Remember that this is Nintendo and not Activision, I don't think they would do that.

I'm not sure the Skylanders approach would fly with the market they'd be targeting with this. This isn't exactly Pokémon Rumble. They're going to get some crossover with the FGC if the game is legit, and I don't know how they'd feel about buying figurines to unlock characters.

I actually believe that'll make more sense than Disney's or Skylander.  Collect 'em all.  But it'd be crazy if they were to have all +450 of them.

I think Nintendo barely tolerates Smash Bros, I doubt they would give the green light to a game where you can see Pikachu get punched or bit directly by another pokemon.

...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54QjLkY78q8

Brawl like Pokemon Rumble has the built in excuse that its characters are just toys/dolls fighting rather then the 'actual' Pokemon. Unless something similar occurs, I don't see Nintendo saying ok to a game where the normally family friendly Pokemon beat the heck out of one another.

I think a tag team based fighter similar to Marvel vs Capcom would suit a Pokemon fighting game. You create your own Pokemon trainer avatar and then choose 3 Pokemon for each battle. Element advantage still exist but to counter it a shared special bar for super moves will increase faster when fighting against Pokemon who have Offensive/Defensive element advantage.

I'm not convinced, I still feel like it'll be a Coliseum esque title.

Guess we will see, though.

I hope it will be something like that. But a fighter would be welcome too! As long as it's not a new Stadium game, that would be unnecessary in this day and time.

I still think it can be a card battle game, since Japan seems crazy for that type of games.