The Pokémon Company has been incredibly busy behind the scenes as of late, it seems. In the first half of 2019 alone, Pokéfans have already been treated to the likes of live-action flick Detective Pikachu and confirmation of two brand new Switch games, but the streak of success doesn’t end there.
As announced earlier this week, a special press conference detailing current and future Pokémon projects aired yesterday, leaving a wealth of new details to pore over in its wake. We’ve already covered one of those reveals – a sequel to the original Detective Pikachu 3DS game – over here, but what of the rest? Well, as outlined previously, Nintendo’s mobile game partner DeNA (Super Mario Run) has been called upon once more to provide its services, this time in the form of Pokémon Masters.
Due to release later this year for iOS and Android devices, this particular addition to the mobile Pokémon family is a far cry from Niantic’s existing Pokémon Go. See for yourself in the video below:
To put it simply, Pokémon Masters will allow aspiring Trainers to team up with and battle Gym Leaders and Trainers from across the series’ 20-plus year history and is the brainchild of franchise co-creator Ken Sugimori. Familiar figures to appear in the footage include Misty and Brock, the latter of which can be seen heading into battle with his iconic companion, Onix.
From what we’ve so far witnessed, Pokémon Masters appears to be a drastic divergence from the tried and tested Pokémon RPG formula, but with Pokémon Go having already proved that new ideas have a place in the fandom, this latest project certainly holds much promise. Sadly, the stream of official details comes to an abrupt end there, though with a 2019 release date already confirmed, expect further information over the coming months. Stay tuned.