Generation VI: The Future

[Desdar300]

I don't think Masuda would've drew so much attention to this month's Corocoro if it wasn't relevant to the next games and likewise I doubt Nintendo would use the anime ( something that most people don't even watch anymore) to wrap up Zygarde's story.
IMO Zygarde will definitely be the star of the last games or game of Gen 6 like Kyurem, Giratina, and Ray before it, literally everything points to this happening.

 

[Tuoko]

Or the timeline could point to "Pokémon Z" having new species? That's the only other option I can see besides Generation 7. I doubt they'll introduce Generation 7 except for maybe showing off a new Pokémon in the 2016 movie somehow and following the Q1 or Q2 release again.

 

[Lufenium]

Or the timeline could point to "Pokémon Z" having new species? That's the only other option I can see besides Generation 7. I doubt they'll introduce Generation 7 except for maybe showing off a new Pokémon in the 2016 movie somehow and following the Q1 or Q2 release again.

I could see a Gen VII announcement possibly working something like this:

Zygarde gets its new forms (anime exclusive or not is another matter) and the anime showcases these. This wraps up 2015, and the ME Act series.

2016 comes. Early 2016 they reveal Volcanion in CoroCoro and start the 2016 movie promotion. Around the time of the 20th Anniversary, a Nintendo Direct is held and they announce Gen VII for the 3DS, coming late 2016. The 19th movie will feature Pokemon from the next gen, giving Volcanion its closure and meanwhile promoting the new games.

 

[Icy Wind]

Or the timeline could point to "Pokémon Z" having new species? That's the only other option I can see besides Generation 7. I doubt they'll introduce Generation 7 except for maybe showing off a new Pokémon in the 2016 movie somehow and following the Q1 or Q2 release again.

Or the timeline is just indicating at pokemon's 20 anniversery and doesn't signal any new pokemon at all.

 

[HumanDawn]

I don't think Masuda would've drew so much attention to this month's Corocoro if it wasn't relevant to the next games and likewise I doubt Nintendo would use the anime ( something that most people don't even watch anymore) to wrap up Zygarde's story.

That's a good point too, I doubt Masuda would have bothered pointing out new Pokemon Anime news if it wasn't relevant to his work. I'm pretty sure we'll see a new main game/s series title next year featuring the Formes.

 

[Boss1708]

Interesting idea on a DLC, Silktree, however I think it is unlikely they would include this as a DLC due to the fact that X and Y are already 2-ish years old now...It is possible though and the content you have thought up is very cool.

EDIT: I got ninja'd and apparently it is not DLC. My above argument is invalidd, but I still stand by my statement that it's a cool idea.



My belief and observation is that the cities and locations in the Mega Evolution games seem very much more modernized than those in the Standard Timeline. It is those technological advancements that could lead to the Royal Unova being built faster in the Megaverse, Mauville's sudden change in design, etc. If the events of those in the Megaverse take place at exactly the same time as their Standard counterparts, then by the parallel universe theory thingamajig it's possible somewhere back in time, someone in the Megaverse could have hypothetically made an important scientific discovery maybe a little earlier than their Standard alias, resulting in the more urban and modernized societies we see in ORAS and XY...

Oh god, imagine having to pick up the complete form poop. Not enough plastic bags and paper towels in the world.

What if it shit little Zygarde Cores or Cells?

Do you think it's possible that the new games are being held back intentionally to assure more people will buy them? Cause they could think that a large portion of fans could not be "hungry" for a new game yet? I know people around here are, but casual fans might not be...Like Platinum was held back, as it clearly didn't take two year to produce, but GF probably held it back so people could hype up more?

Could this be the case with Z? Cause Z surely could be made in less than 12 months, since ORAS took around a year to produce and Z should be easier to produce... at least if it is not a sequel.

My guesses are 2...
- They are waiting for PMD to be released before they announce the new game, a Nintendo decision.

