'Pokemon GO' Gen 4 Release Date Nears as Dataminer Discovers New Evidence

Pokémon GO has been teasing the release of Gen 4 Pokémon for a while, but now it looks like it might finally be happening. The latest news comes from popular dataminer @Chrales and includes the disclaimer that we shouldn’t get “hyped too much,” but for any Pokémon GO fans that’s probably not going to be possible.

According to @Chrales, the first major evidence to show up in Pokémon GO for a Gen 4 release date is a single word: “Sinnoh.” That’s a direct reference the the Sinnoh region, where the 4th generation of Pokémon games, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, take place.

There’s plenty of reasons to be excited for Pokémon GO Gen 4. For one thing, it could mean up to 107 new Pokémon joining the game. Specifically, that likely includes the Gen 4 starters Turtwig (grass), Chimchar (fire), and Piplup (water). That might also include new Legendary Pokémon like the Lake Guardians (Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf), the Creation Trio (Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina), and Arceus.

However, it’s likely that those legendaries won’t be available in-game on the Pokémon GO Gen 4 release date. Instead, you’ll likely have to wait for a special event to unlock them.

We still don’t know exactly when any of this will happen, but now that we’re seeing the data show up in the game’s code it’s only a matter of time. Pokémon GO has a special Celebi event coming up later this month, and we already know what the first Community Day in September will bring. But after that? Gen 4 could be right around the corner.