Pokemon 'Rainbow' rumoured for late 2016 3DS release according to 'leaked budget'

Pokemon Pikachu — Pikachu and some of the original Pokémon. The Pokémon Company

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Pokémon series, and Nintendo has gone all out to celebrate in style over the next few months. As well as a re-release of the original Red, Blue and Yellow games on the anniversary itself (27 February) there's also Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, which launched on 19 February and Pokken Tournament, set for March.

Fans have been wondering however, whether there's a classic Pokémon game in the works for release in 2016 and a new report suggests that there is. This is nothing but a rumour at the moment, but NintenGen was reportedly sent an internal marketing budget sent to employees at Nintendo of America that reveals a new game called 'Rainbow'.

The source is an apparently confirmed employee of Nintendo of America, verified by moderators of the NeoGAF forum that often vets users who claim to be industry insiders.

Nintendo operates so that employees only know what they need to know, which makes leaks less likely to occur. This is why the internal memo below only relates to the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS release schedules and not the NX - Nintendo's mystery device rumoured to launch this year.

Nintendo NX Launch games for 2016 besides Zelda NX and marketing focus remain hidden for now
Wii U $34.5 million marketing budget for 2016 total – Zelda Wii U has $10 million with the possibility of the funding being switched to Zelda NX version depending on launch timing in 2016.
3DS $56.25 million marketing budget for 2016 total

3DS release list 2016:

Spring-Early Summer

Mario and Sonic Rio 2016
Nintendo Selects Wave 1
Hyrule Warriors Legends
Disney Art Academy
Bravely Second
Code Name: "Caviar F" (casual friendly smaller budget game)
Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Summer

Code name: "Torte City" big budget unannounced game for all gamers core/all ages
Dragon Quest VII
Code name: "Cadillac" (casual friendly smaller budget game late summer)

Fall-Holiday

3DS Hardware Price Cut
Code name: "N-Stars" big budget game for all ages
Nintendo Selects Wave 2
Code name: "DMW2" possibly Disney Magical World 2
Dragon Quest VIII
Pokémon 20<sup>th Anniversary game "Niji" Japanese translation: "Rainbow"

The word 'Rainbow' may be a simple working title or the suffix of the game itself - which would mean it isn't the Pokémon Z game most expected to follow the last "true" games in the series, 2013's Pokémon X and Y.

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