It’s not uncommon for The Pokemon Company to release multiple games in the same year, but so far, there is only one major title it has scheduled for 2025:Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Revealed during a Pokemon Presents showcase in February 2024,Pokemon Legends: Z-Ais the next big game from Game Freak, and it’s the successor to the 2022 action RPGPokemon Legends: Arceus. UnlikeLegends: Arceus,Pokemon Legends: Z-Adoesn’t take place hundreds of years in the past. Instead, it’s set in the future, sometime after the events ofPokemon X and Y. The game takes place entirely within Lumiose City, the fictional region inspired by Paris, France, and it is part of the ninth generation ofPokemontitles.

Following its initial announcement, Game Freak and The Pokemon Company went silent onPokemon Legends: Z-Aand didn’t share any new information about the game, until only recently. During the February 2025 Pokemon Presents showcase, The Pokemon Company showed off a new trailer forPokemon Legends: Z-A, which gave players their first look at the game in action. In addition to revealing its story and combat mechanics, the trailer confirmed thatPokemon Legends: Z-Awould be released in late 2025for the Nintendo Switch. Although this release window is vague, it, at the very least, can help fans narrow down the launch date for the next generation ofPokemongames.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Release Window Could Give Some Clues As to When Gen 10 is Coming Out

Most Pokemon Generations Last About 3 Years, But Gen 9 May Break That Trend

As mostPokemonenthusiasts will know, the term “generation” is used to describe the period of time between the release of mainline entries in thePokemonseries.The current generation ofPokemongames, Gen 9, started off in 2022, following the launch ofPokemon Scarlet and Violet. These twoPokemontitles, as hard as it is to believe, are already over two years old. Judging by the patterns in the series' release schedule, the next generation ofPokemongames should be on the horizon.

Ever sinceGame Freak releasedPokemon Black and Whiteon the Nintendo DS in 2010, it has been launching a new pair of mainline entries in the series once every three years. It appears that this streak is finally going to break, however, with Generation 9. Unless Game Freak surprises fans by releasing a new pair of mainlinePokemongames this year (which is highly unlikely, givenPokemon Legends: Z-A’s release window), Gen 9 will be the first generation since Gen 4 to have a 4-year duration.

The Gen 10 Pokemon Games May Be Released in Late 2026 on Both the Switch and Switch 2

The release cadence of the recentPokemongames may provide additional insight into Gen 10’s potential launch window. The latestPokemon Legendsgame,Pokemon Legends: Arceus, made its debut in January 2022. Meanwhile, the newest mainlineentries in the series,Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, were launched in November of that year. If Generation 10 follows a similar trend, then perhaps the next mainlinePokemongames will come out around 10–11 months afterPokemon Legends Z-Ahits store shelves. Game Freak has made a habit of launchingmainline entries in thePokemonfranchiseduring the month of November, so it’s reasonable to assume that the Gen 10 games will be released in November 2026.

Although Nintendo’s next console, the Nintendo Switch 2, will almost certainly be out by the time the next mainlinePokemongames are released, it’s entirely possible, if not likely, that they will be launched on the original Switch as well. There are multiple major installments in thePokemonseries that have been released very late in the life cycle of Nintendo’s handhelds, so the Gen 10Pokemongames could follow the same pattern. Consideringhow popular the Nintendo Switch still is, it’s hard to imagine that Game Freak won’t release these upcoming titles on the console, even if it is pretty old.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A

WHERE TO PLAY

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is an ambitious new entry to the Pokémon video game series, releasing simultaneously worldwide in 2025. A new adventure awaits within Lumiose City, where an urban redevelopment plan is underway to shape the city into a place that belongs to both people and Pokémon.