Theory: Gen Seven's Third Game

[Tuoko]

sequels seemed to be a gen V only thing

We've just went one generation without sequels. Also, sequels for Pokemon games aren't really a new idea, since the Johto games are sequels to the Kanto games.

Gen IV remakes are to early

They wouldn't be too early.

This year marks 10 years since Diamond and Pearl first released. Guess how many years Red and Green & Gold and Silver were released before their remakes? 8 and 10 years respectively.

Gen I remakes/sequels whatever would've take the 20/25th anniversary spot.

The 25th anniversary has yet to happen, so that's still up in the air, but I doubt Generation 7 would continue until 2022 or whatever.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

Whatever game comes after Sun and Moon, it be a good game and it could have more content since games after first pair tend to have more content.

 

[Hidden Mew]

We've just went one generation without sequels. Also, sequels for Pokemon games aren't really a new idea, since the Johto games are sequels to the Kanto games.

I agree that it's too early to write off sequels as just being exclusive to the fifth generation. It's only been one generation. Maybe if that doesn't happen for another generation or two, I could see that being written off as less of a possibility, but right now, I'd say that there's a much better chance of Sun/Moon getting sequels than going back to the traditional third version route. After two generations where we didn't get a traditional third version game, I'm pretty confident that they're done with them, but sequels have more potential and they have a bigger selling point. They're brand new games with a new storyline and characters rather than just a upgraded version of an existing game.

They wouldn't be too early.

This year marks 10 years since Diamond and Pearl first released. Guess how many years Red and Green & Gold and Silver were released before their remakes? 8 and 10 years respectively.

I'd probably consider D/P remakes to be too early in the sense that DS games can still be played on the 3DS. That has been a common trait with the other remakes with the original games long out of print and unplayable on the newest system. Although, I forgot that Game Boy games could still be played on GBA, but considering that you couldn't transfer your Pokemon from the first two generations into R/S, that was kind of moot and you could argue that FR/LG were more of a necessity because of that issue. There were a lot of older Pokemon that you couldn't get in R/S before the remakes.

In terms of the length of time, I agree that it isn't too early. Ten years is pretty prime time for remakes, especially when a good chuck of the target audience playing the games now wouldn't have been alive or old enough to play video games at least back when D/P were released. While I am leading more towards D/P remakes coming out in the next generation, I wouldn't be too shocked if they went for D/P remakes for this generation instead. It really depends on what plans they have for the seventh generation and probably the NX too. I wouldn't mind D/P remakes. Exploring Sinnoh with seventh generation graphics would be great.

 

[Esserise]

It's definitely way too premature to say that sequels were a Gen V-only thing.

As far as DP remakes go, it's certainly not too early for them chronologically, but I think they'll probably hold off until the next system. I could be wrong about that, but it feels like maybe a 10% chance that they'll do it? 20% chance at most.

To be honest, I'm skeptical about the idea of Kanto sequels. I mean, don't get me wrong - I think they're a great idea. But they're an idea that also feels very fan-ish to me, and perhaps a little too ambitious for Game Freak.

 

[PurplePopplio]

I think that sequels could be a possibility. It really all depends on how Sun and Moon's story plays out. If it feels very complete, then I speculate that there will be no new Alola game(s) after Sun and Moon.

 

[Tuoko]

I'd probably consider D/P remakes to be too early in the sense that DS games can still be played on the 3DS. That has been a common trait with the other remakes with the original games long out of print and unplayable on the newest system. Although, I forgot that Game Boy games could still be played on GBA, but considering that you couldn't transfer your Pokemon from the first two generations into R/S, that was kind of moot and you could argue that FR/LG were more of a necessity because of that issue. There were a lot of older Pokemon that you couldn't get in R/S before the remakes.

In terms of the length of time, I agree that it isn't too early. Ten years is pretty prime time for remakes, especially when a good chuck of the target audience playing the games now wouldn't have been alive or old enough to play video games at least back when D/P were released. While I am leading more towards D/P remakes coming out in the next generation, I wouldn't be too shocked if they went for D/P remakes for this generation instead. It really depends on what plans they have for the seventh generation and probably the NX too. I wouldn't mind D/P remakes. Exploring Sinnoh with seventh generation graphics would be great.

The length of time and FR/LG remakes were a part of my argument, yeah. Though I forgot to mention the latter. I'd say a better argument aside from FR/LG is the fact that new copies of Diamond/Pearl/Platinum aren't being made anymore and there aren't as many around compared to Black/White, Black 2/White 2, X/Y, and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire. When November rolls around, Sun/Moon will be added to the list as well.

