Considering that 2016 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, it is no wonder that there will be two new Pokémon-related games coming made just for the fans. One of them was announced last year with Pokémon GO, and it is a location-based game specifically made for mobile platforms. Less is known about Pokémon Sun and Moon, but this is the latest on their release dates, new characters, and gameplay.
There is a report from The Bit Bag which quotes everyone's favorite video gaming leak website NeoGAF, saying that two possible mysterious Pokémon known as Solgaleo and Lunaala will be showing up for Pokémon Sun and Moon. It looks like these two "pocket monsters" (where Pokémon derives its original name) matches the theme of the game, so that lends some credence.
Also, the name of Pokémon Sun and Moon has some possibilities as well. The name of "Sol" in Solgaleo implies the Spanish word for "sun" along with "leo" meaning lion, which implies some kind of fire Pokémon of some kind. As for the "Luna" in Lunaala, that means "moon". Anime News Network states that trademarks for Solgaleo and Lunaala were filed in Japan, and this went public as of March 22.
Of course, nothing has been officially confirmed by the Pokémon regarding this, but fans will often believe that things exist under development that really don't, such as Pokémon Z. It is possible that the names were posted in order to prevent more leaks on the game, to throw Pokémon fans off the scent, as it were. There was a similar strategy used by Nintendo before the release date of Pokémon X and Y, when Delphox and Meowstic were trademarks of the game.
So far, there still is no finalized and formal release date for Pokémon Sun and Moon, but it is believed to be out before the holidays of 2016. As for the other title of Pokémon GO, testing appears to be going well.
According to CNET, the augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO is still in the testing phase, but progress looks very good. In fact, there has been some test footage leaked, about eight to nine minutes worth that you can watch below if you are interested.
Pokémon GO is under development for the mobile platform with developers from both Nintendo and Niantic, developer of the hit game Ingress. The purpose of the game is to use a device's GPS in order to go into the real world and find Pokémon to catch and battle.
Pokémon GO is quite a game and just what the fans really want, but the release date still has not been finalized. If Pokémon is smart, this game should arrive to iOS and Android platforms in summertime, where the players will be encouraged to "pound the pavement" in the warm weather to find Pokémon.
