If Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! are based onPokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, will they have only the original 151 Pokémon? For example, will it not include more than the three original evolutions of Eevee?
Mr. Masuda: In general, it’s the original 151, but as we just showed with Alolan Exeggutor, some of the Alolan variants will also appear.
With Pokémon appearing on the field and the catching gameplay being more similar to Pokémon GO, does that mean there are not any wild Pokémon battles?
Mr. Masuda: With these games, we’re really focused on clicking the Joy-Con to throw the Poké Balls to catch Pokémon. We decided to get rid of the wild Pokémon battles to catch them, but we still have Trainer battles with a variety of difficulty where you use your Pokémon in battle.
When you were choosing the Pokémon for the two titles, why did you choose Eevee as the other Pokémon along with Pikachu?
Mr. Masuda: One of the reasons for that is that in Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition, you start with Pikachu, and your rival begins with Eevee. So there’s that element. But really, over the years, I’ve been overwhelmed by the passion that fans have had for the character, including tons of fan art. I’ve always really loved the cuteness of Eevee.
And one thing that I didn’t know until recently is that fans have unofficially dedicated November 21 as Eevee’s special day. There’s a way to pronounce that date in Japanese that sounds like “Eevee.” It just seems like over the years, fans’ reaction and passion for Eevee really made me think that it was a popular enough Pokémon to serve as a counterpart to Pikachu.
How does the connection between Pokémon GO and the two Switch games work?