As far as DP remakes go, it's certainly not too early for them chronologically, but I think they'll probably hold off until the next system. I could be wrong about that, but it feels like maybe a 10% chance that they'll do it? 20% chance at most.

Like both of you said, I'm more expecting it to happen next generation, but I wouldn't be surprised if they happened this generation.

To be honest, I'm skeptical about the idea of Kanto sequels. I mean, don't get me wrong - I think they're a great idea. But they're an idea that also feels very fan-ish to me, and perhaps a little too ambitious for Game Freak.

That's my problem with the idea of Kanto sequels as well. I could see them making a new Generation taking place in Kanto so many years after the originals (in-game time) to the point where it isn't a sequel... but I'll save that for another day.

 

[Hidden Mew]

I kind of like the idea of Kanto sequels and I think it could work now that the original games are available on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console. It would be a unique way to travel through Kanto again with some much needed upgrades to the region, but I agree that it sounds like a fan-ish game rather than something I think Game Freak would really be interested in. I'd still be up for Kanto sequels if that ever did happen though.

 

[PurplePopplio]

I don't want to revisit Kanto at all. We saw it in too many Generations, 4 out of 6! I'd rather want to be focused on new regions than revisit old ones.

Well, to be fair, old regions due create nostalgia and that usually sells.

 

[NinjutsuSen]

I think that sequels could be a possibility. It really all depends on how Sun and Moon's story plays out. If it feels very complete, then I speculate that there will be no new Alola game(s) after Sun and Moon.

Gen VI story wasn't complete and still didn't get sequels. And BW story was pretty much completed and sequels happened without any relevant plot strings to the first games.

he 25th anniversary has yet to happen, so that's still up in the air, but I doubt Generation 7 would continue until 2022 or whatever.

That's why I doubt Kanto remakes to happen after SM. I bet they are saving a Kanto revisit for the 25th anniversaty and not randomly for the 21th.

The time between DP and 2017 is long. I agree with that, but the thing is that DPP is still playable for the 3DS and the difference for the technolgy not being that old that it a remake as fast as possible. Also I remember an interview from a german youtuber with Masuda and Ohmori by the time ORAS released in where Masuda said that DP remakes won't happen in the near future.
So I very much doubt remakes for this gen.

What's left? Alola sequels. Can it happen? Maybe but I doubt that. Also I doubt that GF will release another Alola game in 2017, only one year after the first game. Rather 2018, but I also doubt that they're gonna do another internationally year gap after only one release only to release another Alola game.

 

[Icy Wind]

without any relevant plot strings to the first games.

BW2 didn't gave relevant plot points to BW?
......

...Are you kidding me? So N returning to Univa, Cheren and Bianca having actual careers, the memory link stories, iris becoming the champion, ghetsis returning to Unoca to take his revenge
and many other elements aren't "relevant" plot points to you???????

 

[Esserise]

Gen VI story wasn't complete and still didn't get sequels. And BW story was pretty much completed and sequels happened without any relevant plot strings to the first games.

This is, uh... not accurate.

BW set up many of the threads that do indeed come into play in B2W2, both major and minor. Ghetsis escapes custody to come back in B2W2. One of the Seven Sages kicks around the idea of wanting to see N confront Ghetsis once he's had time to reflect, which happens in B2W2. Another of the Sages says that they still don't know if Ghetsis and N are related, which B2W2 clarifies. The Poké Transfer system goes haywire, which leads to the expanded regional Dex in B2W2. We see in B2W2 what Cheren and Bianca have chosen to do with their lives. Team Plasma is fractured, with their impact still being felt around the region (Hugh's entire character is a result of this), and former members working to right their wrongs. Cynthia mentions that the Champions get together every few years in order to see who's best, which we see in the PWT's Champions Tournament. There's the construction on Route 4, which either completed or halted due to the discovery of ruins in accordance with the version's values. Even some really insignificant details are pulled through. The ghost girl from Marvelous Bridge gets a sidequest. Brycen's old movie career is blown up into a full-scale feature. The guy you could trade a Boldore to for an Emolga in BW now trades you a Gigalith. The Patrat Show woman picks up a job at the Striaton Restaurant.

