Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 Announced

Well, we certainly were not expecting this. Game Freak's Junichi Masuda announced a brand new Pokémon game over the weekend - but it's not Pokémon Grey. Instead, DS reboots Black and White will be getting direct sequels.

Pokémon Black 2 and Pokémon White 2 were revealed on Japanese TV show Pokémon Smash, and will be the first time that successors to a game in the handheld RPG series have been numbered. Previous generations of Pokémon games have seen a third coloured release that acts as a semi-sequel, or remix, of the original titles that precede it.

This time around, we could be looking at a proper continuation of the Black and White story rather than "the same but different" - this was detailed by Masuda when he also showcased two of the legendary Pokémon that will be starring in Black 2 and White 2. And they look like evolutions of previous cover stars Reshiram and Zekrom.

The games will be released on Nintendo DS - not 3DS - in June this year in Japan.

UPDATE: Nintendo Europe has sent out a press release revealing more details about the two games. The company refers to the games as Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2, suggesting that these may not be proper sequels after all. The two legendaries pictured aren't evolutions of Reshiram and Zekrom as previously speculated, but are variations of third Black and White legendary Kyurem.

The games will release in Europe in the Autumn.