Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl have been confirmed for "late 2021"

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes have been confirmed as part of today's Pokemon Direct showcase.

The new games, titled Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, are remaks of the fourth-generation games, which released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS, and saw players explore the Sinnoh region. Battling looks a lot like the style adopted in Sword and Shield, but the rest of the world takes on a cute, almost chibi-style animation, not dissimilar to the art direction adopted for the remake of Link's Awakening. The two games are scheduled to release in "late 2021."

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Elsewhere in the Pokemon Direct, The Pokemon Company had plenty more to show off. As well as the remakes, The Pokemon Company showed off Pokemon Legends: Arceus, a look at the Sinnoh region set way before the events of the main series games, in a world where Pokemon roam much more freely than they do now. The new game is set to launch in 2022.

Rumors surrounding the existence of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, which celebrate their fifteenth anniversaries in September, have been swirling for several months. With the Pokemon franchise as a whole celebrating 25 years in 2021, fans were expecting big things from Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, and from today's showcase in particular. Just last night, one well-known leaker predicted the existence of both the remakes and the new Sinnoh-set game.  

To celebrate a quarter-century of catching 'em all, there'll be more Pokemon events and crossovers all year long, from the musical collaborations with Katy Perry and Post Malone to those focusing on the likes of the anime and the trading card game, as well as the mainline games.

Learn more about the massive new Pokemon game coming to Switch in 2022 with our Pokemon Legends: Arceus trailer breakdown.