Discussion What will come after Sun and Moon?

[Unyubaby]

You aren't buying 3 games to play one. You are buying 3 games to play 3 games. It makes it so your character transitions into another region, rather than starting from scratch. In sports games, where you create a character and you try to get that one character to be a star, you can transfer your character from a previous year in to the next iteration of the game, and continue from there. It isn't any different from that. It also allows you to create a new character for the new region (starting over) rather than transferring your character from the old region (continuing). It also makes it so that each region isn't isolated, and the world is actually one big world where you get a game, start from one specific region, and as long as you have the other games, you can freely enter another region. For people who didn't buy the previous game, as I said, you can still start a new game in the new version.

I think in the madden series, you can import a player from the NCAA college football series, at least in the 2010 version of the games anyway. This would be no different from that. If I buy NCAA football 10 and Madden 10, and import my NCAA player into Madden, am I paying for 2 games just to play one game? No.

The biggest problem though is Pokemon does have a level cap. Once you hit Level 100 there's nothing beyond that. You'd have to pretty much lower the levels of everything so by the time you do get to the third region, everything's Level 80+ and at that point it's a "Why bother?" situation. GSC/HGSS did it best by having Johto "end" at Level 50 and Kanto "end" at 80 because it gave you the content to reach that high. For three regions to work would mean having to lower the levels and experience tables of everything which would subtract from the experience of the games.

And you can't really compare Madden of all things to Pokemon. They're in completely different genres with their own gameplays. And now the next problem is that what you want is a more "anime" like experience with you traveling to different regions with your team. But the anime doesn't do that. Ash restarts all of his teams in each region with the exception of the beginning of Johto and even then it was blatant in its message that Charizard versus Chikorita is unfair. It sounds more like you want an "MMO" styled game, which doesn't work for a different reason. MMOs aren't casual. Pokemon is a casual game. You can be competitive, sure. But many people love Pokemon for how relaxing it is to just sit down and play. That's why you can't have a super gigantic Pokemon world in a single narrative. At some point you will hit a wall and stop enjoying it.

 

[signofzeta]

The biggest problem though is Pokemon does have a level cap. Once you hit Level 100 there's nothing beyond that. You'd have to pretty much lower the levels of everything so by the time you do get to the third region, everything's Level 80+ and at that point it's a "Why bother?" situation. GSC/HGSS did it best by having Johto "end" at Level 50 and Kanto "end" at 80 because it gave you the content to reach that high. For three regions to work would mean having to lower the levels and experience tables of everything which would subtract from the experience of the games.

And you can't really compare Madden of all things to Pokemon. They're in completely different genres with their own gameplays. And now the next problem is that what you want is a more "anime" like experience with you traveling to different regions with your team. But the anime doesn't do that. Ash restarts all of his teams in each region with the exception of the beginning of Johto and even then it was blatant in its message that Charizard versus Chikorita is unfair. It sounds more like you want an "MMO" styled game, which doesn't work for a different reason. MMOs aren't casual. Pokemon is a casual game. You can be competitive, sure. But many people love Pokemon for how relaxing it is to just sit down and play. That's why you can't have a super gigantic Pokemon world in a single narrative. At some point you will hit a wall and stop enjoying it.

What you said is only true for Generation 7 games and before. We are talking about Generation 8 and beyond.

Madden vs Pokemon gameplay isn't the issue here. In Madden, you can import a character from NCAA football into Madden, and it doesn't matter if you are capped at level 100 already. Instead of grinding to level 100 in 1 region, you can grind to level 100 in another region. It isn't like you have 30 level 100 pokemon by the time you reach the third region. Just like importing the player from NCAA football to Madden, transferring your player from one game to another is some sort of an extra feature, and not mandatory to use. If you want to start over from scratch in a new region, you can, but for those who want to continue on to their adventure, and maybe access areas only accessible only to or receive items available only to imported players, then they can do that also.

There's also the idea of increasing the level cap, not to mention the levels of wild and trainer pokemon being higher if you import your player as opposed to starting a new game. Even if the levels don't increase, there can be challenges exclusive to imported players that can be done.

There can be a super rare legendary pokemon travel across different regions, and to catch it, you have to do the whole game swap thing.

There can be a mission, where the prize is a rare pokemon or item, and you have to travel across different regions to acquire items, and bring them back to NPCs in different regions.

