BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For 20 years, Pokémon has delighted millions of fans of all ages and has become one of the most successful entertainment brands in the world. During today's Pokémon Direct presentation, Tsunekazu Ishihara, president and CEO of The Pokémon Company, announced Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, the newest additions to a legendary series that has sold more than 275 million video games since the debut of Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green in 1996 for the Game Boy system in Japan. Developed by GAME FREAK inc., Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon will be launching holiday 2016 exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems and, for the first time, will offer Traditional and Simplified Chinese as language options.

"The Pokémon core series games are the center of the Pokémon universe and provide some of the most memorable Pokémon moments for our fans," said J.C. Smith, senior director of Consumer Marketing at The Pokémon Company International. "I can't wait to see what fans think of the new adventures they'll find in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon."

Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon will also have Pokémon Bank functionality. This online storage application will make it possible for fans to move Pokémon wirelessly from Pokémon Red Version, Pokémon Blue Version and Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition, which come to the Virtual Console on Nintendo 3DS on February 27, to Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Pokémon from Pokémon Omega Ruby, Pokémon Alpha Sapphire, Pokémon X, and Pokémon Y can also be transferred to Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon through Pokémon Bank. More details about this exciting feature can be found here: www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-bank/#pokemon-sun-pokemon-moon

For more information, please visit: http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-video-games/pokemon-sun-and-pokemon-moon/

To download the trailer, follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmzDL1l3Fag

To view the Pokémon Direct in its entirety, visit: www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct

About Pokémon

The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia and is responsible for brand management, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 and today is one of the most popular children's entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.

About Nintendo

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, and Nintendo 3DS™ and Nintendo DS™ families of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.3 billion video games and more than 692 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo 3DS XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™, and Wii systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™, and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company's website at http://www.nintendo.com.