'Pokémon Z' release date rumor: Title to be a highlight in franchise's anniversary?

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The "Pokémon" franchise is celebrating its 20th year in the industry, and according to speculations, Nintendo will be making the rumored "Pokémon Z" game as a major title to highlight the series' roots.

According to Master Herald, while it is still unclear if "Pokémon Z" will be launching next month to coincide with the anniversary of the franchise, Nintendo is still keen on making "Pokémon Z" a major title and will be pulling out all stops to make sure that it will have a major launch.

It is also rumored that there will be at least two major title launches planned for this year. Reportedly, Nintendo is also thinking of a major roll-out for the release of "Pokémon GO," an augmented reality-based game in the "Pokémon" franchise.

Meanwhile, Nintendo also has other rumored plans to celebrate the 20th year of the "Pokémon" franchise. According to reports, Nintendo has already released its plans to re-release special 3DS bundles of the original "Pokémon" titles, including the Red, Blue, and Yellow versions.

In addition, Crossmap reported that fans might also look forward to a 2016 release of the much-anticipated "Pokémon X, Y and Z" film. According to the industry follower, while details are yet to be released, some teasers will reportedly come out next month, particularly in Japanese magazine CoroCoro. The magazine printed details of the upcoming movie in its December release and might continue to dish out more hints in upcoming releases.

"Pokémon Z" is the much-awaited sequel to the trainer titles of the franchise, as the follow-up to the "Pokémon X" and "Pokémon Y" (also known as the "Omega Ruby" and "Alpha Sapphire" versions) titles. "Pokémon GO," on the other hand, is the first-ever augmented reality-based title being developed together with Niantic using real-world locations as Pokémon-catching areas.