Whereas with XY, yes the story was complete. The weapon is destroyed. Lysandre is only as much of a loose end as most other Pokémon villains, and chances are he's dead anyway, and Team Flare has disbanded. AZ and Floette live happily ever after. Unlike Cheren and Bianca, the Kalos Pals were never traveling to figure out what they wanted their futures to be, but rather to simply enjoy the journey at hand. Sure, Shauna mentions wanting to visit a faraway region, but that's not something that demands a sequel; she can show up in any game with a faraway region, if they feel the need to pay off on that line at all. And you solve the origins of Mega Evolution; Sycamore learns from your experiences with Team Flare that it comes from the ultimate weapon.

What loose ends are there, really? Zygarde is meant for SM, as we know now. There's the ghost girl, but that's not a major plot thread, and she cameos in ORAS anyway, so it's not as if they just didn't do anything with her - it seems that they just don't intend to explain what she's all about (which is a perfectly valid route to go, with ghosts). There's the Couriway Station, I guess, but I think that has more to do with Couriway being based on Molsheim, and on it being specifically said to be a hot tourist destination because of its waterfalls. I suppose there's Eternal Floette, but that's not really enough to justify a sequel (even though she is in the coding, but remember, we're not supposed to know that).

When BW left loose ends, it wasn't *just* this kind of minor stuff. There were some minor things that they returned to, like the ghost girl in those games, but there were also larger threads and more developed characters that would be worth revisiting than what was left in XY.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

I don't like Kanto's story very much as it didn't involve any legendary pokemon. Unless the Kanto sequels involves a story with the birds or Mewtwo then I am not interested in seeing Kanto return. Also I doubt gen 7 will end with just Sun and Moon. No gen has been that short. Also they would make more money if they make more games for gen 7. It may be the 20th anniversary but it doesn't mean it would contain only Sun and Moon.

As for gen 6, Game Freak believes that it is complete so gen 6 is complete as far as we know. A gen is considered complete when Game Freak moves on to the next gen after 4 or 5 fives of the previous gen. XY are complete games as well as ORAS and Game Freak didn't need to make any more games for that gen.

 

[NinjutsuSen]

BW2 didn't gave relevant plot points to BW?
......

...Are you kidding me? So N returning to Univa, Cheren and Bianca having actual careers, the memory link stories, iris becoming the champion, ghetsis returning to Unoca to take his revenge
and many other elements aren't "relevant" plot points to you???????

With no relevant plot points I mean no relevant story based plot points BW2 take from BW. Nothing from BW2 main storyline of Team Plasma freezing Unova and getting control over Kyurem was related to the main plot of the original BW. There was the same team and cast and there are even cameos of BW characters, but the main storyline is a completly different than BW.

This is, uh... not accurate.

Whereas with XY, yes the story was complete. The weapon is destroyed. Lysandre is only as much of a loose end as most other Pokémon villains, and chances are he's dead anyway, and Team Flare has disbanded. AZ and Floette live happily ever after. Unlike Cheren and Bianca, the Kalos Pals were never traveling to figure out what they wanted their futures to be, but rather to simply enjoy the journey at hand. Sure, Shauna mentions wanting to visit a faraway region, but that's not something that demands a sequel; she can show up in any game with a faraway region, if they feel the need to pay off on that line at all. And you solve the origins of Mega Evolution; Sycamore learns from your experiences with Team Flare that it comes from the ultimate weapon.

What loose ends are there, really? Zygarde is meant for SM, as we know now. There's the ghost girl, but that's not a major plot thread, and she cameos in ORAS anyway, so it's not as if they just didn't do anything with her - it seems that they just don't intend to explain what she's all about (which is a perfectly valid route to go, with ghosts). There's the Couriway Station, I guess, but I think that has more to do with Couriway being based on Molsheim, and on it being specifically said to be a hot tourist destination because of its waterfalls. I suppose there's Eternal Floette, but that's not really enough to justify a sequel (even though she is in the coding, but remember, we're not supposed to know that).

When BW left loose ends, it wasn't *just* this kind of minor stuff. There were some minor things that they returned to, like the ghost girl in those games, but there were also larger threads and more developed characters that would be worth revisiting than what was left in XY.

And still BW story was more complete without any lose ends and unquestioned things except the obligatory third legend sitting in a random cave and they still got sequels. What was behind the three Power plants? Where was any explanation of Zygarde in the games, especially of it's formes, what did Lysandre and Sycamore talk about (what Sycamore said in Couriway)? What was Malva's role in TF and why she wasn't involved into the whole TF plot? Only a handful unresolved things not including what happened to Lysandre, since Cyrus vanishing also wasn't explained in Platinum.

