It has been brought to our attention that there was a misconstrued translation in the sticker advertisement story we posted the other day. Instead of the advertisement reading "plus a Pokemon that's
introduced in the movie," it should be interpreted as "plus a Pokemon that
appears in the movie." This change invalidates the entire story, obviously, since
any Pokemon can appear in the movie. There was actually a lot of debate among our translators regarding the translation's meaning after the story was posted, but it was ultimately decided that the translation was accurate because the specific word is often used in Japanese to mean "introduce" (in terms of a character that has not appeared before) and because the Japanese wording was odd in the way it was stating that other Pokemon would be in the product. We have now determined that the advertisement was simply using ambiguous wording to generate hype (an old marketing strategy). Therefore, I deeply apologize for the misconstrued information.
Despite the above, thanks to Yaminokame, we have recently learned that
CoroCoro is going to have a "world-first" announcement in their next issue. In the current December 15th issue's preview section of the upcoming January 15th issue, there is a little blurb that states: "Pocket Monsters
Master of Illusion: Z Quick Report!! Because it's CoroCoro there is a possibility for a world-first announcement!!"
CoroCoro has revealed major news dozens of times before, including new Pokemon to be featured in upcoming movies, so the same may occur this time as well since the "world-first" announcement is concerning the 13th movie and they specifically reference their reputation. The issue will likely be leaked on the Internet between the 10th and 15th, and when it is, we will find out what they are talking about! (A silhouette of a Pokemon is usually what they show first, by the way.) However, there is a possibility the news will simply be something related to the movie's plot or even some promotional images - there are no guarantees it will be a new Pokemon, as it's still a bit early in the year. But we should definitely be seeing one in the next few months.
But that's not all!
Pokemon Sunday, which will air two days after the magazine is officially released, has
stated through their episode synopsis that they will be announcing something important on their January 17th show during the game segment. What could it be? Well, literally anything, so it may have nothing to do with any of this speculation or
CoroCoro's announcement. But it may!
It seems like Ash's main journey in Sinnoh will end soon, as he [spoilers following] has one more badge to obtain and the
new opening that aired in Japan yesterday shows off almost all Legendary Pokemon known so far - as if this is supposed to be the last epic opening to the show before something new, such as a 5th generation Pokemon, comes along. It's also convenient that this new opening is beginning to air around the time all these alleged announcements are coming. Not to mention that Ash's team will soon be very powerful (as evidenced by the evolutions he has), perhaps meaning he is going to face a big challenge soon (Battle Frontier? Elite Four?). Remember,
Masamitsu Hidaka, the old director of the show, stated that the writers begin to evolve Ash's Pokemon when something big is coming up, and Ash's team is due for two evolutions soon as the opening shows.
And that's still not all! In a
recent interview with a Japanese newspaper, the president of Nintendo commented that the DS's successor "[will have] highly detailed graphics" and "a sensor with the ability to read the movements of people playing." Recently, Gamefreak, the creators of the main Pokemon games,
solicited to hire 3D artists. Perhaps they were seeking these employees to help with the 5th generation games since they will be on an apparently powerful 3D handheld. As Gamefreak currently only makes Pokemon games, where else would the 3D artists go? And since it would make sense for the new games to be in the works right now, some Pokemon designs are probably already finished and ready to be advertised. Again, these are just theories... what you would call "speculation." Not all of the facts are known or can be known. In the past, though, connecting the dots has often lead the Pokemon fandom to discovering patterns and predicting what will happen in the future.
In the article, Nintendo's president also refused to state an estimated release date for the DS's successor, instead citing that the DS is selling extremely well now. This implies that the successor will not be released anytime soon, though it is definitely in the horizon. We can probably guess it will be released in 2011, since 2010 is too early and 2012 is too far away for them to even begin dropping hints about their next handheld. If this theory is true, within the next few months we could begin seeing 5th generation Pokemon showcased (if our other news stories haven't convinced you already, specifically the ones about "Z"). Kecleon, Wailmer, and Azurill were the first 3rd generation Pokemon to be seen, revealed in March 2001 for 2002's
Ruby and Sapphire, and Munchlax was the first 4th generation Pokemon, revealed in May 2004 for 2006's
Diamond and Pearl. We could begin to see silhouettes as soon as this month (though probably later than sooner), with the fully revealed Pokemon later on.
Remember, most of this is just theory based on some facts and speculation. However,
CoroCoro will probably reveal something major no matter what, and there will probably be 5th generation Pokemon coming soon no matter what. "Z" is probably a 5th generation Pokemon, and if not, we'll get something else instead. We'll see what happens regarding this speculation as the year unfolds!