- ORAS was a very hyped and long awaited game, so they think it should stay relevant longer and that the fans hype for it will take longer to wear out than usual.

My hypothesis might be completely wrong, but I just know they could have released a simple third version Z by now if they wanted to.

However, if they are planning to surprise us and start Gen 7 next year, it would all be explained.

I like this theory...If Z exists regardless of it being a sequel or not then it is most definitely already in development as they've had a year, maybe more since the release of ORAS to get started on and maybe even finish the game...Your first guess is basically what I've been thinking all along; MD is the most popular spinoff series and generates a lot of hype on its own, however it is not popular enough to withstand the amount of hype that would come from a main series announcement...It is a good business decision for Nintendo to wait to announce Z, if it exists, for the sake of SMD and Yo-Kai Watch sales.

I agree on both subjects:

About the time line, this is EXACTLY what I meant.

About the next game... I´m very confused. My logic tells me Z is the next game, and it is ready, or almost ready. And the reason why it is not released yet is because it is being held back in order to assure a bigger hype for Mistery Dungeon... Also maybe because of Yokai Watch, as you said...

However, the Go timeline is what is confusing me a lot. This points to a generation 7 in 2016.

On the other hand, Zygarde is still pointing to Z.

The only solution I see here, is a Generation 7 game coming out next year, set in a new region, with a POSTGAME story plot dedicated to Zygarde and maybe even Kalos. However, this seems a bit unrealistic. It would take more than a year and a half to make such a thing, and I think it is not the case.

I am still betting for a Pokemon Z and I think it will be announced soon.

 

[Mitchman]

A pkstgame Kalos and Zygarde plot in the beginning gen 7 games would totally suck out allthe air from any enjoyment and appreciation for the gen 7 lore, region and legendaries. Zygarde deserves itsown game(s)and limelight, and with the new bits of info we have, the whole concept behind it is far too elaborate for GF to have created for the Anime to give closure to Kalos until the post gake of another region. Not to mention, everyone rooting for gen 7 or thinking Zygarde Complete as a bonus suffices, are you really saying you don't want a potential sequel or third versionthat xouldshake things up in terms of game progression or story? Cause this is the first time GF could have the end game legendary have a presence throughout the entire game, and have the Evil Team plot actually be interesting for once, and not just another checkpoint for story progressions sake.

 

[Desdar300]

Yeah I concur, to me it seems that TPC is trying to give the anime a big boost in ratings by having it showcase future material for the next main line games (which I think is a very smart move). If this was just anime news I doubt TPCI would've given us localized information to begin with.

 

[LadySasaki]

Just throwing it out there that although the timeline looks promising, what with the blank space of 2016 seeming to hint at a next generation, that Eeveelution chart they threw at us before XY were released seemed to hint that Sylveon was a flying type, and we all know how that turned out.

I don't know what to think right now, because yeah, the stress on this is anime news over Zygarde's formes does unsettle me. One the one hand if GF do announce Z tomorrow, the fandom could flounce because that's predictable and boring and we wanted sequels or prequels or whatever, and also there's no element of surprise because they've pretty much bludgeoned us to death with Zygarde in the upcoming anime. But on the other hand, we could say, 'well, of course we're getting Z version, what did you think all of that focus on Zygarde was hinting at? Every single generation of Pokemon games has introduced a paired release followed by some kind of additional (usually 'third') version that returns us to that region but with updates - did you think the 6th would break that pattern?'

There's solid arguments on both sides. Tbh the only thing GF have succeeded at right now is confusing the shit out of us with these weird strategy! I do feel sorry for GF actually, only in the sense that it has got to be really, really friggin hard to try to surprise a fandom that is hellbent on guessing things years in advance. There can be no eventuality that hasn't already been speculated and discussed to death on a forum somewhere, years before it actually gets produced. For that reason I honestly don't know why 'keeping us on our toes' seems to be such a big goal for them. I can only speak for myself, but I don't give a crap about being 'shocked' every generation; I'd settle for being pleasantly surprised, and having a solid, creative game to play with all the elements I've grown to love.