There can be the champion of all 3 regions, much like Red was in Kanto and Johto, where you have to travel across and do a bunch of stuff in 3 regions just to be able to battle the trainer.

Doing all these things isn't required to finish the game, they are just extra things that "break the wall" after you hit that wall.

We know how segregated regions is going to work. We can only speculate whether connected regions will fail or not, and we can't assume that it will fail unless they have tried it.

Players only hit a wall because the game is designed in such a way so that they hit that wall. There are ways to break that wall, and it all comes down to how the game is made. They could make connected regions impossible by making the same game they have made in the past, or they could revolutionize the pokemon franchise with new features like connected regions, although it must be in the same generation though. You are saying it won't work because you have the current games in your mind, and you are assuming the next games will have the same formula.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

What you said is only true for Generation 7 games and before. We are talking about Generation 8 and beyond.

Madden vs Pokemon gameplay isn't the issue here. In Madden, you can import a character from NCAA football into Madden, and it doesn't matter if you are capped at level 100 already. Instead of grinding to level 100 in 1 region, you can grind to level 100 in another region. It isn't like you have 30 level 100 pokemon by the time you reach the third region. Just like importing the player from NCAA football to Madden, transferring your player from one game to another is some sort of an extra feature, and not mandatory to use. If you want to start over from scratch in a new region, you can, but for those who want to continue on to their adventure, and maybe access areas only accessible only to or receive items available only to imported players, then they can do that also.

There's also the idea of increasing the level cap, not to mention the levels of wild and trainer pokemon being higher if you import your player as opposed to starting a new game. Even if the levels don't increase, there can be challenges exclusive to imported players that can be done.

There can be a super rare legendary pokemon travel across different regions, and to catch it, you have to do the whole game swap thing.

There can be a mission, where the prize is a rare pokemon or item, and you have to travel across different regions to acquire items, and bring them back to NPCs in different regions.

There can be the champion of all 3 regions, much like Red was in Kanto and Johto, where you have to travel across and do a bunch of stuff in 3 regions just to be able to battle the trainer.

Doing all these things isn't required to finish the game, they are just extra things that "break the wall" after you hit that wall.

We know how segregated regions is going to work. We can only speculate whether connected regions will fail or not, and we can't assume that it will fail unless they have tried it.

Players only hit a wall because the game is designed in such a way so that they hit that wall. There are ways to break that wall, and it all comes down to how the game is made. They could make connected regions impossible by making the same game they have made in the past, or they could revolutionize the pokemon franchise with new features like connected regions, although it must be in the same generation though. You are saying it won't work because you have the current games in your mind, and you are assuming the next games will have the same formula.

There's more problems than just the level cap. For one, the game would get pretty boring and repetitive if you had to go through so much content that a lot of people would probably quit before even finishing. But more importantly, there's limitations on time and money with what they can do with a Pokemon game. It takes them 2 or 3 years to create a 1 region game, 3 regions would probably take 5+. And with all of the time and effort it takes to make such a game, the investment would be enormous and they'd have to charge a pretty penny to make a profit on it. Like, around $100+. So you'd be waiting an entire generation to see that game and they'd be charging $100 for that, can you imagine a lot of fans buying such a game? I can't see that at all. So there's only so much content Game Freak can provide in a game before they start to lose fans and money. 3 or more regions simply isn't feasible for a Pokemon game. IMO even 2 is going too far.

 

[signofzeta]

There's more problems than just the level cap. For one, the game would get pretty boring and repetitive if you had to go through so much content that a lot of people would probably quit before even finishing. But more importantly, there's limitations on time and money with what they can do with a Pokemon game. It takes them 2 or 3 years to create a 1 region game, 3 regions would probably take 5+. And with all of the time and effort it takes to make such a game, the investment would be enormous and they'd have to charge a pretty penny to make a profit on it. Like, around $100+. So you'd be waiting an entire generation to see that game and they'd be charging $100 for that, can you imagine a lot of fans buying such a game? I can't see that at all. So there's only so much content Game Freak can provide in a game before they start to lose fans and money. 3 or more regions simply isn't feasible for a Pokemon game. IMO even 2 is going too far.

You probably didn't read the part where if you want to go to a new region, you have to take the game out, while your handheld device is running, and you swap it for the game with the new region, which means it isn't a game. It is 2 or more games. The idea is that when you finish the game from the first game in the generation, and a remake or a brand new region, but same generation is released, and by generation, I mean same game engine, you can bring your character from the previous game into the new game. There would be locked areas that don't do anything unless you have the new game, and the areas would be locked until patched at the same time as the release date of the new game. If you buy all 3 games in the same generation, then yes, they would be paying $100, not much different if someone bought Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, and Pokemon Omega Ruby.

