According to Kotaku article, a new mobile Pokémon game is in the works. An announcement was made in Japanese by The Pokémon Company about a new game called Hanero! Koiking, which translates to Splash! Magikarp. The announcement was in the form of a fictional newspaper article which discusses the appearance of two Magikarp-shaped holes in the ground in the middle of a town. These holes are discovered by a 27-year-old fisherman.
Details are limited, but we know that the game is set to be released on iOS and Android devices in Japan in the spring and that the game is being developed by SELECT BUTTON Inc., the developers behind a game called Survive! Mola Mola! This game features a fish called a Mola and the player’s objective is to feed their Mola enough for it to become as large as possible without it dying in any number of ways due to the fish’s fragile nature. Magikarp is widely known as the weakest Pokémon (actually a debatable topic, but for now we’ll go with it), making it similar to the fragile Mola, so it seems possible that Splash! Magikarp could be Survive! Mola Mola! but with a Pokémon skin.
Due to the fact that the story of the game will seem to feature a fisherman, as well as Magikarp being largely associated with fishing in the main series Pokémon games, it’s also possible that Splash! Magikarp is a kind of fishing simulator. Or perhaps the game features Magikarp’s signature move Splash in some way, which would explain why it’s in the title. Maybe the stronger a Magikarp Splashes, the bigger the hole it can make in the ground, explaining the two Magikarp-shaped holes? No one knows at this point.
Though the game is set for release in Japan, that doesn’t mean it will never be available in the rest of the world. Pokémon Duel, known in Japan as Pokémon Co-Master, arrived in Europe and North America about nine months after its debut in Japan. So if Splash! Magikarp is popular enough in Japan, maybe those of us in the States can play it one day too.