Pokémon gets its own Nintendo Direct later this week, here's 3 things to expect

The Pokémon Company has revealed that it will host its annual Pokémon Presents presentation as part of the franchise's anniversary on February 27th later this week.

Set to air across the official Pokémon YouTube channel from 6AM PT / 9AM ET / 2PM GMT this coming Sunday, the livestream will be 14 minutes long with fans of the catch 'em all series advised to tune in for the latest announcements. For those that are unaware, this is the equivalent of a Nintendo Direct, just specifically for Pokémon. 

A 20-minute Pokémon Presents event took place on February 26th in 2021 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise. During this, we got a better look and release date for New Pokémon Snap, alongside the first announcements of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. 

While we don't have a magic Poké Ball that looks into the future, here's three things that we think have a good chance of showing up at the event.

Pokémon: Let's Go, Johto! 

Okay, let's start with the big one. Pretty much every year in recent history, The Pokémon Company has had a major release scheduled for sometime between October to November. Last year it was Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, with Pokémon Sword and Shield's release and DLC covering that window in 2019 and 2020, respectively. 

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee were the main releases in 2020, which were essentially remakes of Pokémon Yellow. This was the first time Pokémon appeared in the overworld too. The Let's Go duo are currently the eighth best-selling games on the Nintendo Switch at 14.33 million units sold. So, all of this coupled with the fact that fans (including myself) really enjoyed revisiting Kanto in this new style, likely could mean a sequel is on the way. 

Logic would dictate this to be a remake of generation two (Pokémon Crystal) set in the Johto region. The question is: who would be on the box art? Let's Go, Marill? Let's Go, Togepi? Let's Go, Pichu? How about Let's Go, Miltank? Or even Let's Go, Snubbull? Plenty to choose from.  

Pokémon Legends: Arceus DLC 

Since launching in January, Pokémon Legends: Arceus has already sold 6.5 million copies globally – and that was in its first week alone. Fan reception to the first open world Pokémon has been hugely positive. To help carry momentum forward throughout the year, some downloadable content would make a lot of sense. 

The Pokémon Company has precedence for this too, with Sword and Shield receiving its own DLC a year after release (as previously mentioned). Now, this could once again fill that November slot we spoke of, or be poised for a summer release. Either way, with only 242 out of 898 Pokémon available to catch in Arceus, adding another 100 is an easy way to keep people coming back for more. 

Pokémon on mobile  

While not exactly the most popular with hardcore fans, Pokémon on mobile has done extremely well with a more casual audience. Let's not underestimate Pokémon GO either. The location-based AR mobile game has accumulated more than five billion dollars in consumer spending (via Sensor Tower) since launching in July 2016. 

In general, The Pokémon Company likes to experiment much more with mobile than Nintendo, releasing Pokémon Unite, Pokémon Masters, Pokémon Smile and Pokémon Café Mix, to name a few, in recent years. It's probable it has something else in the works. What happened to Pokémon Sleep, for instance? After being announced in May 2019, the sleep monitoring app has not been seen since. This might be the time for its awakening.

The Pokémon Presents event will begin streaming from 6AM PT / 9AM ET / 2PM GMT on February 27th, 2022. With so many video game releases happening at the moment, it's hard to believe that Pokémon Legends: Arceus hasn't even been out a whole month. 

Speaking of which, Pokémon Legends: Arceus has a hidden feature that instantly makes the game better that we recommend trying out.