We don't have any details on what comes after the 3DS, but it isn't impossible that Nintendo could make a handheld device that can still run while the game is taken out, and swapped with another game.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

You probably didn't read the part where if you want to go to a new region, you have to take the game out, while your handheld device is running, and you swap it for the game with the new region, which means it isn't a game. It is 2 or more games. The idea is that when you finish the game from the first game in the generation, and a remake or a brand new region, but same generation is released, and by generation, I mean same game engine, you can bring your character from the previous game into the new game. There would be locked areas that don't do anything unless you have the new game, and the areas would be locked until patched at the same time as the release date of the new game. If you buy all 3 games in the same generation, then yes, they would be paying $100, not much different if someone bought Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, and Pokemon Omega Ruby.

We don't have any details on what comes after the 3DS, but it isn't impossible that Nintendo could make a handheld device that can still run while the game is taken out, and swapped with another game.

They wouldn't be able to get away with that without level scaling. Otherwise how do you accommodate for a veteran player who's importing their Lv. 100 Pokemon vs. a new player who's starting from scratch?

 

[signofzeta]

They wouldn't be able to get away with that without level scaling. Otherwise how do you accommodate for a veteran player who's importing their Lv. 100 Pokemon vs. a new player who's starting from scratch?

You are making assumptions that this is only to get your level 100 Pokemon and importing your elite trainer into the newer game, but it is much more than that. I have said in another post that there could be a super rare roaming legendary pokemon that roams between 2 regions, or should I say, 2 games, and to catch it, you basically have to swap between the 2 games, or there could be a mission where you have to traverse between 2 games to complete it.

You are thinking in terms of 6th generation and earlier games, and not 8th generation and later. There are ways to get to level 100 in current generation games, and that is only within that game only. Maybe in this new generation, considering you can access the other regions through game swap, you can unlock the ability to go to new regions once you finish the game the first time, and by that time, I doubt anyone would be at level 100. I sure am not at level 100 once I beat the champion. Now you aren't stuck at one region grinding up to level 100. Now you can go to new regions to grind to level 100, and catch rare legendary pokemon that is only active if you have both games, and also new missions that can only be achieved by having both games.

The remakes, or a 2nd pokemon game that comes out in the same generation, ahem, game engine, years later would still be it's own game in its own right, where you can start a new game, choose your starter, but if you own the first pair of games, you can have your character travel to the new region, and likewise the new character from the new game can travel back to the old region to perform missions or catch pokemon that require both games.

Connected regions is here only to enhance the story, that is all. If I am all about trying to get level 100 pokemon from 1 version to another, or trying to own a newb with level 100 pokemon, I would not have made these posts, as it is already possible to do that, considering I can use Pokemon Y with level 100 pokemon, and battle some newb with Pokemon Omega Ruby with level 5 pokemon. As I said, you have 6th and earlier generations in your mind, not 8th and later generations, so level scaling won't be needed. By the time the new region is accessible, your pokemon should be at level 60, if not 70.

Considering this is going to be a new generation, and inclusive in one generation only, level scaling doesn't even matter. They could do level scaling and it won't mean a thing. So what if the champion's pokemon is at level 40. It isn't like these games are going to interact with other generations of games.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

You are making assumptions that this is only to get your level 100 Pokemon and importing your elite trainer into the newer game, but it is much more than that. I have said in another post that there could be a super rare roaming legendary pokemon that roams between 2 regions, or should I say, 2 games, and to catch it, you basically have to swap between the 2 games, or there could be a mission where you have to traverse between 2 games to complete it.

You are thinking in terms of 6th generation and earlier games, and not 8th generation and later. There are ways to get to level 100 in current generation games, and that is only within that game only. Maybe in this new generation, considering you can access the other regions through game swap, you can unlock the ability to go to new regions once you finish the game the first time, and by that time, I doubt anyone would be at level 100. I sure am not at level 100 once I beat the champion. Now you aren't stuck at one region grinding up to level 100. Now you can go to new regions to grind to level 100, and catch rare legendary pokemon that is only active if you have both games, and also new missions that can only be achieved by having both games.

