So Zeraora was just officially revealed; what does this say for Gen 8's Release?

[Team Gaara]

So Zeraora just was officially revealed after 86 years~



And as we have confirmed, we will be obtaining it in USUM and not Gen 8 (minor speculation was that we wouldn't get it till then).

But now that he's out of the way, Gen 8 is pretty much next on the horizon as there's nothing else they need to finish after we can obtain a Zeraora event, which will almost certainly tie in with the movie in July.

So to the point, it'll be mid year by the time we get Zeraora. Do we think Gen 8 trailers will start dropping later on this year? Early next year? I personally think early 2019 is a safer bet than late 2018, but just wanted to get some thoughts. This isn't about rumors/fakes/leaks, just general thoughts on when Gen 8 content might start appearing.

 

[KiranTheWitch]

The only next thing we can get is either a reboot or Gen 8 so we will see.

 

[Bolt Strike]

It does imply that the game may be announced this year. They don't really have anything to fill the news waves in the second half of the year. As for when it's releasing, it's starting to look like 2019. New generations tend to have a 6 month release window, and they might extend that a bit for this game because it's a console game and would take longer to work on, so the only plausible scenario where it releases in 2018 is with a May/June announcement and then a November/December release.

 

[Jukain]

This doesn't really change anything for me other than the last mythical is once again out of the way, so we can actually expect something now. It's still possible to get something in May, but I don't really know. No other thing being indicated in merch does kind of trouble me, but it could also mean something was missed. The merch reveals are later this month.

 

[WallflowerCanyon]

IIRC, Pokeshopper had said that at the end of this month, he would be in the clear to reveal what it was he saw in merch other than Zeraora. Suspicious and interesting, considering that the Nintendo investor's meeting is on the 26th and by then they should be giving us a more definitive release date of the game.

 

[Lillie Blossoms]

Doubt it changes that much for potential Switch news at least they're getting it out of the way finally finishing Gen 7!

 

[WallflowerCanyon]

In relation to my previous post; if you're gonna try to find the tweets that I'm talking about, good luck. It looks like he deleted them.

Since we're supposed to be getting more info about Zeraora on the 12th, I think any day after the 12th will be fair game for a Pokemon Direct to happen to reveal the game.

 

[SodiumChloride]

I think this means we will start getting gen 8 info VERY soon. SM was revealed 2 weeks after megearna. Mabye we will see gen 8 next week or even THIS week.

 

[Feign]

So I was looking for that quote I vaguely remember about promoting Pokemon throughout the year, and Zeraora seems like it would put a dent in that. I couldn't find that quote, but I did find this article:

So, what happened with Pokémon Stars?

It's old, but they're very confident that Pokemon Stars was never just a tech demo, and was developed concurrently with Sun and Moon as part of that generation in case the Switch needed a boost in sales. It goes on to state that it's probably a good thing the games weren't released:

I'm confident that Pokémon for Switch, when it is finally fully detailed next year [2018], will be far more surprising than a port of a year-old 3DS title. It will have benefited from far longer in development as well.

To summarize:

The games will have had more time in development than the entirety of Ultra Sun and Moon, which he claims started at the same time as the original Sun and Moon. We will have, at minimum, a full understanding of the games this year. They likely won't be using the same assets as the 3DS game. Could the Lapras leak be from Stars?

Anyway, if he is correct, then I am guessing 2018/for sure.

 

[SodiumChloride]

So I was looking for that quote I vaguely remember about promoting Pokemon throughout the year, and Zeraora seems like it would put a dent in that. I couldn't find that quote, but I did find this article:

So, what happened with Pokémon Stars?

It's old, but they're very confident that Pokemon Stars was never just a tech demo, and was developed concurrently with Sun and Moon as part of that generation in case the Switch needed a boost in sales. It goes on to state that it's probably a good thing the games weren't released:

I'm confident that Pokémon for Switch, when it is finally fully detailed next year [2018], will be far more surprising than a port of a year-old 3DS title. It will have benefited from far longer in development as well.

To summarize:

The games will have had more time in development than the entirety of Ultra Sun and Moon, which he claims started at the same time as the original Sun and Moon. We will have, at minimum, a full understanding of the games this year. They likely won't be using the same assets as the 3DS game. Could the Lapras leak be from Stars?