And now what were the things which would've justified a BW sequel?

 

[Silktree]

Honestly the only logical thing I can see them doing would be a combination of both Gen 6 and 7. Something like Earth and Mars with Zygarde and Marshadow being the cover legendaries bundling both potential sequels into one pair of games.

Zygarde isn't going to be the mascot of anything. There is a reason why the new forms are already being incorporated into Sun and Moon. That, in turn, makes a return to Kalos unlikely any time soon.

You didn't think that a new generation was logical for this year, either.

 

[Esserise]

With no relevant plot points I mean no relevant story based plot points BW2 take from BW. Nothing from BW2 main storyline of Team Plasma freezing Unova and getting control over Kyurem was related to the main plot of the original BW. There was the same team and cast and there are even cameos of BW characters, but the main storyline is a completly different than BW.

This seems like painfully arbitrary criteria. So what? The problem you're citing is that BW didn't have Ghetsis mutter something off on the side about looking for Kyurem? There was never any need to do that. He had his original plan in BW and it seemed like it'd work right up to the last minute. Then he challenges you, loses, gets arrested, and breaks out off-screen to formulate a new plan. At which point he would have decided to look for Kyurem. He had a plan, it failed, so he cooked up a new one, and bam, we have another story to tell.

Really it just seems like a way for you to disqualify all of the other things I listed in one sweep. Which wouldn't even work, because there's the fractionalization of Team Plasma, which is glimpsed in BW with those two grunts in the Dreamyard who appeared to be in on Ghetsis's true intentions. Which implies that there are some members of Team Plasma who truly believe in the message, but there are others who are involved for greedy reasons. Which is a big thing in B2W2, with the old and new Team Plasma factions at odds with one another.

And still BW story was more complete without any lose ends and unquestioned things except the obligatory third legend sitting in a random cave and they still got sequels.

Naturally, as it would be unsatisfying to leave the story only halfway finished. But they still clearly seeded in things that they could come back to in the future - seeing where Cheren/Bianca/N's arcs end up, dealing with the fallout of Team Plasma, the outbreak of Pokémon from the Transfer Lab, the Champion get-together, blah blah blah. These are things that provide meat to a sequel - you've got a new angle to approach the story from, using now-developed characters dealing with the consequences of the story that just played out. You've got a way to massively shake up the Pokémon distribution, providing a very different experience from BW. And with things like the Champions' Tournament and Brycen's film career, you've got new features and sidequests you can include.

What was behind the three Power plants?

Methods of generating power, one should think. It's all that's behind the one that we do get to visit; I don't see any reason to assume that the others are hiding anything special. Hell, it's not even the first time this has happened. You can't enter the other rooms in Mr. Backlot's mansion in DPP, either.

Where was any explanation of Zygarde in the games, especially of it's formes

In Sun and Moon. Why are they handling it there? Wait and see.

what did Lysandre and Sycamore talk about (what Sycamore said in Couriway)?

Sycamore says that he *meant* to have a discussion with Lysandre, in which he says he would have suggested that Lysandre put his ego aside to act out of benevolence. He doesn't say that he *did* talk about anything with him, and actively regrets not doing so. The only instance of them conversing that I can recall is when they're in his café, and Sycamore just says that they were talking about Mega Evolution.

What was Malva's role in TF

Just an admin, as illustrated by her having access to the admin-only floor. This isn't something that the game ever raises as a mystery, anyway - they tell us that Malva was a member of Team Flare, and don't make a big fuss about it. They weren't even a particularly complex organization. Indeed, they are defined as a cabal of shallow aristocrats who want to kill everyone else and take the world for themselves. The only "special" members are the Scientists, and they're there... to do science.

(On a related note, the admins basically never occupy any sort of special position within the team. They're there to be tougher-than-grunts. So I'm actually not sure why people have invented this notion that she needs to be Team Flare's High Chancellor of Super-Important Plot Points. (Okay, I actually *am* sure why, and am just being rhetorical - it's simply because she's a League member and also a baddie, which we've never had before except for that time that we did, so people think that's some big conspiracy, but it's not. Pokémon battling is a glorified sport. It'd be like a famous basketball player being a member. Sure it'd be a scandal, like if tomorrow's news reported that LeBron James was found to be a neo-Nazi, or something, but our perspective is warped because we enter the story from the POV of a Pokémon battler, so the other Pokémon battlers look more important to us, but to counter that, just look at Diantha - nobody in Kalos gives a toss about her being the goddamed Champion - they're all busy being starry-eyed over her acting career.)

