Pokémon Sunday is a sort of “fanservice” show in Japan, featuring reruns of old Pokémon episodes as well as a live-action “research” segment. This is less exciting than it sounds and basically consists of a “Pokémon research team” answering audience questions about the little critters sent to them via the Internet.
Sunday is a pretty popular show in Japan and has been used to promote the Pokémon games on various occasions in the past. The Diamond and Pearl launch was promoted by the hosts of the show and the games’ executive producer Junichi Masuda has made an appearance on the show as well.
Now, it seems that Nintendo/Game Freak/TV Tokyo/Whoever else is involved with the franchise are gearing up to make a big announcement on next week’s episode during the “Pokémon Game Arena” segment. A quote from the show’s website regarding the contents of the episode talks of “A worldwide first announcement and a worldwide first big scoop.”
Furthermore, it seems the next issues of Japanese mags CoroCoro – which got the scoop on Pokémon Platinum last year – and Nintendo Dream are both in the know as well and will further elaborate on the game when they are released after the show next week. The preview for the announcement on the last Pokémon Sunday episode consisted of two balls; one gold and one silver, further adding fuel to the fire.
But wait! It gets better. The latest movie in the Diamond & Pearl movie trilogy, “Arceus: Toward the Overcome’s Time Space” just so happens to feature the Johto starter Pokémon as well. Coincidence? Doubtful.
With Fire Red and Leaf Green already out, it makes sense for the Gold/Silver remakes to be next. Pokémon Crystal was my favourite game for a long, long time. This might just be what reignites my love for the franchise after Diamond and Pearl failed to charm me in any way.
Does anyone else want Gold/Silver remakes?
Food for thought:
1. Since Gold/Silver/Crystal allowed you to revisit the Kanto region, this could be an excellent opportunity to make the first two generations completely compatible with the new one without the use of a GBA cart.
2. What are the chances of us seeing two new Deoxys forms – Special Atk and Special Def?
3. Will the red Gyarados make a return? This would be great for shiny collectors.