 

[Esserise]

I don't think Masuda would've drew so much attention to this month's Corocoro if it wasn't relevant to the next games and likewise I doubt Nintendo would use the anime ( something that most people don't even watch anymore) to wrap up Zygarde's story.
IMO Zygarde will definitely be the star of the last games or game of Gen 6 like Kyurem, Giratina, and Ray before it, literally everything points to this happening.

I agree in as much that Zygarde will have some involvement to the games; and I think it is highly likely that it will be in the Gen 6 games. However, as I said before, I do not expect this to ultimately be Pokémon Z. It is way, way too obvious. Even if we didn't have Masuda saying that they wanted to tie up the Kalos story "in interesting ways" and, as Silktree noted, outright addressing the hypothetical "Pokémon Z" as being the obvious conclusion instead of just saying, "Oh, we cannot discuss future plans at this time" or some other generic deflection, I would still say that is way too predictable. You do not so blatantly plant the idea of Z ("It's an important Z-shaped Pokémon! And the last games were 'X and Y'! And now the anime is called 'XY & Z'! Are you thinking about Z yet guys????") being the big upcoming thing only to deliver exactly, quite literally to the letter, what people are expecting, especially not after B2W2 changed the perspective on what could be done with region revisit games. So not only would a singular Pokémon Z fail to impress in comparison to the new standard that B2W2 set, but it would also fail to impress on even the basic level of being any kind of surprise whatsoever. A totally expected, predictable move, and what business in their right mind would choose to do that when they have so many other options? Especially, as Marriland said, in the 20th anniversary year, as now we know that they do have big plans in store to celebrate it - but does "You get to play XY again, with a couple of new features!" really sound all that celebratory? Compared to a brand new generation with new Pokémon?

However, I don't see sequels as being any better of a solution. As already said upthread, Complete Zygarde is whole - it is right there in the name; it is "complete" - and features the colors to represent both Xerneas and Yveltal. So I don't think that yet another Forme is coming. Can I say for sure that one isn't? No, but we are all just speculating here. And besides that, XY sequels wouldn't have much to offer - no new Pokémon, or even previously-unavailable Pokémon, and there aren't a whole lot of lingering plot threads and hooks for a pair of sequels to pick up on like there were in BW. At that rate, in the vein of the thankfully-avoided "Gray and Grey," hypothetical XY sequels may as well be a pair of third Versions. Let's call them "Pokémon Zee and Pokémon Zed." You would go through the Kalos region of course; maybe starting in Southern Kalos, but even then, what of significance really changes? Kalos's Pokédex is already 450 Pokémon wide, and the rest can be obtained in ORAS. It isn't like in Gen 5 when B2W2 were able to reinvigorate the regional Dex with all of the old Pokémon. And XY don't even have the kind of pronounced aesthetic and layout differences that justified having a pair of games follow up on BW!

My girlfriend and I were talking about this, and one possibility that she considered was that the hypothetical Gen 7 games could be like Gen 2 in that they begin in the new region, adjacent to Kalos, and then we revisit Kalos in the post-game. Which I suppose is possible, but it just feels really awkward and clunky to me. Firstly, Kalos isn't like Kanto - Kalos is pretty huge. The thing about Johto/Kanto is that they are both rather small regions. Packing in a whole new region and all of Kalos is probably a somewhat different kind of beast. And secondly, to what end? Kanto was relevant because the Johto games were sequels to RGB, but as my previous paragraph covered, Kalos sequels are largely pointless. The events of the story didn't affect anywhere else, nor did they leave much hanging. I mean yes, you would obviously have your resurgence of Team Flare, but Zygarde would still probably be stuck in the post-game, because even though Team Flare would logically be terrorizing the new region, Zygarde is firmly and explicitly linked to Kalos, both in terms of lore and of the French bloody flag on its chest. So what do you do? Go through the main plot of Gen 7, dealing with the Team that wants the Gen 7 cover mascots (who, it is likely would have their own Rayquaza/Giratina/Kyurem/Zygarde equivalent), and then suddenly change track in the post-game and go tie up the plot that should have been tied up in the previous Gen, dealing with all kinds of lore and history that is, at most, only tangentially relevant to the Gen 7 region?