I suppose if one wanted to get speculative, one might think that she was there to be their plant in the media. But we actually do see her in that capacity during the main game, when she reports on the Holo Caster about the Poké Ball Factory being robbed, and this doesn't seem to be some deeply treasonous act. I mean, sure, she says that the identities of the culprits is unknown, even though she definitely does know their identities, so you know, "scandalous," but the news probably wouldn't have known anyway.

Through the course of the story, we learn that Team Flare is actually going full NSA and spying on everybody's Holo Caster conversations. Even that's not treated as a major plot point, and I'd still say that in the grand scheme of things, it's probably a considerably larger headline than one of their members being a newsperson who's really good at battling.

and why she wasn't involved into the whole TF plot?

What's to do? You'd probably battle her and she'd probably use a Pyroar and then be mean to you or say something about ends justifying the means. Because the games sure didn't have that base covered already.

And now what were the things which would've justified a BW sequel?

Spoiler

All the things that I listed above. Let's recap:

- Seeing where Cheren/Bianca/N's arcs end up, since their stories were all very forward-looking.

- Dealing with the fallout of Team Plasma, since many of them were good people who were lied to, and the people who they stole from didn't magically get their Pokémon back.

- Massively shaking up the Pokémon distribution, providing a very different experience from BW.

- Things like the Champions' Tournament and Brycen's film career, which offer new features and sidequests to include.

- And, of course, seeing where Kyurem fits into Reshiram/Zekrom's deep mythology, as those dragons were said to have split from a single Pokémon - so where does Kyurem factor into that, seeing as it is clearly related to them?.

Now let's contrast that with what XY leaves us with, and better yet, let's compare it to what we ended up getting in ORAS:

- Practically no character arcs to explore further - the Kalos Pals are just meant to enjoy the journey in XY, Sycamore learns the origins of Mega Evolution, and Lysandre is probably dead. AZ reunited with Floette and successfully turned his frown upside-down. These sorts of ends do not leave much room for pregression. With ORAS, we have the opportunity to completely rework the rather lacking characters from RS from the ground-up, and to make them more interesting.

- There was no "fallout" from Team Flare. They all knew full-well what they were getting into, and they failed. Their weapon blew up before it could do any major damage. The only idea for a Team Flare follow-up that I ever see people suggesting is some kind of revival to do what they did before, maybe involving Zygarde. Which is not only basically the same thing that they tried to do before (and therefore boring, and terribly perfunctory), but it's also a complete rip-off of Team Plasma in B2W2. Whereas we had a significant difference between BW and B2W2 - in the originals, Team Plasma were trying to convert people to their ideology honestly, so as to have the power of the populace supporting them. That collapsed, which led to a more openly violent, rule-with-an-iron-fist approach in the sequels. And since we still have the old Team Plasma hanging around, we get some conflict between the people who genuinely believed in the message in the previous games, and the people who have signed on to attain power through force. Team Flare shrugging and saying, "Uhh maybe we could give that whole genocide thing another shot?" isn't nearly as interesting for a story. On top of that, ORAS offered an entirely different villains dynamic - the whole Magma/Aqua turf war, with their relative villainy depending on your version, though never being as out-and-out evil as Team Flare. Magma/Aqua are more morally grey.

- The Kalos Pokédex already covers 450 Pokémon. There's not much room even left for an expansion at that point. Perhaps better to just move over to another region, where the distribution will be inherently different.

- As side-features go, it was either Rhyhorn Racing or Secret Bases and Contests. I don't think it's hard to see why Rhyhorn Racing didn't win out on this one.

- While Zygarde may be clearly related to Xerneas/Yveltal, the nature of their relationship isn't as automatic of a question as it was for Kyurem, because Xerneas/Yveltal themselves don't really have much backstory. They mostly take millennium-long naps. Whereas Reshiram/Zekrom are much more developed, with a lore that Kyurem can be worked into in order to provide more story. Suddenly, Kyurem is the husk of the original dragon, and the meteor that fell near Lacunosa was actually Kyurem in the form of a Dragon Stone, split off alongside Reshiram and Zekrom. XY's story was instead focused on Mega Evolution, but it solved its orgins by the end. So what do they do? Well, they reveal that it actually has another secret influence on a different region. By the end of XY, we know why Mega Evolution is present in Kalos. So what's this about Rayquaza, now? And why are Groudon and Kyogre Not-Quite-Mega-Evolving?

