Last year, Pokémon developer Game Freak announced a new RPG with the working title Town in a Nintendo Direct. The game follows a young adventurer who must defend his village from monsters and other creatures threatening to destroy it. The brief look at the game included a sneak peek at the turn-based battle system, as well as various clips of the town and its citizens, who the player can interact with.
That Nintendo Direct came out on September 13, 2018, and Game Freak hasn’t mentioned Town since—not even at E3 2019. According to the Direct, Town was slated for a 2019 release, but with less than four months left of 2019 and not a word from Game Freak, the fate of Town seemed uncertain…until now.
Game Freak has applied for a new trademark in Japan that may be referring to the seemingly ill-fated Town. According to Japanese Nintendo, the new video game trademark is for the title “Little Town Hero”, both in English and Japanese. Because Town was first introduced as a working title for the game, it’s highly possible that this latest trademark could be the final title, as it suits what we already know about the game.
Game Freak has had their hands busy with the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield, set to release on the Nintendo Switch on November 15. After they announced their decision to not include every known Pokémon in existence from past games in the new titles, there was widespread fan outcry online. Game Freak promptly responded to the criticisms in statement emphasizing how difficult their decision was. So, Town (or potentially Little Town Hero) may have understandably slipped to focus on these titles instead.
Town (or Little Town Hero) will release on the Switch. The release date still remains a mystery—as does whether or not it’ll make its original 2019 release window—but it’s expected to come eventually.