[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his morning, Nintendo hosted a Pokemon-themed Direct on their website, Youtube, and Facebook. The Pokemon Direct was short, only taking about eight minutes to show off a couple trailers. In total, they made three announcements. However, we were a little underwhelmed with the presentation as a whole.

Pokken Tournament DX

While we might have guessed Pokken would see a Switch release, we hardly expected it to be the focus of this Direct. Pokken Tournament released on the Wii U and in Japanese arcades. It’s been a little over a year since the game hit consoles worldwide. It seems the team behind this game have been busy, though, as this isn’t just a regular remake.

Pokken Tournament will feature new online modes to make it easier to fight the way you want to. It’s also going to include the characters that have been added to the arcade version, but we never saw on the Wii U. That’s four characters. Croagunk, Scizor, Darkrai, and Empoleon will all be playable in the Switch version. They’re also adding one more character that will likely see an arcade release soon: Decidueye.

Other than that, 3v3 battles have been added to the game. Nintendo announced that Pokken Tournament DX would be available on September 22nd of this year. They also said that it would be at E3. It’ll be on the show floor, but they’ll also be doing an invitational tournament for it, like Splatoon and Arms. This will take place on June 14th.

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon

This was by far the most surprising announcement of the Pokemon Direct. However, it was also probably the most disappointing for a lot of fans. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon were explained as an alternate story taking place in the same setting. This does little to assure people that it’ll be worth the full price tag.they showed a few scenes in the trailer, but really, any details were vague. It does appear to be a more grim retelling of the story, though.

The trailer was packed full of information, but none of it got us that excited about this game. However, The Pokemon Company has been known to underwhelm us at the start and build up hype over time. We wouldn’t be surprised if these new titles eventually show us their worth. Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon will be releasing on November 17th on the 3DS, just in time for the holidays, as usual.

UPDATE: While working on this article, the press site was updated with Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. The games were listed as coming to the Switch with an unknown date. This could have easily been an error and may very well mean nothing. It still seems like it’s worth mentioning, though.

Pokemon Gold and Silver Virtual Console

Before the Pokemon Direct was over, Nintendo slipped in one last announcement. The 3DS is getting classic versions of Pokemon Gold and Silver, similar to how they got Red, Blue, and Yellow, before. There isn’t a lot to say about them, as they’ll be the same games with a little extra functionality. The games will be available on September 22nd.

Final Thoughts about the Pokemon Direct

Overall, the presentation left us wanting a lot more than we actually got. While we can’t blame Nintendo for the hype that went around because of the Pokemon Stars rumors, it’s hard to be excited for what can hardly be called new. Pokken Tournament DX has some welcome changes to the original game and Pokemon Gold and Silver are always welcome in the 3DS family. It’s still difficult to see Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon as anything more than a cash grab.

We suspect there will be a lot more about the revisit to the Alola region to get us excited for it in the future. We’re just not sure the announcement as is will generate much hype on its own. Regardless, you can watch the Pokemon Direct below, if you missed it, before. (Presentation starts at 30:15) You can also click here to go to the Youtube page.