We know the next generation starts development as soon as a generation starts. They were planning Alola when Kalos was finished, and thus they added a cute reference.
Makes more sense than Zygarde having 2 secret moves in XY but not being used until SM. Or Eternal Floette being fully functional but unused.
SM reek of Z assets being cut and crammed into it.
Personally, if you're going to HAVE two versions, then it would be a good idea to make them distinct from each other, so that even those who buy both don't feel like they're literally playing the same game twice.
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I disagree. One thing is having different wild Pokemon so trading is encouraged, and another is having different games so getting both games is encouraged.
However, the Fire Emblem Fates approach would probably be neat; said game allowed you to download the alternate campaign at a reduced price (and even the third campaign with included all version exclusive units, to the point it ended up being 3 games for the price of 2). But then there were people who bought both cartridges and complained. And I have only played the third campaign, because Golden Ending and more units were more appealing to me.
Pokemon probably wouldn't approach that model. Pokemon is never focused towards having multiple save files, or making different runs.
drunk bunny
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Pedantic, but
Revelations doesn't have all version exclusive units. There are a couple units that are exclusive to Birthright, there are a couple units that are exclusive to Conquest, and there are a couple units exclusive to Revelations that aren't available in either Birthright or Conquest.
"There's not a girl alive who wouldn't be happy being called cute." ~Tamamo-no-Mae
Speaking of the strange souvenir, is there anything like that in the gen 7 games? Anything that might be a hint towards gen 8?
I should note that the console and handheld teams probably started merging somewhere in the xy era, and Z may have been dashed to make room for trying to understand the NX project.
You can buy it in the supermarket in Alola. It doesn't actually do anything, though.
This is going to be so much fun.
Rowlet is not evolving because it is popular.
Rowlet is like three times as popular as its final form.
There's no way they're going to evolve it.
what do you mean I didn't win, I ate more wet t-shirts than anyone else
The Wanderer
@Epic Bleye: Revelations is missing Yukimura (Birthright exclusive)and Izana (Birthright and Conquest exclusive), has Fuuga as an exclusive unit, and you only get Scarlett for 2 chapters (while she is a permanent unit in Birthright). Gunter lacks supports in contrast to Conquest, and Flora and Reina are fully playable. So in this front, Birthright has 4 units, Conquest has 3, and Revelations has 4-5.
However, you get both sets of royals, retainers and misc potential parents, and both second generations. So while both Birthright and Conquest get 16 + 8 units in this front, Revelations gets 32 + 16.
Adding the 7 + 5 units you get in all 3 routes, you end up with a total of 40 units for Birthright, 39 for Conquest, and 64-65 for Revelations, out of a total of 67.
So yeah.
Gently wrap up this world like the night sky.
Leaf Storm. 
The King Without a Kingdom
Normal: Exhaust
Water: Downpour
Electric: Short Circuit
Ice: Frostbite
Fighting: Muscle Pull
Poison: Neutral Solution
Ground: Earth Tremor
Flying: Wind Burn
Psychic: Mental Strain
Bug: Complete Swarm
Rock: Erosion
Ghost: Spirit Explosion
Dark: Cruel Act
Steel: Rust
Fairy: Fairy Dust
It's been 3000 years…
Surrounded by weirdoes
How would you call abilities like Torrent and Blaze for all the types without them?
Wake me up at your own risk.
Brenner's Wolves Fight Again
Swarm
...oh.
Where there's life, there's hope.
Professional Forum Ninja
...I'm never going to get over the fact that something called Yebis is a part of a pokemon game.
I'm sorry Tien, but I must go all out.
Psychic already has one, in Deoxys's signature move.
Professional Forum Ninja
Going back to Z, I think the main reason why it was canned was more likely due to Sun/Moon needing all hands on deck rather than the Switch. Sun and Moon's artstyle models and artsyle (excluding textures) translating well into HD, likely was affected because of it. Especially since the concept of the Switch was likely finalized sometime during 2013.
I'm just wondering, how far along did Nintendo know that the 3DS successor would have been a HD device considering Game Freak likely would have been told (being one of Nintendo's handheld only devs) considering the Pokemon models created were future proofed for HD.
"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Probably very early on seeing how the 3DS was already kind of outdated in 2011, and there's no chance a sub-HD successor would be accepted.
...
I've heard speculation that Stars was actually in development than cut, though that's simply guessing based on how widespread the rumor was.
Stars was never anything but a rumor. Seriously, LG works because it is detached from the 3DS games, Stars would be a port unable to trade with non-Stars games. VGC will run USUM next year as well, while with Stars there would be a console-shift in the middle of a gen that wouldn't have meshed well.
Next year, we will be getting Bank in the Switch and more proper games, and so transition would go smoothly. But, changing console for a third version? That was just bullshit.
CHADhan Player.
Stop making me like this game, Game Freak
I have a feeling that Z version was scrapped as early as after XY was released with an NPC giving away an item called Strange Souvenir, probably suggesting that they may already have planned for Sun and Moon.