The remakes, or a 2nd pokemon game that comes out in the same generation, ahem, game engine, years later would still be it's own game in its own right, where you can start a new game, choose your starter, but if you own the first pair of games, you can have your character travel to the new region, and likewise the new character from the new game can travel back to the old region to perform missions or catch pokemon that require both games.

Connected regions is here only to enhance the story, that is all. If I am all about trying to get level 100 pokemon from 1 version to another, or trying to own a newb with level 100 pokemon, I would not have made these posts, as it is already possible to do that, considering I can use Pokemon Y with level 100 pokemon, and battle some newb with Pokemon Omega Ruby with level 5 pokemon. As I said, you have 6th and earlier generations in your mind, not 8th and later generations, so level scaling won't be needed. By the time the new region is accessible, your pokemon should be at level 60, if not 70.

Considering this is going to be a new generation, and inclusive in one generation only, level scaling doesn't even matter. They could do level scaling and it won't mean a thing. So what if the champion's pokemon is at level 40. It isn't like these games are going to interact with other generations of games.

You would still need level scaling for that, the core problem is that you're trying to accommodate different players at different points in their training with the same pool of games and content. That requires a level scaling system that can give you an appropriate challenge and EXP reward depending on how strong you are. Otherwise either the Pokemon become too weak and it takes an eternity to level up or the Pokemon become too strong and it's too hard to beat them. There's no way around this no matter how many gimmicks you try to pull, even if you try to offer an extra mission or a super legendary or whatnot, you'll run into the same problem.

 

[signofzeta]

You would still need level scaling for that, the core problem is that you're trying to accommodate different players at different points in their training with the same pool of games and content. That requires a level scaling system that can give you an appropriate challenge and EXP reward depending on how strong you are. Otherwise either the Pokemon become too weak and it takes an eternity to level up or the Pokemon become too strong and it's too hard to beat them. There's no way around this no matter how many gimmicks you try to pull, even if you try to offer an extra mission or a super legendary or whatnot, you'll run into the same problem.

That's why there are inaccessible areas where it is only accessible with the character from the other game. You'd still be pounding on weak wild pokemon, and possibly not be battling any trainers you would have battled if you started a new game with the later versions of the games, but there would be new dungeons to explore, that cannot be explored if you started a new game, and must be from a character from a different game.

I am going to use 4th generation as an example. Imagine that in order for one of the lake guardians to awaken, you have to go to Johto, get an item, and bring it back to Sinnoh, rather than just interacting with it. Imagine Mesprit doesn't just roam all over Sinnoh, but can freely travel between Johto and Sinnoh. I know for a fact that when I am trying to catch Mesprit, the levels of the Pokemon on Route 201 don't suddenly scale to the same level as my Pokemon. It isn't any different than if the 2 regions were 1 region, and you have to backtrack to level 5 wild pokemon territory just to do your mission, or catch a legendary pokemon. Except this time, instead have a certain sized playground to play with, you have a bigger playground to play with.

As I said, you are right, if we are talking about the 6th and earlier generation of games. There are many possibilities for new pokemon games, and 7th generation broke the trend with no gym leaders.

 

[professorlight]

The remakes, or a 2nd pokemon game that comes out in the same generation, ahem, game engine, years later would still be it's own game in its own right, where you can start a new game, choose your starter, but if you own the first pair of games, you can have your character travel to the new region, and likewise the new character from the new game can travel back to the old region to perform missions or catch pokemon that require both games.

May I ask you a simple question? Just, think about it.

Why?

What would be the point of all the very complex mental gymnastics you're making to justify adding a mechanic from madden or FF into pokemon?
Your player? that can be changed with player customization; pokemon isn't like mass effect, where you can bring back your shepard and your story-changing decisions from past games; the pokemon player character's continuity means very little; take into account that only a few years ago we got some limited customization; if it was more, and shared between all future games, it could allow to simply redo a character in another game and be done with it; no need to switch cartridges. There's no personality, no significance whatsoever to your character, as far as the game is concerned.

Your pokemon? they can be traded if you so desire; they made the cloud storage service for that; again, no need to make up some "Back up the entire game into the console so you can load up an entirely new game with the data you backed up" system.
Furthermore, think about playing three entire games, back-to-back, with the same pokemon team; even leaving aside the objections raised about the level cap (which are very much to the point), who wouldn't get really tired of doing that? so they would change their team. And if so, what's the point of the triple-region game switch if your character is inconsequential and the pokemon will get switched out, be it by exhaustion or because they're too high-leveled?

