Pokemon ‘Master Collection’ rumored for the Nintendo Switch

Paul Cot
Screenshot of Pokemon Red & Blue on Nintendo Switch.

2021 could be a big year for Pokemon fans. If the latest rumors are to be believed, then a Pokemon Master Collection could be coming to the Nintendo Switch.

“Releasing in March 2021 the anniversary collection will be called Pokemon Super Collection,” someone posted on 4chan in a now-deleted post. The same post states that the main games included will be Pokemon X/Y, Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, and Pokemon Sun/Moon.

It also claims that there will be five games in total, of which the other two aren’t listed. Additionally, the collection won’t include the ultra versions of Sun and Moon.

Pokemon HeartGold SoulSilver Trademark
The ‘re-trademarking’ of Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver has ignited the Pokemon rumor mill…

HeartGold SoulSilver trademark

On September 7, 2020, Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver were trademarked a second time. Some of you may wonder why the Pokemon Company would need to trademark these titles a second time.

The rules regarding trademarks vary from country to country. According to the USPTO the owner “must file a combined Declaration of Use (or Excusable Nonuse) and Application for Renewal between the ninth and tenth year after registration.”

So, according to that rule, the trademark will have needed to be renewed regardless. However, that doesn’t rule out the Pokemon Company intend to use HeartGold and SoulSilver in the future.

What about the older games?

As this is a rumor, and still in its infancy at that, details beyond what we shared above are unknown. The selection of titles is interesting given no games from either Gen 1, 2 or 4 are listed.

However, given it is being referred to as a Master Collection it is difficult to believe at least some of these won’t be included in some form. If the likes of Red/Blue (or Fire Red/Leaf Green), and any other games pre Pokemon X and Y were included, they would surely be popular.

There may be a simple explanation behind their apparent exclusion, though. Gen 1 may come in the form of the GBA versions of the game or might be excluded entirely to encourage the use of Pokemon Let’s Go.

Also, there are strong rumors surrounding the possibility of a Let’s Go Johto game and a Pokemon Diamond/Pearl remake. Assuming that these two are indeed in the works, then it would make no sense to include them in what is being called the Pokemon Super Collection.

Hopefully, GameFreak do decide to port all of the games however, as getting hold of the older games can be expensive. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but there’s no doubt that the majority of trainers would be delighted to have the ability to play classic Pokemon titles.