Pokemon Black and White Version 2 announced for DS, coming soon to North America

Pokemon fans have been waiting months for Nintendo and Pokemon Company to finally reveal the follow-up to last year's Pokemon Black and White. That at last happened in Japan today, but in a strange twist, the developer broke from it's third game/third color tradition. Instead, take your first look at Pokemon Black Version 2 and Pokemon White Version 2 coming soon to the DS. Yes, the Nintendo DS, not the 3DS (though obviously it'll be playable on that system too, which is pointed out in Japanese below).

Announced on a Sunday morning show in Japan and quickly confirmed by the English-speaking side, details are scarce and from the naming we can't tell if it's an update or a full sequel. In Japan the two games are called "Pokemon Black 2" and "Pokemon White 2," but the US side's use of "Version" seems to imply a new iteration on the last games instead of a fully new title. [UPDATE: Nintendo has confirmed that Pokemon Black Version 2 and Pokemon White Version 2 are scheduled for an autumn 2012 release in North America and Europe.]

Other than the two new legendaries pictured above that were unnamed but look a lot like B/W's Reshiram and Zekrom, no new pocket monsters were hinted at. [Update: Poke mastermind Junich Masuda revealed on Twitter that those two are different forms of B/W's third legendary dragon type Kyurem. They are named Black Kyurem and White Kyurem.] Will there be a new story too? Will it build on the dense plot of the last one? Will it have any features exclusive to the 3DS, similar to Silver/Gold's use of the Game Boy Color? So many questions.

Above: The first US image of the mysterious new legendaries

We'll keep you posted just as soon as we know of any answers or international release date. We do know it's out in Japan this June. Cross your fingers that they can turn it around before the end of 2012 for the rest of the world.