The Pokémon Company (TPC) has garnered a reputation of being overly protective of their intellectual property, most notably shown by their lawsuit against the developers of Palworld. An account spreading leaked information surrounding upcoming Pokémon content has caught the attention of TPC. Although those running the account remain unfazed by potential legal repercussions, the situation has sparked debates surrounding the legitimacy of leaked information and what TPC’s future actions will be.
One of the most prolific Pokémon leak accounts, and the one who caught the attention of TPC, is CentroLeaks on X. While CentroLeaks themselves did not leak information, they have played a pivotal role in spreading and popularizing such content. Such information involves the upcoming “Generation 10” Pokémon games, including their titles (which are allegedly Pokémon Wind and Pokémon Wave), logos, new Pokémon models, and the games’ southeast asian inspiration. They also shared potential leaks regarding the release timeline of upcoming Pokémon titles, such as Generation 10, a new Legends game based on Pokémon Sword’s and Pokémon Shield’s Galar region, and an online multiplayer game encompassing several regions from previous titles. However, the legitimacy or accuracy of these leaks is currently impossible to certify.
As a result of the account’s posts, TPC COO Takato Utsunomiya has allegedly contacted CentroLeaks in order to get leaked images taken down. CentroLeak supported their claim with images appearing to be legal letter from Utsunomiya, which provided leaks to various posts with requests for posted images to be removed. By scrolling through CentroLeaks profile, TPC’s request appears to have been fulfilled, as many posts on the account have had their images removed.
Despite TPC’s previous legal actions, the owners behind CentroLeaks remain unfazed. CentroLeaks posted that Latin America, presumably where CentroLeaks operates, is “the only place where Nintendo doesn’t win.” The post was then followed up with comment that people shouldn’t worry about the individuals who run the account. The account’s pinned post shares a similar sentiment, containing the simple phrase “If only he knew laws didn’t exist in Perú.”
In fact, TPC appears to have given CentroLeaks the exact response they were looking for. One of their tweets argues that TPC took “the bait” in regards to the leaked images of Generation 10’s logos. In other words, CentroLeaks viewed TPCs request to take down the images as proof of their legitimacy. However, as mentioned by a Community Note on the post, a user on 4-chan admitted to creating the “leaked” images, raising questions about the legitimacy of leaked information regardless of TPC’s actions.
Whether or not the leaked information present on the CentroLeaks account is legitimate or accurate remains to be seen. In a similar vein, the actions that the TPC will or will not take against CentroLeaks are currently unclear.