(And, again, Zygarde is evidently meant to have a story role in SM. Which we can't really judge much about at the moment. Although, I'm thinking about it, and amusingly, neither of us mentioned the Anistar Sundial. Which actually is a bit of mystery, but maybe they prefer to keep it that way.)

E: Last bit ran a bit long and this probably isn't totally relevant to the thread anyway, so I figured I'd conserve some space.

 

[PurplePopplio]

Wow! Everyone has become so deep! Sequels depend on the story in Sun and Moon. I am actually hoping that sequels do not happen, because they would have to make Sun and Moon's story feel incomplete.

 

[Soki]

Sequels depend on the story in Sun and Moon. I am actually hoping that sequels do not happen, because they would have to make Sun and Moon's story feel incomplete.

What makes you think that? I mean, did Black&White feel incomplete to anyone? It certainly didn't to me, those sequels totally came out of the blue.

Sequels don't always exist to complete a story. BW2 were a new story with new main characters which simply happened after the previous story, making it sequels. Sequels often exist to simply offer new content in the same setting.

Third versions however, do make the original games feel incomplete. But third versions aren't sequels, they're simply a new version of the same story, not a completely new story.

 

[Hidden Mew]

Yeah, the lack of sequels for other generations didn't make them feel incomplete. I don't recall people making that comment with R/S or D/P before or after we got Emerald and Platinum. B/W certainly didn't come off as incomplete and no one expected sequels if I recall correctly either. X/Y is the only generation that is labeled as incomplete, at least from what I've seen and I still disagree with that claim as well.

And sequels aren't there to make a story feel more complete usually either. They're mainly a way to tell new stories in the same setting. While B/W was complete, giving them sequels made sense given how they ended N's story, how there were already signs of opposing view points in Team Plasma and how they could deal with the aftermath of the original story, especially with people still not having their stolen Pokemon back yet. Compare the characters and storylines from B/W and X/Y and it's really no surprise which generation ended up with sequels and which did not. Besides all that, a good sequel doesn't just make the original story more complete or fixes problems with it. Sequels should expand on the original setting with a new storyline, concept and characters, which is what B2/W2 did. It wasn't quite as good as B/W was for me, but they were still great games and provided their own storyline.

Considering that we don't even know how Sun/Moon will turn out, claiming that they need sequels in order to not be incomplete seems a bit much to me. In spite of the problems people had with X/Y not having a direct continuation, I don't think it's that much of a problem. Sure, I would have liked a return visit to an updated Kalos, but I don't think that we lost something huge or that X/Y are forever incomplete without sequels or a third version. There really wasn't a lot at the end to lead into sequels in my opinion. Plus, they clearly had plans for Zygarde in Sun/Moon and I imagine that those plans were set for quite some time, so the main reason, or one of the main reasons at least, as to why people wanted another Kalos game might be kind of moot with that in mind. Sun/Moon could function perfectly fine without some kind of continuation too. We don't know anything about the storyline, so we can't really judge what they need to do for the future. I'd like to see the return of sequels, especially when they offer so much more than third version games do, but I can't say whether or not Sun/Moon would really warrant them right now.

 

[Silktree]

And sequels aren't there to make a story feel more complete usually either. They're mainly a way to tell new stories in the same setting.

That is why I think there is no reason why a region as old as Kanto or Johto shouldn't be revisited via sequels. Even if there is no obvious continuation implied by the original story, it isn't hard to come up with a good one incorporating both old and new elements. It is strictly a question of which region Game Freak want to revisit at a given time (which partially depends on what they think most fans will like).

 

[godiego]

When BW left loose ends, it wasn't *just* this kind of minor stuff. There were some minor things that they returned to, like the ghost girl in those games, but there were also larger threads and more developed characters that would be worth revisiting than what was left in XY.

i think i agree with you on the whole, but i also do think that it's easier to say that BW left relevant loose ends when we have a game that would address which ends were actually Chekhov's Guns. i mean, we know Ghetsis escaping is relevant only because there was something to address it. without BW2, it could simply be flavor text. after all, Cyrus staying in the Distortion World and Giovanni disappearing are also things that could facilitate expansions and yet they never got them. granted, i do agree with you that it's (probably) not the case with XY, but at the same time we just don't necessarily know which "loose ends" are actually loose.