Rumor: Pokémon Switch Rumors Suggest Going Back To Kanto

The internet has been lighting up in the last few days which over what appear to be possible leaks of a Pokémon game for Switch.

Yesterday, anonymous users of the image board 4chan, which is known for a number of true video game leaks and a far larger number of fake ones, posted the titles and details of what they claimed were the next few Pokémon games. Titled Pokémon Let's Go: Pikachu and Pokémon Let's Go: Eevee, the two titles are supposedly remakes or reimaginings of Pokémon Yellow.

Pokémon Yellow was the third game of the first generation, slightly redesigned to be more in line with the anime, with changes like getting all of the starter Pokémon in your team and starting with Pikachu instead. The battle sprites were also redrawn to be a little less abstract than they were in Red and Blue and look more like the cartoon.

The rumors go on to suggest that the title is no accident and developer Game Freak is trying to leverage the success of mobile game Pokémon Go by combining mainstay Pokémon features with that of Go. The post talks about not only making catching more like Pokémon Go, but also integrating the Switch titles with the mobile games, including using Pokémon Bank to trade between them.

Finally, the alleged leaker says that Pokeride, the Alolan service to ride certain Pokémon around returns, as does the Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver feature of letting your Pokémon follow you. A few months ago, a blurry screenshot appeared on the internet of a trainer riding a Lapras with an Eevee riding on the trainer's head. It was dismissed as fake due to the blurriness of the shot and the inexplicable use of the Eevee riding on the trainer. While the rumor creator could have also seen that shot and simply based their post on it, it is definitely curious.

Pokémon rumors happen all the time and fans will go far, from speculation disguised as rumors, to fake screenshots, to even fangames presented as real ones. Since a Switch Pokémon title was announced at E3 last year, fans have gone wild with speculation over what the first mainline console Pokémon could be like. These rumors, however, got a twist earlier today.

Two domains, "pokemonletsgopikachu.com" and "pokemonletsgoeevee.com," were registered by the domain registration company CSC Corporate Domains Inc. This is notable because CSC Corporate Domains also registered the domains for Pokémon Sun and Moon, pokemon-sunmoon.com website, which is the official website for the Generation 7 titles on 3DS. The Pokémon Sun and Moon website lists Game Freak, The Pokémon Company, and Nintendo as owners, while the latest websites do not. That sort of information can be kept hidden easily, however.

It is also worth noting that The Pokémon Company has been pushing Eevee as one of the mascots of the series hard in the last year, giving the Pokémon its own merchandising line and even making Eevee the center of The Pokémon Center April Fool's joke with a photoshopped appearance in Tekken 7.

With only a few weeks until E3, it is likely we'll hear about the game by then if it is indeed coming this year. Regardless of whether these rumors are accurate or not, it is fascinating how the Pokémon community rallies around speculation and rumors and tears them apart. The community is already split on whether this is real or fake, so a lot of people are likely to eat some crow when the Switch games are eventually revealed.

Our Take
Like I said, Pokémon rumors are constant, but these seem to have a bit more meat to them than most. We'll likely find out before too long, as I can't imagine remakes taking too long if they were in development along side Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.