A new rumor says that the 2006 Nintendo DS games Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl are being remade for the Switch, with an official announcement scheduled for February. This aligned well with the rumors of a Nintendo Direct on February 27.
The Pokémon Center reports that the Pokémon Company is planning to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary with remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, which are supposed to feature capture mechanics more similar to the original games than the most recent iterations of Pokémon Let’s Go and Pokémon Sword and Shield.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of possible remakes of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, but it’s the first suggestion for a reveal date. At the end of last year, we reported a series of tweets from the famous leaker Kelios, claiming that Switch remakes would be released in November 2021, which would be a realistic launch window if the rumor is correct and the announcement comes next month.
The Pokémon community has been waiting to remake Pokémon Diamond and Pearl for a while. It’s been over a year since Pokémon Sword and Shield was released, and as Red and Blue, Gold and Silver and Sapphire and Ruby have all been remade, it seems inevitable for Nintendo to give Gen 4 a new coat of paint.
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl introduced the Sinnoh mountain region, as well as a lot of new world features and game mechanics. There was Pokémon Watch, which you can reinforce with apps you find throughout the game, as well as Underground, an area built for online multiplayer where you can create and decorate bases and play minigames.
In case you missed it, Pokémon Snap just released an official release date in April.