Commemorating the anniversary
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| This is an editorial by Unown Lord. |
About the author
Unown Lord is the Research Editor at Bulbanews and Bulbapedia. He primarily discusses the future of the franchise and what could have been. |
Greetings,
I am an avid fan of the Pocket Monsters games who is profoundly interested in the series. Although I live in Israel, and I had not heard of Pokémon until the year of 2000, I like to view myself as a veteran player. It is for I identify with the Japanese player that I keep track on the current events regarding the games in Japan, and in the past year, I have been particularly zealous for the future lying ahead. In order to clarify, I would like to discuss the imminent anniversary of the release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green, but from the perspective of American players.
To celebrate the anniversary, the USA Pokémon Company will soon hold 26 tours by the name of "Pokémon 10th Anniversary Journey Across America". The tours will be primarily targeted at the National Championships Qualifying Tournaments, as well as special game downloads. These tours can in fact be compared to the National Pokémon League in Japan, which was scattered across the country, combined with the occasional campaigns of downloading special Pokémon in the various Pokémon Center stores and retail stores. However, with only one Pokémon Center and the yearly "Pokémon Rocks America" events that cover a marginal part of the United States, this concept is greatly befitting of the anniversary in the eyes of American players.
I live neither in Japan nor in the United States, so I cannot very well say that I am truly satisfied with the knowledge of there being such events, especially since they had existed in Japan long before the 10th anniversary was even conceivable. Yet, a certain fact has come to my attention, changing my scope entirely. On the subject of the National Championships, there have been said to be five future games scheduled for release in the United States, all of which will be given as prizes to the third, second and first place winners of the Championships determined in August.
One would think the five games in question might be Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, Ranger, as well as Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl. Ranger has been confirmed in the context of a stateside release, and the Mysterious Dungeon games have just recently been referenced by the Nintendo UK Web site. However, with little news on their state in Japan, Diamond and Pearl may very well not be released in the United States until after the year has passed. This gives way to the possibility that Trozei, which has yet to be released in the United States, will be included in the list alongside Ranger and Mysterious Dungeon, but with a yet unannounced game.
As for Diamond and Pearl, it might have been reasonable a month ago to expect the two games soon after the peak of the summer, around August. By now even that seems overtly optimistic, as we are still not at the point of holding solid impressions of the game content. Besides, even if the games were to be released in August, it would only apply to Japan - I find it dubious that the Japanese copies would be given as prize in an American tournament.
In light of the above, I find that Trozei is a much more likely candidate than Diamond and Pearl. If the number of future games were stated as being four - it would obviously pertain to the current four Path to Diamond and Pearl games. If it were six, then Diamond and Pearl would have to be counted as well, as illogical as that would be. But the number is indisputably five. Of course, this begs another question to which the answer is not as simple - the fifth game that has been unheard of in Japan.
The reason for my insistence upon this fact goes beyond pedantry with numbers. The 10th anniversary of Red and Green's release is merely a few days away, and yet there are more signs of the event's commemoration in the United States than there are in Japan. Suffice to say, the release of Diamond and Pearl would serve this role more than well, but instead we are left with Ranger, which is clearly not meant to represent the special occasion. On the other hand, if a surprise announcement revealed that another game had been planned all along, everything would finally be put into perspective. But further, this game would represent the original Red and Green games in being the third game to Fire Red and Leaf Green.
If to conclude, I am of the strong opinion that the anniversary will not go unnoticed in Japan - thanks to this mysterious third game that is almost certainly in store. As much as I would like to go on with my speculation on the matter, I feel I have written sufficiently enough. My purpose in sharing my thoughts with you is simple - I wish to see if you share my sentiments on the anniversary and the progress of the Pocket Monsters series. I would appreciate it to no end if we could hold such an insightful discussion.