Anyway, if he is correct, then I am guessing 2018/for sure.

I'm confused, are they saying stars is gen 8 or a port?

 

[Feign]

I'm confused, are they saying stars is gen 8 or a port?

They're saying Stars was split up into Ultra Sun and Moon. It was going to be the third version, but for a new console, just in case the Switch was struggling. Apparently December 2016, something changed and they decided to make the always planned Stars into Ultra Sun and Moon. Of course, this leaves me with so many more questions.

 

[KiranTheWitch]

So I should this gonna be our new speculations thread? If so, can we all agree to be respectful of others and their opinions and follow the TOS that we all agreed to when we signed up?

Awesome.

I saw something on 4chan about Pokémon Desert and Pokémon Oasis. It got removed from twitter pretty quickly.

 

[KiranTheWitch]

What if the first gen 8 game is just a continuation of gen 7 afterall?

 

[SodiumChloride]

So I should this gonna be our new speculations thread? If so, can we all agree to be respectful of others and their opinions and follow the TOS that we all agreed to when we signed up?

Awesome.

I saw something on 4chan about Pokémon Desert and Pokémon Oasis. It got removed from twitter pretty quickly.

The desert and Oasis thing looks fake

 

[Deleted member 99699]

I wouldn't necessarily say gen 8 is guaranteed to come out this year, but Zeraora's reveal was pretty much the last thing that had to be done before the hype train commences. I think we should get something in either May or June that's related to Switch games.

 

[Esserise]

Now that Zeraora has been revealed, I may not be totally convinced that the games will come out this year, but I am beginning to lean toward that possibility. I do think they will be set in Kanto. I also suspect that Game Freak aren’t up to the task before them and that the games will not be very good.

 

[Oriden]

So I should this gonna be our new speculations thread? If so, can we all agree to be respectful of others and their opinions and follow the TOS that we all agreed to when we signed up?

Awesome.

I saw something on 4chan about Pokémon Desert and Pokémon Oasis. It got removed from twitter pretty quickly.

I wouldn't jump into making this the new speculation thread... it's very much a "When do you think we're going to get gen 8?" thread and I'm pretty sure bringing any other kind of speculation into it might be considered rude and off-topic. =/

On that note, though, I figure we'll see an announcement for the next games either this month or next. Can't make a call on the release date, though, because my bets have long been either November/December 2018 or January-March 2019. It's gotta be around the cusp of the year either way, and it really depends on whether they decide that they need more or fewer months to lead up to it and what kind of game we're getting. Like... a Kanto revisit probably wouldn't be given too many months of teaser compared to a new region- less fodder to tease.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Agreed on sticking to the topic the OP intended. The actual speculation thread situation is still being discussed by staff as of this post.

 

[Joker901]

Serebii posted the new official movie plot. I wouldn't cut the 2018 possibility out yet cause it seems there are still mysteries in the movie, no new pokemon/forms probably, but there's something else to be discovered for sure. The plot says "Everyone's friendship, both people's and Pokémon's, will now cause a miracle to occur."
Maybe this miracle is that they will finally announce the switch titles XD

Once a year, a "wind festival" is held in Fura City, the city where people live together with the wind. On the final day of the festival, the legendary Pokémon Lugia will appear and give the people the blessed wind, a promise said to date back to the distant past.
Lisa, the highschooler and Pokémon rookie. Kagachi, the braggart that just can't stop telling tall tales. Trito, the timid researcher that lacks confidence. Hisui, the old eccentric that hates Pokémon. Largo, the mysterious little girl that hangs around in the forest all by herself.
While they're participating in the festival, Ash and Pikachu meets these five companions by pure coincidence. Each of them has their own worries on their mind, and are unable to take a step forward together with their partner Pokémon, but when they meet each other, the cogs of destiny start turning......
Will the promise with Lugia be kept? And just what is the true identity of the mythical Pokémon Zeraora??
Everyone's friendship, both people's and Pokémon's, will now cause a miracle to occur.

