"Pokemon still is a big deal and just as big if not bigger the difference now is the approach changed in according to the era Pokemon doesn't need to be all over TV with the anime and ads or needs the cards everywhere on the streets because it's far easier and more efficient to reach their target audience through social media Pokemania has taken a different form."

Once again, you are putting words in my mouth. I never said it wasn't a big deal anymore. I said it was not as big of a deal now as it was back then. Which it isn't. Ask someone on the street who is not a Pokemon fan who is Pikachu or Charizard, they’ll tell you. But if you ask them who’s Scorbunny, Sobble, or Grookey, they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about. Pokemon GO was a big surge and helped launch the franchise back to the levels it was at in the 90s and it affected 3DS sales to a huge degree. But it's hardly what I'd consider influential now. The Pokemon GO boost was in full effect that year, 2016, which was a HUGE year for Pokemon because it was the 20th anniversary of the franchise. And despite that, Sun/Moon failed to match sales of X/Y, and neither of them could match Diamond/Pearl and barely managed to catch Ruby/Sapphire. The primary reasons why Sword/Shield are selling as much as they are because of the Switch effect and the pandemic strengthening its legs. 

The attention and excitement around Pokemon is just not the same. Back then, it was 'THE' thing to talk about. Now, it's just 'A' thing to talk about.

(Huh, now that I think about it, maybe you're right? Maybe Pokemon is still as big as it was, but rather, it's everything else around it that has gotten so much bigger. From within Nintendo's own walls, Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, and Animal Crossing, to gaming as a whole that Pokemon just feels smaller, because it is smaller by comparison. Going back to what I've been saying this whole time that while the rest of Nintendo grows, expands, and evolves, Pokemon just stays the same, and so it feels smaller, because in hindsight, it is smaller. So, it isn't as big as it used to be after all. You see?)

"you still haven't explained how the Pandemic factored into S/S' sales when it sold 18m of it's 20m sales before the pandemic took any hold."

I have already explained, multiple times. The 17.37 million figure for Sw/Sh as of March 31, 2020, was largely because of the usual huge launch that you expect from Pokemon, which was boosted by the "Switch effect" that I have mentioned at multiple points throughout this argument. The pandemic took hold right at the beginning of March, before the Fiscal year even concluded. From that point onwards, the pandemic has been a continuous factor and also the fact that Sw/Sh has had the luxury of enjoying a longer, healthier shelf life than most mainline Pokemon games get. It got an actual expansion pass instead of the usual 3rd version/enhanced versions, or new games launching the next year that would cuts off every Pokemon games legs underneath them. The pandemic has effected sales of the Switch itself, to the point where it was selling peak DS numbers last year, something NOBODY thought would happen again. And when the hardware itself is exponentially higher, naturally, that's going to trickle down the software sales, and in Nintendo's case, their 1st party software will get first servings, Sw/Sh being one of them. I shouldn't have to explain how the Pandemic has factored into sales, it's right in front of your face.

"The Pandemic is a factor just not as big as you're making it out to be as Doom Eternal, FFVIIR, TLOU2 and numerous other games released in that period and not one has come close to AC"

Like I already said, the PS4 and Xbox One were winding down, the Switch was running unopposed and clearly THE console to own and all eyes and ears were on Nintendo, and in turn, Animal Crossing. And Animal Crossing was the PERFECT game to play and tailor-made for situations when people want to sit back, relax, escape the real world and go into a virtual world for days, weeks, and months on end. Situations like... oh what do you know? A worldwide pandemic! 

As for Doom Eternal, Last of Us 2, and even FFVIIR. You understand that neither one of those franchises were on the same level as Animal Crossing in terms of appeal and popularity, do you? You're setting impossible standards and expectations on those games, when you should be judging them based on their own franchises standards. Each of which, were completely shattered. 

Doom Eternal:

"Doom Eternal's 100,000 concurrent STEAM users on launch day more than doubles that of 2016's Doom."

"Doom Eternal had the series' best opening sales weekend."

"Doom Eternal sells 3 million digital copies at launch, beating Doom 2016's 957,000 units of launch month sales.

Final Fantasy VII Remake:

"Final Fantasy VII Remake becomes the fastest selling PlayStation 4 exclusive in history."

"Final Fantasy VII Remake is the fastest selling title in franchise history."

"Final Fantasy VII Remake sells 5 million copies worldwide, highest selling digital release on PlayStation platform in Square Enix history."

