Another Pokémon game is still coming in 2019

[AlphaKing]

Pokémon developer Game Freak has been busy with new titles for the Switch. In addition to Pokémon Quest, announced and released today, the developer will also release Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, for the system this year. But the developer still has plans for a “core” Pokémon game, due out next year, a spokesperson confirmed to The Verge.

Tsunekazu Ishihara, president of The Pokémon Company, promised “a core RPG Pokémon title on Nintendo Switch” from Game Freak in 2017. Few details have been released so far. Whether the game will launch exclusively for the Switch, remain on a handheld system, or be released as a combination of both is still unclear. When asked about launch platforms, the spokesperson declined to comment. The distinction made between this “core” title and Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! would suggest the upcoming title is still coming to the Switch. Both Let’s Go games are viewed as “expansions” on the series aimed at new or younger fans; they’ll focus on the original Kanto region popularized by the old games and animated show.

The Pokémon game series began with Red and Blue (or Green, in Japan), but the franchise has since spun off into a variety of different experiences, like Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Stadium, or the recently released Detective Pikachu. A “core” game, however, promises an RPG-heavy adventure, like those available on handhelds. The last entries in the core series were Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, which are enhanced versions of Pokémon Sun and Moon, that launched on Nintendo 3DS.