There are two things that Pokémon fans want to see in the year 2016, as the gaming/animation/card collecting franchise now turns two decades old. The first is Pokémon Z, which is the long-awaited follow-up to Pokémon X & Y, but it is not known what stage of development this is.  As for Pokémon GO, we just recently reported that the beta is finished, so its release date could be imminent.  Perhaps a new Super Bowl commercial during Super Bowl 50 will shed some new light on the release date of Pokémon GO, and possibly Pokémon Z.

Pokémon is going to join the advertisers who spend millions on Super Bowl Ads for Super Bowl 50.  Super Bowl Commercials reveals that they have purchased a 30-second ad, which is an investment of about 2.5 million dollars.  This ad is to honor the Pokémon anniversary of 20 years since Pokémon's first video games of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green being launched on Nintendo in Japan on February 27th, 1996.  In honor of this, Pokémon has launched a #Pokémon20 campaign on social media, asking the fans to share their "favorite Pokémon moments." 

There are no details about what the ad will actually be about, but the Pokémon Super Bowl 2016 commercial will encourage fans to "train on" and prepare their characters for the next battle.  Is this a reference to Pokémon GO where players are literally going to have to go places in real life to train the Pokémon that they find there?  It could be. 

It says that Pokémon has, "a few more surprises and developments in store for its consumers." MNR Daily confirmed this when it reported:  "To celebrate the momentous occasion, there will be a slew of upcoming events and promotions that will encompass all of the franchise's different mediums and facets, including its games, anime, merchandise, and movies".

Perhaps there will be more news on Pokémon Z, which still has yet to be announced by Pokémon, but is expected to be the follow-up to the popular Pokémon X and Y. The game is supposed to focus on Zygarde, and there are rumors about his form being some kind of odd fusion of two Pokémon and his five different forms, but that is about it. 

As for Pokémon GO, that is a mobile-based game developed for both iOS and Android, and it is under development from Niantic Labs. As stated before, the game will allow players to chase and catch Pokémon in real life, and there is even an optional Bluetooth accessory wristband that looks like a Pokémon ball to go along with it.

The Super Bowl 50 ad for Pokémon really looks like a set up to finally give a release date for Pokémon GO, but as far as Pokémon Z is concerned, it isn't even known if that is under development.  There were rumors of Pokémon GO being released in February, and this Super Bowl ad could confirm it.  We should know after February 7th.