Frogger on 30 August 2014
There's probably some truth there. Though I thing it goes both ways. The merchandise is meant to sell the games.
I do think you're underestimating how difficult it would be to make a full-blown Pokémon action game though. The attack animations in the "Stadium" games wouldn't work for an action game. Also, you need a unique attack animation for every single Pokémon using every single one of their moves. I want it to happen too, but I think there are far more understandable reasons than just money for why it hasn't happened yet.