Could they do all of that? Sure, I guess. But it would be obscenely clumsy.

The elegance of a DLC pack eShop app (I didn't think of that option; that could work) is that it avoids most of these issues. It doesn't require any newly-obtainable Pokémon, it keeps Zygarde relevant to Gen 6, and it doesn't get in the way of the marketing timeline for Gen 7, but nor is it the waste of time and effort that a full-fledged new Gen 6 game would be.


EDIT: Sorry, that came out a lot more "I'm right and you're wrong!" than I intended it to. My point is, considering the circumstances, there isn't any one solution that satisfies every piece of evidence we can point to. There are flaws with the traditional methods, but on the other hand, something unorthodox like an eShop app may not be as out-of-the-question as one may expect.

 

[Desdar300]

Just throwing it out there that although the timeline looks promising, what with the blank space of 2016 seeming to hint at a next generation, that Eeveelution chart they threw at us before XY were released seemed to hint that Sylveon was a flying type, and we all know how that turned out.

I don't know what to think right now, because yeah, the stress on this is anime news over Zygarde's formes does unsettle me. One the one hand if GF do announce Z tomorrow, the fandom could flounce because that's predictable and boring and we wanted sequels or prequels or whatever, and also there's no element of surprise because they've pretty much bludgeoned us to death with Zygarde in the upcoming anime. But on the other hand, we could say, 'well, of course we're getting Z version, what did you think all of that focus on Zygarde was hinting at? Every single generation of Pokemon games has introduced a paired release followed by some kind of additional (usually 'third') version that returns us to that region but with updates - did you think the 6th would break that pattern?'

There's solid arguments on both sides. Tbh the only thing GF have succeeded at right now is confusing the shit out of us with these weird strategy! I do feel sorry for GF actually, only in the sense that it has got to be really, really friggin hard to try to surprise a fandom that is hellbent on guessing things years in advance. There can be no eventuality that hasn't already been speculated and discussed to death on a forum somewhere, years before it actually gets produced. For that reason I honestly don't know why 'keeping us on our toes' seems to be such a big goal for them. I can only speak for myself, but I don't give a crap about being 'shocked' every generation; I'd settle for being pleasantly surprised, and having a solid, creative game to play with all the elements I've grown to love.

Honestly, I think people take GF's words to heart far too often. Masuda only said making Z after XY would be too predictable and not that the former wasn't going to be a thing.
That new anime series is giving some big hints on what's to come in the next game especially with all these Zygarde forms and most importantly Ash Greninja.

 

[Rockapheller]

I think coming Kalos games will be named XZ and YZ.

 

[zoroarctic]

The only thing we know for sure is that we don't know. And it will likely stay that way until GF's official announcement.

 

[Desdar300]

I don't think Masuda would've drew so much attention to this month's Corocoro if it wasn't relevant to the next games and likewise I doubt Nintendo would use the anime ( something that most people don't even watch anymore) to wrap up Zygarde's story.
IMO Zygarde will definitely be the star of the last games or game of Gen 6 like Kyurem, Giratina, and Ray before it, literally everything points to this happening.

