While the Pokemon franchise won’t get a new mainline game to coincide with its 30th anniversary this year, that doesn’t mean the series is sitting idle while the milestone passes by. While fans wait for Pokemon Winds and Waves to release in 2027, Pokemon has started 2026 off strong. The Pokemon Company re-released Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen (the first mainline re-releases since 2017), put the cult classic Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness on Nintendo Switch Online (even if that version has had some big issues), saw their highest-rated release ever with Pokemon Pokopia, and the highly-anticipated official battle simulator Pokemon Champions will be coming to the Nintendo Switch and mobile phones on April 8. Beyond the video games, Pokemon also opened its own theme park in Japan back on February 5: PokePark Kanto.
Since Pokemon won’t put out a new mainline title this year, the companies behind it have been striving to celebrate the series in other ways, such as those highlighted above. However, they could only be the tip of the iceberg, because while we don’t know much about the franchise’s plans after Champions, there’s plenty of potential for more nostalgia-filled releases. And if that potential is realized, then both 2026 and 2027 could be two of the best years to be a Pokemon fan in a long time.
These Are the 6 Pokemon that FireRed and LeafGreen Players Will Want to Transfer to Champions
With the Switch versions of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen confirmed to be compatible with Pokemon Champions, there are 6 mons worth transferring over.
Pokemon’s Potential Retro Plans
The big question is what else The Pokemon Company has in store after this spring. For a milestone as big as 30 years, a name as big as Pokemon is unlikely to keep its video game plans to a few spring releases and be done with it. The mobile games like Pokemon GO and Pokemon Masters EX will undoubtedly continue getting updated throughout the year, but perhaps there’s hope for more retro Pokemon ports beyond FireRed and LeafGreen since there aren’t any brand-new games set for the near future.
Although it doesn’t have a date yet, XD‘s predecessor Pokemon Colosseum is already confirmed to be coming to the Nintendo Switch Online GameCube library. And while the dream would be for mainline games that don’t already have Switch remakes to come to the console, there’s no evidence that they will.
Granted, if there were plans for that, it makes sense that they started with FireRed and LeafGreen; porting the original remakes of the original Pokemon region to coincide with the anniversary is good timing. Plus, if they sell well, maybe one day fans will finally be able to replay Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver without going into debt. Either way, it feels like Nintendo and the Pokemon Company are only scratching the surface when it comes to celebratory content.
While We Wait for Winds and Waves, Pokemon Champions Will Serve as This Year’s “Big Title”
One thing we can assume for 2026 and likely even 2027 is that supporting Pokemon Champions will be a top priority for The Pokemon Company. It’s been confirmed that official Pokemon tournaments will use Champions instead of the newest mainline release going forward, so the series’ huge competitive scene will finally have a game tailored just to them that makes min-maxing easier than ever.
While we may not be getting a new mainline Pokemon adventure this year, Pokemon Champions is a big enough deal for competitive players and casual fans looking to join that scene, so much so that it might as well be as important as a full new main game. EV training, breeding for IVs and natures, and more have built a huge barrier to entry for fans curious about playing professionally in the past. The ability to tweak EVs, IVs, and abilities will make sure the game lasts a long time.
Spinning Off Into This Year and the Next
Even if Champions is going to be 2026’s big focus, the high quality of Pokemon Pokopia gives players hope that we might see some more big-budget console Pokemon spin-offs soon. Between the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2, there are only 5 spin-off Pokemon games that aren’t also ports of freemium mobile titles – 4 if you discount Pokken Tournament DX, which was a port of a Wii U game that was itself a port of an arcade game, and 3 if you discount Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, which was a remake of the original Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team.
DLC for Pokopia would be great news, but it’s been over 10 years since Pokemon Mystery Dungeon got a brand-new entry. Poor Pokemon Ranger hasn’t been seen since 2010, even though the Switch 2 Joy-Cons’ mouse controls would work well with the series’ core gameplay. Even if they don’t release this year, an announcement alone for new titles in long-dormant spin-off series would do so much to satisfy.
This Time, Pokemon’s Nostalgia Bait is Welcome
People may criticize Pokemon for depending too much on nostalgia at times, and that’s fair. But its 30th year is a perfect excuse to lean into the idea of pandering. Bringing back dormant but beloved titles, whether they be mainline or spin-off games, would arguably be more impactful than announcing the new main games that we always knew would be coming anyway.
So, as tired as I am of nostalgia bait, I’d be willing to accept it this year or even in 2027 as long as The Pokemon Company takes full advantage of it. People don’t only miss Kanto — we miss Johto, we miss Hoenn, we miss Sinnoh, and we miss the rest of the old regions (we even miss the spin-off regions like Ransei and Almia). Capitalizing on all of this love would make Pokemon’s 30th anniversary one to remember, and hopefully, that’s exactly what happens.
