this holiday on 3DS, Nintendo announced during its six-minute Pokemon Nintendo Direct briefing today. A new trailer for the series was also released. Check it out below.
No details were shared regarding gameplay elements, but what appears to be concept art and character designs for Sun and Moon are shown at the end of the video.
For the first time in franchise history, Sun and Moon will offer traditional and simplified Chinese as language options. Additionally, they will come with Pokemon Bank functionality, allowing players to move Pokemon wirelessly from Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow (coming to 3DS eShop tomorrow), as well as Omega Ruby, Alpha Sapphire, X, and Y, to Sun and Moon. More details on how this works are available here.
"The Pokemon core series games are the center of the Pokemon universe and provide some of the most memorable Pokemon moments for our fans," Pokemon Company marketing director J.C. Smith said in a statement. "I can't wait to see what fans think of the new adventures they'll find in Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon."
The announcement of Pokemon Sun and Moon today comes after the game's logos popped up on a European trademark registry on Thursday.Tomorrow, February 27, is the 20th anniversary of the Pokemon franchise's debut in Japan in 1996. Nintendo is planning a big celebration, including a 24-hour animation livestream event on Twitch, while classic Pokemon games Red, Blue, and Yellow will be released through the 3DS eShop tomorrow.
Additionally, actress Drew Barrymore is hosting a Pokemon party tomorrow in Los Angeles.
The next major Pokemon game is Pokken Tournament, which comes to Wii U in March. The latest entries in the series for 3DS were Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, which came out in November 2014.