http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/01/27/nintendo-still-wont-make-pokemon-home-consoles

Pokémon Game Freak has spoken before about why Pokémon has always been a portable game rather than a home-console game: to enable the trading, battling and sharing that has been at the heart of the series since people were playing it on black-and-white Game Boys tied together with link cables. Pokémon's creator Satoshi Tajiri used to imagine little creatures making their way across those cables, from one system to another.

But now that even Nintendo has grudgingly implemented online functionality into most of its games (though not always perfectly), isn't that reasoning a little outdated? Hasn't the Internet enabled most of what was only possible on handheld consoles before? Perhaps, but series director Junichi Masuda is still adamant that Pokémon is still at home on handhelds - and it's not just because of tradition.

"There are different types of people out there - people who want to play at home at their own pace and really just enjoy the world, and people who want to play with other players, meet them in real life, Masuda tells me. "What I’ve always said about the reason we put Pokémon on the handheld systems is that a handheld system allows you to do both. You can play at your own pace at home, but you can also go out and meet with other people, and I like to think that the power of Pokémon is the power of communication. Pokémon brings people together, and I really like that element, which is why we continue to put them out on handhelds.

2014's Pokémon Worlds final, in Washington DC.

"But there are a lot of people who want a home console version, we know. Especially now with internet features that let people battle and trade. But the way that handhelds allow people to come together... if we could figure out a way to make that happen on consoles it would be an option on the future, but right now that’s just not possible. If you've ever been in the audience at the Pokémon World Championships, that's my ideal for Pokémon, all these people gathering together and playing with each other. If there were a way that a console could enable that, it might be an option, but right now, handheld it is."

The competitive Pokemon scene is clearly of huge importance to Junichi Masuda. He's very active on Twitter with the Pokemon community, and he almost always puts in an appearance at the Pokemon Worlds - not to give interviews or drum up interest, but because he seems to genuinely love to be there. Indeed, the Pokemon competitive scene is a prime consideration whenever they're making a new Pokemon game, he says.

"I definitely pay a lot of attention in particular to live events when we’re developing a new game - I love occasions where people gather, and we always try to think of way to make those gatherings more exciting. For instance, X and Y really focused on the camera work a lot, so the angles are changing dynamically - that makes it more exciting to watch at a tournament."

Real reason, money > innovation

Verily.  Safe truckloads of money > risky fistfuls(at least for this gen)

Good. I also prefer Pokemon to stay as a handheld game.

But one or another home console spinoff would be nice..... (fingers crossed for a future WiiU Pokken version!)

That's basically the opposite of what was just explained. They'd make a lot more money if they released on both, but he prefers people meet others through Pokemon.

I don't agree with the reasoning but it's nice to see motives that are more than just financial. It's been clear over the last few releases that he has indeed been keeping note of what the competitive scene thinks, and that's respectable.

...that said, I still want a console version :p

*edit* If it was just a financial matter you can bet they'd have released a console version on the Wii. Gobs of money missed there I tell ya, gobs! ;)

Its fine, keep the main series on HH and make awesome spin offs on the HC.

Pokken Tournament
Pokemon Musou
Pokemon Open World/Watever game!!!

"But there are a lot of people who want a home console version, we know. Especially now with internet features that let people battle and trade. But the way that handhelds allow people to come together... if we could figure out a way to make that happen on consoles it would be an option on the future, but right now that’s just not possible."

Aka, the next generation Nintendo console and it's unified platform with the next handheld. They aren't even hiding it anymore. They know exactly what we want, they just don't feel like they can implement both our wishes and their wishes on the current hardware. They aren't even saying that it "could" be possible. If they can do that on consoles, it will be a future option. They will be able to do that on the next console, so it will happen. Pokemon RPGs won't come to the Wii U, but they'll definitely be on it's successor.

I still think what he's saying is stupid, though. If Nintendo release the RPG on consoles, and a Stadium/Pokebank-like app on the 3DS, non of this would be an issue. People don't want a console Pokemon to "play at their own pace;" they want a console Pokemon because the much stronger hardware allows for a bigger, more detailed, and more fleshed out world than anything even remotely possible on the 3DS and systems prior.

But whatever. All this does is ramp up my impacience for the next Nintendo platform, as it will be the start of something great on all sides.

So basically everyone loses? Well that makes sense.....

That was the first thing I noticed too; basically sounded like he was describing that "Fusion" console. I still don't trust that it will happen but it does seem to be moving in that direction.

I'm content to wait, though... Still enjoying the Wii U plenty :)

I'd like to see the mainline games stay on handheld, while, spin-off make it on home consoles. Pokken Tournament is a good first step