Around 40-50, the metaphorical mega floodgates will open I gander. They would have almost 2 years to develop the games if theh do come, about the time since B2W2 came out till ORAS, which I would say is a fair guess to how much time we can assume at the least they spent working on em. Of course they could only introduce only 20, but I think they have a lot they want to showcase, and its the final Kalos game, they are gonna want to end on a bang.
That's too much imo, because they would need to save some for the future, but who knows.
The fandom can be silly at times ( a quick look at some Poketubers will show you that) but I don't think the Gen 6.5 believers are one of them. Yes, it sounds laughable at first but if I came here a decade ago and said that a upcoming generation of Pokémon would feature only seventy two new Pokémon, Mega evolutions ( Like that other monster franchise) that would allow Pokémon like Charizard and Mewtwo to evolve further while saying that Ash would merge with one of his Pokémon, I would be ridiculed , be denounce a troll, and I would be banned on the spot. My point is that many things sound queer at first but sometimes weird things can happen as Gen 6 as a whole has proved and the only reason one would say otherwise is because these bizarre things are a norm now. While I think Generation seven is a awesome thought I feel IMO that it would throw things off because then the anime would be promoting outdated material which could hurt the viewership even more as we'd all be playing the next Gen and not care but a hypothetical Generation 6.5 could fix this as now the anime has more things to work with and the writers can better flush things out and not pull a Best Wishes. This also allows GF to have more time to work on generation seven and flush out their new concepts better and make that generation something special whether it'd be in better writing for the story or just polishing it up to snuff. Will this create connection issues between XY and Oras? Most likely but I doubt they care as those games are considered finished project also indeed people will complain but as you love to say they're just loud online fans in the minority eh? In all seriousness those people will buy the game anyways because it's Pokémon no doubt complaining all the while but if those games can give us some good story telling and offer alot of great things that the other Gen 6 games don't offer than I'll be fine with them.
The difference is, unlike a Generation 6 Z game, a Generation 6.5 Z game would consume a lot more of their time and effort, which would automatically mean less time and effort for Gen VII. And I don't think they would want that.
Whatever game they have beem working on, it definitely has been since ORAS came out. They are always doing stuff for the next games and the ones after. Planning for the next generation always happens from the initial release for example, but the bulk work doesn't start till the middle of the current generation. They likely have started gen 7, but concurrently to the last Kalos iteration, if there is one. And I say two years if it comes out in the traditional September-October period. June would give them roughly 18 months of development which is still a good chunk of time. Especially considering how they already have a region built.
Even then, Gen VII would still take most of their time and efforts, leaving less time and effort for Z. Just saying.
The Nintendo Direct format has only existed long enough to cover Generation 6, of which there have only been two main-series paired releases. A 1:1 ratio isn't really enough evidence to justify what won't be covered; especially when even small-scale eShop-only spin-offs have been featured. Besides, it's not as if Nintendo Directs are western-only - they're broadcast worldwide (including Japan) simultaneously; so an announcement there would be the same as a global announcement. Besides, CoroCoro hasn't been used to announce a new main-series game since Platinum.
if Hoopa Unbound can be added to another game in the same generation without appearing in the prior game, i don't really see how Magearna is any different. now, if Magearna were not a mythical Pokemon, that'd be a different story.
And they would want to put out an inferior game and hope to draw customers?
True but most thesis that aren't Pokémon Z are relying on circumstantial evidence. We can all just say that Pokémon Z is coming and be done with it ( and while that can still happen mind you ) I feel that if they really wanted to do a Z version it would've been out last year as it really would just be XY with Zygarde forms and whatever Ash Greninja is and more mega evolutions. My gut tells me that it's going to be a grand surprise whether it's Gen 7 or something else.
You're right - after double checking it, the first Nintendo Direct was broadcast in December 2011; 3 months before the announcement of Black Version 2/White Version 2. However, you have to ask yourself why something as important to the franchise as a main-series entry fans are extremely for being released in the franchise's anniversary year wouldn't be worthy of a Nintendo Direct showing, yet the likes of Pokémon Link Battle and Picross are. Since the Pokémon Direct that announced X/Y, every global-bound game has at least been featured in a Direct aside from Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire (and honestly, I'd vastly prefer the buzz of a Direct over dumping a trailer onto YouTube). It's just as likely that The Pokémon Company will announce the next game by themselves, but I personally wouldn't rule out the possibility of a Direct announcement yet; especially considering Nintendo's bare release slate at the moment.
Sequels are a lot more realistic than 6.5, I think. I am not putting them in the same bag. And Z could still be a sequel.
