Speculation Could We See New Pokemon in the Next Kalos Game?

[Bolt the Cat]

So Game Freak is definitely up to something, we have a new Zygarde form coming and a mysterious green blob, which hints towards another Kalos game coming soon. But Game Freak likes to be unpredictable, as shown last gen when they announced BW2 instead of the usual Gray version. So what could they do with this game to shake things up this time? Well, one idea floating around is adding completely new species of Pokemon and making the next Kalos game a "Gen 6.5".

Until recently, there wasn't a whole lot pointing towards this being a possibility, pretty much just the green blob kinda not looking like a Zygarde form. But when they announced Pokemon Go last night, Masuda showed us this graphic when speaking about the 20th anniversary and Pokemon's future:

Notice something about this timeline, all of the games shown are generation debut games, and 2016 is included on this timeline. That implies that 2016 is a new generation of some sort. It doesn't make as much sense for it to be Gen 7 though, because Zygarde and several other unused elements like Eternal Flower Floette and Volcanion are tied to Kalos, and I doubt we'll be getting a two region situation at this point because making a second region would be a lot of work. So if there are new Pokemon introduced in 2016 it'll be Gen 6.5.

I think adding new Pokemon would make a lot of sense given what we've seen of this generation so far. XY's regional dex was heavily focused on old Pokemon with a handful of new ones, and ORAS gave us all of the remaining National Dex Pokemon. So if we already have all 721 Pokemon (minus events) available with 2 games left to go, what else could they do to provide incentive for those games? Give us #722 onward. This would also be the best way to expand on the Kalos Dex, since it's already overloaded with old Pokemon and adding more of them would do more harm than good to the dex variety and post game distribution. With new Pokemon they can expand the distribution and actually help the distribution by augmenting the paltry number of 6th gen Pokemon. If they add around 40-50 new Pokemon then 6th gen would surpass 1st gen as the dominant generation in the dex, which would be a reasonable balance in light of the fact that there's no way that 6th gen can outnumber the 380some old Pokemon already there. It would also be good for marketing and sales of third versions, new Pokemon would provide a lot more incentive for people to buy the upgraded versions.

So what do you think? Will we see new Pokemon in the next 6th gen game?

 

[StarlightSearcher]

I think so. But to put a specific number down on how many Pokemon would appear in said new game is next to impossible to say.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

I think so. But to put a specific number down on how many Pokemon would appear in said new game is next to impossible to say.

I think around 40-50 would be right for several reasons. For one, the Kanto Dex has 111 Pokemon in the Kalos Dex, so there needs to be at least 40 for the 6th gen Pokemon to surpass them. Second, they have to balance several different subdexes, and with Southern Kalos likely being added to the next game, the Kalos Dex should ideally divide into 4 subdexes. The easiest way to do that would be to bump it up 500 and divide it into 4 subdexes of 125, so they could add 40ish new ones and then maybe throw in a couple of odds and ends from other generations if they want.

 

[Mitja]

This infographic is being taken out of context everywhere now.

Check the press conference, they didn't just put this on in the background without talking about it. The focus of the whole speech at that part is 2016=20th anniversary of Pokemon, and that's precisely what the point is refering to and most likely nothing more.

But assuming for the sake of argument that the infographic was made for more than that, with intentional hidden meaning... the generations are alternating between above and below. The logical placement for gen 7 main games is above in line with RG, RS and BW, yet they intentionally put the "2016" simply next to XY instead, as if to make sure no one will assume "oh, gen 7 confirmed".

As to why they specifically put main versions on this? Perhaps simply because all games would crowd the picture to ridiculousness and they just needed one per generation, ie "look how many main jumps the series has made withint the 20 years", and picking the main versions for each generation is the straightforward choice (especially with gen 6 only having remakes as an alternative for now anyway)

 

[Bolt the Cat]

This infographic is being taken out of context everywhere now.

Check the press conference, they didn't just put this on in the background without talking about it. The focus of the whole speech at that part is 2016=20th anniversary of Pokemon, and that's precisely what the point is refering to and most likely nothing more.