I agree in as much that Zygarde will have some involvement to the games; and I think it is highly likely that it will be in the Gen 6 games. However, as I said before, I do not expect this to ultimately be Pokémon Z. It is way, way too obvious. Even if we didn't have Masuda saying that they wanted to tie up the Kalos story "in interesting ways" and, as Silktree noted, outright addressing the hypothetical "Pokémon Z" as being the obvious conclusion instead of just saying, "Oh, we cannot discuss future plans at this time" or some other generic deflection, I would still say that is way too predictable. You do not so blatantly plant the idea of Z ("It's an important Z-shaped Pokémon! And the last games were 'X and Y'! And now the anime is called 'XY & Z'! Are you thinking about Z yet guys????") being the big upcoming thing only to deliver exactly, quite literally to the letter, what people are expecting, especially not after B2W2 changed the perspective on what could be done with region revisit games. So not only would a singular Pokémon Z fail to impress in comparison to the new standard that B2W2 set, but it would also fail to impress on even the basic level of being any kind of surprise whatsoever. A totally expected, predictable move, and what business in their right mind would choose to do that when they have so many other options? Especially, as Marriland said, in the 20th anniversary year, as now we know that they do have big plans in store to celebrate it - but does "You get to play XY again, with a couple of new features!" really sound all that celebratory? Compared to a brand new generation with new Pokémon?

However, I don't see sequels as being any better of a solution. As already said upthread, Complete Zygarde is whole - it is right there in the name; it is "complete" - and features the colors to represent both Xerneas and Yveltal. So I don't think that yet another Forme is coming. Can I say for sure that one isn't? No, but we are all just speculating here. And besides that, XY sequels wouldn't have much to offer - no new Pokémon, or even previously-unavailable Pokémon, and there aren't a whole lot of lingering plot threads and hooks for a pair of sequels to pick up on like there were in BW. At that rate, in the vein of the thankfully-avoided "Gray and Grey," hypothetical XY sequels may as well be a pair of third Versions. Let's call them "Pokémon Zee and Pokémon Zed." You would go through the Kalos region of course; maybe starting in Southern Kalos, but even then, what of significance really changes? Kalos's Pokédex is already 450 Pokémon wide, and the rest can be obtained in ORAS. It isn't like in Gen 5 when B2W2 were able to reinvigorate the regional Dex with all of the old Pokémon. And XY don't even have the kind of pronounced aesthetic and layout differences that justified having a pair of games follow up on BW!

My girlfriend and I were talking about this, and one possibility that she considered was that the hypothetical Gen 7 games could be like Gen 2 in that they begin in the new region, adjacent to Kalos, and then we revisit Kalos in the post-game. Which I suppose is possible, but it just feels really awkward and clunky to me. Firstly, Kalos isn't like Kanto - Kalos is pretty huge. The thing about Johto/Kanto is that they are both rather small regions. Packing in a whole new region and all of Kalos is probably a somewhat different kind of beast. And secondly, to what end? Kanto was relevant because the Johto games were sequels to RGB, but as my previous paragraph covered, Kalos sequels are largely pointless. The events of the story didn't affect anywhere else, nor did they leave much hanging. I mean yes, you would obviously have your resurgence of Team Flare, but Zygarde would still probably be stuck in the post-game, because even though Team Flare would logically be terrorizing the new region, Zygarde is firmly and explicitly linked to Kalos, both in terms of lore and of the French bloody flag on its chest. So what do you do? Go through the main plot of Gen 7, dealing with the Team that wants the Gen 7 cover mascots (who, it is likely would have their own Rayquaza/Giratina/Kyurem/Zygarde equivalent), and then suddenly change track in the post-game and go tie up the plot that should have been tied up in the previous Gen, dealing with all kinds of lore and history that is, at most, only tangentially relevant to the Gen 7 region?

Could they do all of that? Sure, I guess. But it would be obscenely clumsy.

The elegance of a DLC pack eShop app (I didn't think of that option; that could work) is that it avoids most of these issues. It doesn't require any newly-obtainable Pokémon, it keeps Zygarde relevant to Gen 6, and it doesn't get in the way of the marketing timeline for Gen 7, but nor is it the waste of time and effort that a full-fledged new Gen 6 game would be.


