About

“Sinnoh Confirmed” is a catchphrase associated with fan speculations and hoaxes about a possible remake of Nintendo’s Pokémon Generation IV video games Diamond Version and Pearl Version, both of which are set in the Sinnoh region. It is used similarly to Hoenn Confirmed and Half-Life 3 Confirmed.

Origin

Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl were released in September 2006 in Japan and throughout 2007 for the rest of the world, marking the launch of the fourth generation of Pokémon video games. The belief that there will be remakes of these games stems from the fact that there had been remakes of the Pokemon generations prior to Diamond and Pearl. After the launch of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, people began posting about potential Diamond and Pearl remakes with the same tenor as Hoenn Confirmed, with people satirically creating elaborate conspiracies based off small details to back their theory. The earliest known post suggesting "Sinnoh Confirmed" was posted May 17th, 2014 by DeviantArt^[1] user BattlePyramid (shown below).

Spread

Initially, "Sinnoh Confirmed" parodies developed out of small details from within Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (examples shown below).

Speculation and memes ramped during the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon, as Pokémon remakes have tended to correspond with the releases mainline titles. As with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, fans began to craft elaborate theories about how details in Sun and Moon were confirmations that Diamond and Pearl remakes were in the works (examples shown below).

The joke is popular within the Pokémon fandom across social media on sites such as Reddit ^[1], Tumblr,^[2] and Twitter.^[3]

February 2021 Announcement

While "Sinnoh Confirmed" has generally been treated as a joke among the community based on little concrete evidence, speculation that Nintendo was actually going to announce Sinnoh remakes ramped up on February 23rd, 2021, when the official Pokémon Twitter account^[4] tweeted, "Let's go, Sinnoh! Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup are preparing for #PokemonDay--it's only 4 days away!" (shown below).

The phrasing "Let's Go Sinnoh" and the inclusion of Gen IV starters Turtwig, Chimchar and Piplup in the tweet caused speculation that Pokémon was going to announce Sinnoh remakes during its February 26th, 2021 presentation, and that they may be Pokémon Let's Go remakes akin to Pokémon Let's Go: Pikachu and Pokémon Let's Go: Eevee, which were remakes of the Gen I games. This rumor was met with mixed reaction, as fans have been hoping for proper remakes in the traditional style rather than the Let's Go style, as the Let's Go games are generally easier and targeted towards younger players. Twitter user @Sinnoh_remakes_^[5] tweeted the phrase "Please Don't Be Let's Go" over and over (shown below, left). User @kurkazuna^[6] tweeted "y'all mfs better not" (shown below, right).

Sinnoh Confirmed

On February 26th, 2021, The Pokémon Company held a presentation in which they announced faithful Diamond and Pearl remakes called Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Shining Pearl, to be developed by ILCA (shown below, left). The games are scheduled to launch in late 2021. They also announced Pokémon Legends Arceus, a Game Freak project which will also take place in the Sinnoh region but well before the events of Diamond and Pearl. The game appears to be an open-world adventure in which trainers can have the option of catching Pokémon without having to battle them. The game will release in early 2022 (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References