In addition to this, we also have some new data regarding the characters
Largo - A little girl living in Fura City, and the mayor's daughter. She's a resolute and kind little lady. It appears she has something to to with the mythical Pokémon Zeraora, but...
Lisa - A highschooler and Pokémon rookie. She came to the wind festival in order to get an Eevee, which she had promised her injured little brother.
Trito - A Pokémon researcher who's bad at talking to others. He's participating in the wind festival in order to make a presentation related to his research, but he lacks the confidence and ends up just sitting there getting consoled by Chansey.
Kagachi - A braggart that just can't stop telling tall tales. He visited the wind festival together with his beloved niece. It appears Sudowoodo adores him for a very particular reason. He talks about how "There's a super rare Pokémon in this city!", but...
Hisui - An old woman living in Fura City that hates Pokémon. She started avoiding Pokémon because of something that happened in the past, but for some reason a lot of Pokémon follow her around, including a Totodile.
Riku - Lisa's younger brother. A young boy that loves Pokémon. He's hospitalized because of an injured leg.
Mayor Oliver - The mayor of Fura City and Largo's father. He is a strict man with a strong sense of responsibility. He is constantly on the move in order to ensure that the wind festival is a success.
Zeraora - A mythical Pokémon said to live in the mountain recesses of Fura City. By emitting an electric current from the pads on its arms and legs, it's able to move through the air at the speed of lightning.

 

[Lillie Blossoms]

Serebii posted the new official movie plot. I wouldn't cut the 2018 possibility out yet cause it seems there are still mysteries in the movie, no new pokemon/forms probably, but there's something else to be discovered for sure. The plot says "Everyone's friendship, both people's and Pokémon's, will now cause a miracle to occur."
Maybe this miracle is that they will finally announce the switch titles XD

Once a year, a "wind festival" is held in Fura City, the city where people live together with the wind. On the final day of the festival, the legendary Pokémon Lugia will appear and give the people the blessed wind, a promise said to date back to the distant past.
Lisa, the highschooler and Pokémon rookie. Kagachi, the braggart that just can't stop telling tall tales. Trito, the timid researcher that lacks confidence. Hisui, the old eccentric that hates Pokémon. Largo, the mysterious little girl that hangs around in the forest all by herself.
While they're participating in the festival, Ash and Pikachu meets these five companions by pure coincidence. Each of them has their own worries on their mind, and are unable to take a step forward together with their partner Pokémon, but when they meet each other, the cogs of destiny start turning......
Will the promise with Lugia be kept? And just what is the true identity of the mythical Pokémon Zeraora??
Everyone's friendship, both people's and Pokémon's, will now cause a miracle to occur.

In addition to this, we also have some new data regarding the characters
Largo - A little girl living in Fura City, and the mayor's daughter. She's a resolute and kind little lady. It appears she has something to to with the mythical Pokémon Zeraora, but...
Lisa - A highschooler and Pokémon rookie. She came to the wind festival in order to get an Eevee, which she had promised her injured little brother.
Trito - A Pokémon researcher who's bad at talking to others. He's participating in the wind festival in order to make a presentation related to his research, but he lacks the confidence and ends up just sitting there getting consoled by Chansey.
Kagachi - A braggart that just can't stop telling tall tales. He visited the wind festival together with his beloved niece. It appears Sudowoodo adores him for a very particular reason. He talks about how "There's a super rare Pokémon in this city!", but...
Hisui - An old woman living in Fura City that hates Pokémon. She started avoiding Pokémon because of something that happened in the past, but for some reason a lot of Pokémon follow her around, including a Totodile.
Riku - Lisa's younger brother. A young boy that loves Pokémon. He's hospitalized because of an injured leg.
Mayor Oliver - The mayor of Fura City and Largo's father. He is a strict man with a strong sense of responsibility. He is constantly on the move in order to ensure that the wind festival is a success.
Zeraora - A mythical Pokémon said to live in the mountain recesses of Fura City. By emitting an electric current from the pads on its arms and legs, it's able to move through the air at the speed of lightning.

Already loving Lisa already so beautiful and know she's obviously gonna have great scenes already!
Largo at first thought she wasn't gonna be much but now with Zeraora involved not the case now.
Hisui can't wait to find out why she hates Pokemon she'll likely change after the movie. This movie overall I'm looking foward to!