EDIT: Sorry, that came out a lot more "I'm right and you're wrong!" than I intended it to. My point is, considering the circumstances, there isn't any one solution that satisfies every piece of evidence we can point to. There are flaws with the traditional methods, but on the other hand, something unorthodox like an eShop app may not be as out-of-the-question as one may expect.

You guys have some amazing and creative ideas but sadly they all sound too good to be true IMO.
I was on the gen 6.5 hype train but Joe Merrick and the latest Corocoro issue taught me how futile my thoughts all were and now things seem like it's all so obvious with Zygarde's forms, Ash Greninja, and the fact that flowers seem to tie into many important Gen 6 Characters.
Also it just seems strange that Nintendo would market and advertise Zygarde but not any new Pokémon like an upcoming Gen 7 starter or Legendary to immense the hype moreover TPC would be wasting their time by having the anime showcase things that hold no relevance like Ash Greninja .
Idk it just seems at this point that GF will be called predictable no matter what they do because some fan somewhere already predicted it.

 

[Mitchman]

Nothing of note, but Ohmori tweeted how PSMD just released Go is on the way and that the 20th is coming up. Something also with word play on how they are working on the series to evolve itto super or whatever,translate sucks, and" to stay tuned." If anyone who d9es read Japanese wants to provide a translation, this could make sense, just a randomtidbit for sure though.

 

[HumanDawn]

Concluding everything about Gen VI in an eShop only app sounds like a terrible idea. GameFreak may as well try to make fully fledged games, the kind that, y'know, would make much more profit and sell more. Would this then be the app that then that links to Pokemon Go? We already know Pokemon Go will connect to a main series title, and I can't imagine how an eShop only app would be called a main series title, when for it to be one it would be having pretty much the same or similar gameplay elements. How would it even work? You have a few areas and there's a plot with Zygarde, and you can make it connect with any main series game and get your own Pokemon from there, with a smaller amount of catchable Pokemon? What about those 2 game slots left for Gen 6? Would the app then count as one? If so, they may as well develop it to be more like a main series title and advertise it that way, I can't see how an eShop app would convince people that it's a must buy for fans.

There's much more potential by making a full fledged game/s, GameFreak only needs plenty of enough content in mind to create and implement to make the experience feel new.

 

[Silktree]

Also it just seems strange that Nintendo would market and advertise Zygarde but not any new Pokémon like an upcoming Gen 7 starter or Legendary to immense the hype moreover TPC would be wasting their time by having the anime showcase things that hold no relevance like Ash Greninja.

What most of you aren't taking into account is that the advertising would still be worthwhile if the Zygarde Formes were used in a story-driven eShop app; that solution would generate profit for Game Freak as early as this year while leaving plenty of time for Generation VII to be promoted throughout 2016. Honestly, I don't find that less likely than Game Freak being so predictable as to release a third version at this point, or revealing that Complete Forme has a counterpart or two stronger forms out of nowhere (which is what a set of Kalos sequels/prequels would require). As for Ash Greninja, it could also be allocated to the app (especially given the reference to Kalos' past), although the fact that it's clearly a reference to Ash certainly raises the possibility that it won't be carried over to the games. Suffice to say that Pikachu has been overpowered in the anime for years, but not in the games.

GameFreak may as well try to make fully fledged games, the kind that, y'know, would make much more profit and sell more.

And the kind that would delay a new generation, which would definitely sell more than a third version or even sequels would.

We already know Pokemon Go will connect to a main series title, and I can't imagine how an eShop only app would be called a main series title,

It should be easy to imagine Go being connected to Generation VII. In fact, the former could play a huge role in promoting the latter ahead of its release.

What about those 2 game slots left for Gen 6? Would the app then count as one?

It doesn't matter. Some of you really need to understand that these game slots don't have to be anything more than unused placeholders, especially seeing as how we have unused slots from previous generations. Please stop bringing it up as if it were conclusive evidence of Game Freak's plans.

 

[Necrozma]

As people already mentioned, OR/AS pretty much made all Pokémon (aside from the event ones) available.

