It's a little early for the release of the next Nintendo handheld, but Nintendo succeeded the original Gameboy when it was reigning the market with no real competition. So with that in mind...

The current DS tech is six years old now. That's officially a pretty stinking long lifespan for a handheld. Combine that with the latest rampant rumors that the so-called "DS2" is about to be announced, and the newest rumour that the tech is even in developers' hands now, and it seems very likely that the new handheld will be releasing relatively soon (inasmuch as "soon" means "within a reasonable timeframe if the announcement is to be within the next month or two").

Now, we also know that a new PKMN RPG is in the works. Personally, I believe it'd be a stupid move to make the next PKMN generation a DS title for a variety of reasons - the biggest being that the DS is surely going to be succeeded soon. However, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the next Nintendo handheld uses the same sort of card as the DS and is therefore backwards compatible. And that the early games would be a throwback to the GB/GBC - some games are compatible with both systems, but significantly better on the successor.

And I believe the next PKMN generation to work exactly the same way - they're going to be the newest generation's version of the Gold/Silver games. Yeah, they'll be made for the next handheld, but they'll be compatible with the DS as well. This way, they'll still have the 125m+ DS userbase to cater toward while simultaneously having a TREMENDOUS system-seller launch title for the next handheld.

Discuss.

That's exactly what I think, Iwata said it will be on DS, but didn't specify what DS, the next handheld could be called Super DS or something like that (just an example), and the game would be on DS but also on the DS successor...

Do we know for a fact that next main pokemon is coming this year. i know they announced it is coming but did they say this year?

The next Pokemon game was announced for the DS, and it is expected to release this year. Source

I will buy the DS2 just for the new Gen Pokemon

Apparently Pokemon Company has the next handheld dev kit. I could see Nintendo releasing the next two games on DS this year and then the Yellow/Chrystal/Emerald/Platinum version getting released as a launch title for the next console. Or how about one version on DS and the other on the next console.

Nintendo has stated that the next Pokemon game will change the way we play Pokemon. It would make perfect sense for it to be a launch title for the next handheld. There is alot of evidence to suggest a Pokemon title will be ready for launch of the next handheld whether or not it is this next batch 5th Generation or not. Either way a Pokemon title is likely on the way!

the DS2 is still in the prototype stage, i swee it launching in 2011

could possibly be that the next pokémon game will be on nintendo's next handheld. But Pokémon has never been a launch game before, and maybe they will launch it a while after the new handheld launched, since it will potentially be a great system seller.

"The current DS tech is six years old now. That's officially a pretty stinking long lifespan for a handheld"

... The Gameboy released in 1989. It wasn't until 2001. That's 12 years, double that of the DS right now.

Eh, i count the GBC as a separate console, but that still puts its lifespan at a stupendous 9 years.

I agree that this is a possibility. If you look at development patterns, it seems like a new DS is in the pipe either for this year or next.