Pokemon Generation 8 Coming to Switch?

Ever since Nintendo dropped the Switch in 2017, Pokemon fans have speculated as to when – not if – the beloved franchise would make its way to the hybrid console.

Fuel was added to the speculation flames last October after Game Freak’s Shigeru Ohmori stated Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon would be the last games on the Nintendo 3DS.

Below is the quote from the interview.

“With Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, we’ve tried to eke that out more and really, really push the system to its absolute limits, and we’re now feeling that perhaps this is the maximum of what we can get out. So we’re really treating Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon as the culmination of our work with the 3DS system.”

It appears trainers finally have an answer. According to a report on Nintendo Life, a Spanish edition of Nintendo magazine included some information  -albeit a small nugget of information – about the next edition of the Pokemon franchise  coming to the Switch.

Below is the tweet from @raqueruu that contains the magazine scan.

The images indicate Pokemon game for the Switch will be the eighth generation of the series. However, the i

It also notes the Pokemon Company will look to add new mechanics and the games will be slated to appear in late 2018. Given the release dates of the previous core games in the franchise –  including the most recent seventh generation of games, Pokemon Sun and Moon, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon – it’s likely the games will be released in November.

There was no details on the new mechanics – it could anything from new gameplay to additions to the user interface.

Although the magazine notes the game will be the eighth generation, it did not indicate whether it will be a reboot of the series, a re-release of an earlier title or if the game’s setting will be in a new region.

Nintendo and Pokemon have done both in the past. Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald hit the Gameboy Advance, the franchise released LeafGreen and FireRed shortly afterwards.

The first three generation titles of the Pokemon games have been released and fans are waiting for the fourth generation titles – Diamond, Pearl and Platinum – to debut on the 3DS or next generation consoles.

There has not been any official news release from Nintendo, Game Freak or the Pokemon Company,  so trainers should take these types of reports with a grain of salt. Although the magazine is an official source for Nintendo, there’s a chance plans could change during the development process – or the game gets scrapped altogether.

But if all of this is true, it would be the first time a core Pokemon game has come out on a non handheld system.

There have been Pokemon games on the Nintendo 64, Gamecube and Wii, but those were spinoff games and not related to the core story.

Players will argue the Switch has capabilities of a handheld console, but it can be played on a television.

With the Switch’s capabilities, will trainers be able to import their Pokemon from previous games into next generation, or will have they have to start from scratch?

Trainers will have to wait for more news to find out.