‘Delta Emerald’ Trademark Registered by Pokemon

A Pokemon trademark for “Delta Emerald” went live today after originally being filed on May 2nd. The domain name for the potential game title was also registered on the same day as Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire‘s. Whereas alpha and omega mean the “beginning” and “end,” delta means “change.”

The chances of this being a new Pokemon game are unlikely based on past company practices, as Pokemon usually registers multiple game titles every generation. Among many others, “Pokemon Gray” was registered during Generation V and “Pokemon WaterBlue” was also registered in Generation III. But no core Pokemon titles have ever been discovered early through trademarks. It seems Pokemon just registers multiple titles to cover their bases.

It’s interesting to point out that “delta” was used in the TCG during Generation III for Pokemon of abnormal types (such as having a Fire-type Kingdra or Lightning-type Kabutops). It was a mechanic that came out of nowhere and hasn’t been seen in the TCG since then. Even if nothing comes from this trademark, one must wonder when Pokemon came up with the whole Greek letter idea – could it have been part of the original development of Ruby and Sapphire, did they come up with it shortly afterwards, or is it something they just came up with now for the remakes (and past uses are coincidental)?