He also mentioned at that point that Go would connect with new games, so it's not that unreasonable to think they would be hinting at a future game.

But assuming for the sake of argument that the infographic was made for more than that, with intentional hidden meaning... the generations are alternating between above and below. The logical placement for gen 7 main games is above in line with RG, RS and BW, yet they intentionally put the "2016" simply next to XY instead.

There's no need for them to alternate the titles, they did that to make room for the box art. Since the 2016 game has no box art yet, they don't need to place it above.

 

[StarlightSearcher]

I think around 40-50 would be right for several reasons. For one, the Kanto Dex has 111 Pokemon in the Kalos Dex, so there needs to be at least 40 for the 6th gen Pokemon to surpass them. Second, they have to balance several different subdexes, and with Southern Kalos likely being added to the next game, the Kalos Dex should ideally divide into 4 subdexes. The easiest way to do that would be to bump it up 500 and divide it into 4 subdexes of 125, so they could add 40ish new ones and then maybe throw in a couple of odds and ends from other generations if they want.

I wanted to say a number, but estimation was never one of my strong suits. Now that you say it; 40-50 sounds like an okay number. I'm now thinking anywhere from 25 to 30 to be added to the Kalos/Gen VI Dex with a possible new game, pushing the total Pokemon (not counting Mega Evolutions) to over 100.

 

[professorlight]

He also mentioned at that point that Go would connect with new games, so it's not that unreasonable to think they would be hinting at a future game.
There's no need for them to alternate the titles, they did that to make room for the box art. Since the 2016 game has no box art yet, they don't need to place it above.

Well, everybody knows that there will always be a new game, so that comment doesn't really mean anything but "we're not done with pokemon yet", which is something we knew already from pokken, Go, the zygarde movie, and the billions that remain outside of GF's pockets at this moment.

Putting the text up would be meaningful, since you could make the case that the cover would go there (GF has reused graphics in the past, updating them only with reveals; hell, that's all the classic "pokemon reveal silhouettes" are); but, since the text is below the timeline, the only thing you can be sure of is that they would need to redo it to include a hypothetical cover, which is, at best, inconclusive in any direction.

So, sorry, dear, I think you're simply expecting too much from that graphic; I do expect them to add new pokemon, for very well known reasons, but those stem from the games themselves rather than of promotional materials.
But who knows when they will release news; that "pokemon Go" thing is even more annoying because instead of devoting resources to a truly wonderful and balanced main game, they're doing some AR thing that will be, at best, a fad.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

Guys, this thread isn't just to talk about that infographic. It's about the idea as a whole that the next game could have new Pokemon.

 

[Zowayix]

Given that Gen VI is the first time they've introduced new held items and new moves mid-generation (ORAS) without breaking compatibility with XY, this seems at least slightly plausible.

 

[Mitja]

Sure it is plausible more than ever, and I could see them considering this and then planning to do gen7 in 2 halves rather than at once, and then actually leaving out the "sequel" legendaries altogether initially, so they are themselves a new thing once their games get closer.

But for gen6, at most I can see the blob being a special case, a test example. Like it could be that one event legendary that came out a bit too early to be a Victini-case. So you cannot trade back withint gen6, but it is indeed a new pokemon while still being gen6. Akin to Spiky-eared-Pichu/Cosplay-Pikachu, but fully compatible with anything from then on rather than exclusive and stuck on its game.

 

[StarlightSearcher]

Guys, this thread isn't just to talk about that infographic. It's about the idea as a whole that the next game could have new Pokemon.

I felt, what with Sylveon; that they wanted to go with more evolutions for previous Gen. Pokemon for X/Y. It just so happens Sylveon was the only that got through so far; probably because it was the flag bearer for the new Fairy type and as such has a reason as to why it was there.

EDIT: I felt they made some sort of compromise and decided to make Mega Evolutions for a bunch of Pokemon (excluding the Kanto staters and Mewtwo). I have a feeling, that those Mega Evolutions could have very well been regular evolutions.