The postgame? The idea of trying to enhance the story is understandable, and very needed, but the solution doesn't need to be "add two more games that have to be bought separately to be used with the same character and team, with some interactivity between then, legendary pokemon or quest-wise"; it is as simple as making the one game compelling and entertaining after you beat the champion; looker's story in XY was a great try for that; do more; include post-game quests all over the game; allow rematches, make a battle maison or chateau that doesn't require extensive knowledge of competitive pokemon to beat, or at least to have a good time. All that can happen in one region, there's no need to add more regions, at all.

Just think about what your idea offers players against what it asks of them (a huge amount of money), and gamefreak (an enormous, multi-region undertaking, with enough pokemon to fill them all), and nintendo (hardware that can back up in memory the player's data and recognize and change games on the fly and is attractive to developers other than GF); it's just not worth it.


You seem to have a lot invested on your idea, but it might help you (and your argument) to think about why that is.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

That's why there are inaccessible areas where it is only accessible with the character from the other game. You'd still be pounding on weak wild pokemon, and possibly not be battling any trainers you would have battled if you started a new game with the later versions of the games, but there would be new dungeons to explore, that cannot be explored if you started a new game, and must be from a character from a different game.

I am going to use 4th generation as an example. Imagine that in order for one of the lake guardians to awaken, you have to go to Johto, get an item, and bring it back to Sinnoh, rather than just interacting with it. Imagine Mesprit doesn't just roam all over Sinnoh, but can freely travel between Johto and Sinnoh. I know for a fact that when I am trying to catch Mesprit, the levels of the Pokemon on Route 201 don't suddenly scale to the same level as my Pokemon. It isn't any different than if the 2 regions were 1 region, and you have to backtrack to level 5 wild pokemon territory just to do your mission, or catch a legendary pokemon. Except this time, instead have a certain sized playground to play with, you have a bigger playground to play with.

As I said, you are right, if we are talking about the 6th and earlier generation of games. There are many possibilities for new pokemon games, and 7th generation broke the trend with no gym leaders.

I can't see them going for that idea. At all. Remember that Game Freak is targeting a casual audience, they're probably not going to have you jump through too many hoops to catch certain Pokemon. Especially when it involves playing through multiple games.

 

[Klonoahedgehog]

I'm going to guess Sinnoh remakes.

When XY launched we got a Torchic event which was a Hoenn Pokemon then we got Hoenn remakes, Munchlax is a sinnoh Pokemon and that's being given out with Sun/Moon.

 

[Mitja]

What I wish would happen:

-gen7 main games, SM, which also function as pseudo-sequels to XY, connecting all loose ends of both regions and legendary plots with Zygarde at the core of it all (pun intended).
(-Or if that's too much for one game, the latter parts would be done in another set of games that function as combined sequels for XY and SM.)
-DPt sequels that are gen8 at the same time, with the new Pokemon being a second batch of Sinnoh-Pokemon, making it the first time a new generation is set in a previous region, which also addresses the demand for its remakes in a fresh twist.

What will probably happen instead:

-gen7 main games, SM, but with an unfinished plot and 20 loose ends while barely even hinting at any connections to XY, with Zygarde just having its new forms in postgame because.
-not a FRLGHGSS-sequel going from Kanto to Johto in a "20 years later" story, but uhhhhhh, a bland, copy&paste+updated FRLG remake, despite the gen I pandering being over 9000 for the past handful years already, including freaking SM themselves.

 

[MetalPharoah]

I believe what will be coming next in the process will be quite different than what we have seen thus far.

Generation 7 seems to have an Alchemy theme using the mythos of "when 7 meets 1". In this case it means when Alola meets Kanto, hence Alolan Formes for RBY Pokemon.

After this generation what I see coming will not only be a drastic change in Pokemon as a franchise but also the way we play. We'll see new regions and old regions mixed in with a storyline and theme of the game that is way out of left field. We may not see gyms ever again, it might not have an Elite 4, the Pokemon that are new may be the starters only or it might not even have any new Pokemon.

I just thoroughly believe what comes next is a whole new generation of Pokemon. I believe generation 7 will end the "Ash" saga (using anime terms) and generation 8 will create a brand and introduce new mythos to the series.

