Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen Coming to Nintendo Switch — First Teaser Revealed

The Pokémon Company has officially confirmed a return to Kanto. A new Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen project for Nintendo Switch has been announced, along with a teaser trailer and a surprise release plan tied directly to Pokémon Presents on February 27.

Unlike past announcements, this one isn’t a long wait — the game is planned to be available to purchase and download immediately after the presentation.

Not Just a Rumour Anymore

The announcement page (on the official Japanese Pokémon website) shows clear branding for a Nintendo Switch release along with teaser footage. The teaser itself heavily references the original Game Boy Advance titles.

That already tells us something important:
This is not simply a ROM rerelease like the classic Game Boy titles added to Nintendo Switch Online.

Nintendo has already done straight ports before (Red/Blue/Gold/Silver on 3DS and older titles on Switch Online), but the teaser visuals strongly suggest:

• new models
• rebuilt environments
• modern UI
• full widescreen presentation

So this looks closer to a full remake (similar approach to Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl) rather than a “Virtual Console” dump.

What Will Stay the Same?

While graphics are clearly upgraded, the branding still uses FireRed and LeafGreen specifically, not a new subtitle.
That usually means the developers are keeping the original structure:

• Kanto region
• Gym progression
• Sevii Islands content
• Classic storyline

In other words — the story is almost certainly intact.

What’s unknown right now:

• battle system changes
• online features
• Pokémon HOME support
• whether Let’s Go catching mechanics return

The website does not confirm those yet.

Surprise Release After Pokémon Presents

Instead of a normal long marketing cycle, Pokémon is doing something unusual.

The game is scheduled to launch immediately after the February 27 Pokémon Presents broadcast — effectively a shadow-drop release.

That makes it one of the fastest turnaround announcements Pokémon has ever done.

Australian Time

Pokémon Presents typically airs around:
11:00 PM AEDT (Sydney/Melbourne)
10:30 PM ACDT (Adelaide)

If they follow the normal schedule, Australian players could be playing Kanto again that same night.

Japan Exclusive Special Edition (Already Sold Out)

The official site also revealed a special physical collector’s edition in Japan.
It includes themed packaging and bonus collector items designed to resemble classic Game Boy Advance-era merchandise.

And yes — it already sold out on Pokémon Center Japan.

This is very typical of Pokémon Center exclusives; they often disappear within hours, especially anything Kanto-related. At the moment, there is no confirmation of an international release for the special edition.

For collectors outside Japan, it will likely only appear later via resellers.

Straight Port or Full Remake?

This is the big question everyone is asking.

Based on the teaser:
It does not look like a direct port.

A direct port would:

• keep pixel sprites
• keep original resolution
• run through an emulator

Instead, the trailer shows rebuilt 3D environments and modern rendering. That strongly indicates:

same game design, new engine

So think:
original FireRed/LeafGreen experience preserved — but visually rebuilt for Switch hardware.