So, it IS true that the next games would have little to offer aside from new Mega Evolutions (and event Pokémon/possible new forms). If there really is another Kalos title, they will either have to make some massive changes to the existing plot (so, shake it up in a big way, if it truly is another third version) or introduce some incredibly compelling plot to make up for the lack of things to offer or they will actually add some brand new Pokémon to give people further incentive to play the game.

The next set of games could serve not only as a conclusion to the Kalos storyline but also a gateway to seventh generation.

I really don't know at this point. I truly hope we get some sort of announcement in the future just to put an end to this speculation.

And while I like the sound of the app idea, I can see why people would prefer an actual game.

 

[HumanDawn]

What most of you aren't taking into account is that the advertising would still be worthwhile if the Zygarde Formes were used in a story-driven eShop app; that solution would generate profit for Game Freak as early as this year while leaving plenty of time for Generation VII to be promoted throughout 2016.

Which could be developed into a fully fledged main series title instead with plenty of new gameplay features, minigames, Mega Evolutions, areas, new story, new characters etc...?

And the kind that would delay a new generation, which would definitely sell more than a third version or even sequels would.

What would be the issue in delaying it? We've had plenty of third versions and the following generation did perfectly fine, sales wise at least. It would only make them lose money they could have made a lot of money off from like with every third version they've done so far. Maybe GameFreak knows about the NX and is planning on saving it for Gen VII?

It should be easy to imagine Go being connected to Generation VII. In fact, the former could play a huge role in promoting the latter ahead of its release.

Pokemon Go is coming out early 2016, would a new generation coming out on the 3DS with Pokemon Go features then only be available around six months later? I guess it could work, new features for Pokemon Go pop up and it could keep players interested in it, although it depends on whatever these new features are, I guess. We could still have Gen VII with Zygarde potentially being connected to it, although I'd still prefer a game of its own.

It doesn't matter. Some of you really need to understand that these game slots don't have to be anything more than unused placeholders, especially seeing as how we have unused slots from previous generations. Please stop bringing it up as if it were conclusive evidence of Game Freak's plans.

It's not entirely conclusive, but it could mean something.

 

[Desdar300]

What most of you aren't taking into account is that the advertising would still be worthwhile if the Zygarde Formes were used in a story-driven eShop app; that solution would generate profit for Game Freak as early as this year while leaving plenty of time for Generation VII to be promoted throughout 2016. Honestly, I don't find that less likely than Game Freak being so predictable as to release a third version at this point, or revealing that Complete Forme has a counterpart or two stronger forms out of nowhere (which is what a set of Kalos sequels/prequels would require). As for Ash Greninja, it could also be allocated to the app (especially given the reference to Kalos' past), although the fact that it's clearly a reference to Ash certainly raises the possibility that it won't be carried over to the games. Suffice to say that Pikachu has been overpowered in the anime for years, but not in the games.

GameFreak may as well try to make fully fledged games, the kind that, y'know, would make much more profit and sell more.

And the kind that would delay a new generation, which would definitely sell more than a third version or even sequels would.

We already know Pokemon Go will connect to a main series title, and I can't imagine how an eShop only app would be called a main series title,

It should be easy to imagine Go being connected to Generation VII. In fact, the former could play a huge role in promoting the latter ahead of its release.

What about those 2 game slots left for Gen 6? Would the app then count as one?

It doesn't matter. Some of you really need to understand that these game slots don't have to be anything more than unused placeholders, especially seeing as how we have unused slots from previous generations. Please stop bringing it up as if it were conclusive evidence of Game Freak's plans.

I really like your idea and it could definitely happen but I just figure that TPC would be promoting gen 7 and not Zygarde if they wanted to rile up their Japanese audience and it's odd that TPCI would make a big deal about Ash Greninja if it was just anime exclusive.
Anything is possible though but I think XYZ holds the answer to most of our problems.