Pokemon fans are being spoiled this holiday season. Not only are Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl arriving on November 19, but Pokemon Legends: Arcaeus, a new 3D iteration of the franchise with semi-open world Pokemon catching, launching January 28. The Pokemon Company may have no plans to slow down in 2022, either. A leaker is claiming they've heard a new Pokemon game, the 9th generation of the main franchise, will arrive in 2022, as well.
The report comes from Twitter account Centro Leaks, which frequently shares leaks from within the Pokemon community but doesn't provide sources or evidence of any kind. Regardless, they have shared accurate leaks in the past, which makes this potential leak notable. According to Centro Leaks, the 9th-generation Pokemon games are "well in development" and will launch in 2022. No further details about the release are provided.
Obviously, Centro Leaks is not an entirely reliable source on this matter. Yet it's an intriguing possibility, nevertheless. A late 2022 release for Game Freak's next Pokemon game would still provide plenty of time for it to roll out DLC for Pokemon Legends: Arceus, if it had the mind to. Annual iterations aren't outside of The Pokemon Company's ability, either. Between 2016 and 2019, The Pokemon Company released Pokemon Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon, Let's Go, Pikachu!, Let's Go, Eevee!, Sword, and Shield. If anything, a year without Pokemon is abnormal.
That said, it does seem like The Pokemon Company is accelerating its released of titles in the main franchise. Historically, The Pokemon Company would release additional versions of the same game before moving on, like Pokemon Yellow or Pokemon Crystal. Both Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon had Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, all released within the past five years. Perhaps focusing on DLC instead of iterative releases has opened up the opportunity for more frequent major game releases.
There's unfortunately no realistic way of verifying Centro Leaks' rumor at the moment, nor is official word likely to come soon. With big Pokemon game releases coming in November and January, as well as DLC likely to follow, an announcement of a 9th generation Pokemon game launching in 2022 is likely to be held off until well into next year.
One last aspect to this leak worth mentioning is that it could tie into another exciting rumor. Rumors suggest that Nintendo will possibly launch a Nintendo Switch Pro console that supports 4K resolution in 2022. A new Pokemon game that supports 4K would be an excellent system seller. 2022 is going to be very interesting for Pokemon fans, one way or another.
A new Pokemon main series entry is rumored for release in 2022.