Nintendo Files New Chinese Trademarks That Hint at Gen 9 Ahead of Pokemon Presents

The evidence that a new generation of Pokemon games will be announced today just got a bit stronger. Eagle-eyed Pokemon fans noticed that Nintendo filed trademarks in China this week that roughly translate to "Fire Crocodile" and "Leaf Cat." While the trademarks aren't supposed to be publicly accessible, they can be seen by editing the URLs of the webpage. You can check out the trademark filings here and here. The leaks are more than a little reminiscent of a similar leak that occurred back in 2016, when the Japanese names of the Starter Pokemon for the Alola region were leaked on via Japanese trademark filings. 

While this isn't proof positive that The Pokemon Company will announce a new Pokemon game today, this is the strongest evidence we've gotten so far. And the timeline does make sense in a way – Game Freak has released new "generations" of Pokemon games every three years or so. Pokemon X and Y were released in 2013, Pokemon Sun and Moon were released in 2016, while Pokemon Sword and Shield were released in 2019. Although The Pokemon Company has made more deviations from its traditional generational pattern in recent years, these new trademarks could be a sign of a brand new Pokemon region.

We'll know for certain in just under an hour, when The Pokemon Company releases a brand new Pokemon Presents detailing some new projects for the Pokemon Company. The Pokemon Presents comes at an exciting time as Pokemon fans don't know what to expect about the future of the franchise. Game Freak and The Pokemon Company have both shown a willingness to break away from the traditional Pokemon mold in recent years. With the release of DLC for Pokemon Sword and Shield and the paradigm shift that occurred in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, it seems that just about anything is possible in terms of announcements.

In addition to the possible new games, the safest bet for the Pokemon Presents is the announcement of Pokemon Legends: Arceus DLC, as that game has become a monster hit for Nintendo and The Pokemon Company. We should also get announcements of when that game and Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl will receive compatibility with Pokemon Home. It's also possible that we'll get new news about Detective Pikachu 2 or Pokemon Sleep, two projects that have been in development for what seems like years. Since The Pokemon Company just released two main series games in the past few months, it's more likely that we'll get the announcement of a spinoff game (such as a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon installment) than a new game announcement.

Let us know what you think will be announced in the comment section below!