 

[Tepig4321]

I would say there are 2 options IMO

#1- Diamond and Pearl remakes
The most obvious and most popular one, this would be a good idea considering there was some stuff the storyline could an improved one plus a bigger pokedex

#2- Sun and Moon 2
My personal favorite idea like if you think about how they are making a Pokemon League the next game would be a main stream gym battle + Pokemon League game + Ash would do the gyms in the second half of the Saga

 

[Lorde]

I would say there are 2 options IMO

#1- Diamond and Pearl remakes
The most obvious and most popular one, this would be a good idea considering there was some stuff the storyline could an improved one plus a bigger pokedex

#2- Sun and Moon 2
My personal favorite idea like if you think about how they are making a Pokemon League the next game would be a main stream gym battle + Pokemon League game + Ash would do the gyms in the second half of the Saga

-What we now know DP remakes could work with is Sinnoh Forms! Regional variants of Pokémon not previously known to Sinnoh! Alolan forms don't deserve to die like Mega Evolution, they're too much of an amazing concept (though they could do a bit better with a few of the designs *cough cough Alolan Persian cough cough*) to forget about.

-Now Sun and Moon 2 would be interesting. It doesn't look like it needs any further explanation, any more deep and, meaningful story telling like BW did. Unless they'd change the island trials to gyms to go along with the new elite four, or not. It would be cool to see, I just don't know how that would be executed.

Whatever happens, I'm not ready for another 2 year gap between games. Just make a game, whatever it may be, in Fall 2017.

 

[Mitja]

I have written a new wall of text in regard to this topic, in case anyone is bored

http://pokehype.blogspot.si/2016/12/whats-next.html

 

[Bolt the Cat]

I have written a new wall of text in regard to this topic, in case anyone is bored

http://pokehype.blogspot.si/2016/12/whats-next.html

Eh, I don't really think now's a good time for Sinnoh, not with the Switch looming on the horizon and they could do a lot more with it there. I do want to see some of the things you mentioned though. The Distortion World is just begging for a connection to the Ultra Beasts, and new Sinnoh forms would really shake things up. But instead of Sinnoh forms of Pokemon already in the game, let's see them go even more bold and put in Sinnoh Forms of Pokemon that aren't already in the Sinnoh Dex. Bug/Dragon Sinnoh Flygon anyone?

For 2017, I'd rather see Kanto sequels. Now's the perfect opportunity for them, we just had RBY on VC, which serves as a great reference for the original story so now they don't have to worry about the younger gamers not knowing the original story, they can just point them to the VC games and do something more original. Hell, they could even bundle a copy of the VC games with it. And the ending of SM does set up for a Kanto sequel with

Spoiler

Lillie leaving for Kanto to try and cure Lusamine of Nihilego's neurotoxin

so they could easily connect it to SM's storyline.

 

[Tepig4321]

here's what I sorta don't get with people thinking all the future main 3ds games will be on the switch
Yes they did say that they will make Pokemon games but they didn't specifically say "Main Series" games
And in the trailer for the switch they had no ds games NOT to mention Nintendo is not like that to combine their 2 main console lines
I could obviously see them doing like a Rumble or a PokePark or even Detective Pikachu IDK

For 2017, I'd rather see Kanto sequels. Now's the perfect opportunity for them, we just had RBY on VC, which serves as a great reference for the original story so now they don't have to worry about the younger gamers not knowing the original story, they can just point them to the VC games and do something more original. Hell, they could even bundle a copy of the VC games with it. And the ending of SM does set up for a Kanto sequel with

Spoiler

Lillie leaving for Kanto to try and cure Lusamine of Nihilego's neurotoxin

so they could easily connect it to SM's storyline.

and as for this idea I agree Ive been thinking about this for months but I didnt want to say anything

 

[professorlight]

Nintendo is not like that to combine their 2 main console lines

They advertise the switch as literally "a hybrid of home and handheld console"; once the switch is out, there will be no more new exclusive home consoles or handhelds; without new exclusive handhelds, the main series of pokemon has to move to the switch.

 

[Bolt the Cat]

The whole point of the Switch is to pool their games together onto one console to reduce software droughts, Nintendo had a lot of problems with that with the Wii U. So yeah, it's a pretty safe assumption that the main series will be on Switch in 8th gen. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for a new handheld and they're not going to support a 6 year old handheld along side a shiny new hybrid device.

Anyway, I don't think any of that is relevant to the next game, I think we'll be getting one more 3DS game in 2017 and then we'll start talking Switch games.