Last of Us 2:

"The Last of Us Part II sells 4 million copes at launch, fastest selling PlayStation 4 exclusive in history."

"The Last of Us Part II smashes sales record, beats Uncharted 4 to becoming fastest selling PS4 game in the UK, outsells Last of Us 1 at launch in the UK by 76%.

"The Last of Us Part II has the biggest launch of 2020 for physical and digital sales, surpassed Animal Crossing: New Horizon's launch."

Trying to compare franchises like Doom, Last of Us, and even Final Fantasy, all of which are on a declining and dying platforms like the PS4 and Xbox One, to Animal Crossing, a much broader and more appealing, and now bigger franchise, on the most popular and successful system in 12 years (Switch) is like trying to compare 3 NBA starters on a .500 team to LeBron James who plays for the defending NBA champions. Or like trying to compare 3 other NFL starting quarterbacks on playoff hopefuls to Patrick Mahomes, who is now one win away from winning his 2nd straight Super Bowl. It's not fair to them because you're judging them by an unrealistic standard. You have to judge them by their own franchise's standards, and they all have delivered  on multiple fronts and broken multiple records. Care to take a guess on what every single one of these games have in common? They were released at the beginning of the pandemic. All of video gaming was given a shot in the arm from the pandemic, but Animal Crossing far more than any other game. Because it is THE game for a situation like this.

"Also here is an example of the anticipation of ACNH before the pandemic."

Yes, the moment the game was announced, it caused a storm on Twitter. What you have to remember is there hadn't been a mainline Animal Crossing game in 5-6 years up to that point and fans had been begging, clamoring, and demanding the game in every single tweet, trailer, and Direct up to that point.
That's the case with every single other major Nintendo 1st party franchise when it is announced. Breath of the Wild was the single biggest, most talked about game at E3 2016. And before that, everyone would constantly demand, clamor, and beg Nintendo, "Where's Zelda Wii U? Where's Zelda Wii U? Where's Zelda Wii U?" Mario Odyssey was the star of the show at E3 2017, Metroid Prime 4's announcement sent Twitter into shambles, and Smash Bros. takes over the internet every time they reveal a new character. Animal Crossing is not special in that regard. That's hardly what I would consider anecdotal evidence. That was just business as usual and par the course with a newly announced 1st party game on the Switch.

"Covid boost can only be used for one short period of two months and doesn't explain sales over a whole year which is why it's cynical to be saying it was never going to happen when it clearly was 20m sales at least were going to happen which is the range on GTA on a single platform."

And, AGAIN, you are putting words in my mouth. I never said it was never going to happen without the pandemic, I said it was not going to happen in less than a year like it has. I absolutely believe that it would still clear 20 million units with or without the Covid boost. But 31 million in 9 months? Under normal circumstances? Give me a break. The pandemic absolutely played a considerable role in that, and it continues to play a role. You think it's a coincidence that on the week when Japan declares a 2nd state of emergency, then the very next week Switch sales rise from the prior week when they usually drop significantly after the holiday period? 

TL:DR
I'm going to keep saying it: Right game, right platform, right place, right time. 

But at this point, it's fairly obvious that no matter what I say, I'm not going to convince you that I'm right. And no matter what you say, you're not going to convince me that I'm right. We have clearly reached an impasse, so I think it'd be best for the sake of this thread that we agree to disagree and just stop it here.

You sure the pandemic is causing Pokemon legs or the fact that it had a couple expansions rather than the usual 3rd version/sequel?

Both.

@curl-6 I could see the Switch's Top 10 being comprised completely of games that sold over 20 million, which is crazy. The Top 5 could even be comprised of games that sold over 30 million! Almost every Nintendo franchise that hit the Switch has broken a record, will break a record soon or at least achieved commendable sales.

The PS2 sold around 157 million units over almost 13 years. It never shipped over 11 million units in a single quarter. The DS did more than the Switch's 11.57 million twice because it sold 154 million units in around 9 years, a much shorter time frame. Therefore it was more concentrated.

I can see BotW and SSBU sell over 30 million units and MK8DX and ACNH over 50 million. The Wii had seven games that sold more than 20 million units, the Switch already has six. I think it can get 8 or more 20 million sellers.

Every main series Pokemon game coming to Switch is a basically guaranteed 10 million seller and given SWSH's sales, maybe the next generation will also hit 20m. BOTW 2 could hit 20m as well.

I actually think MK8 DX and maybe ACNH could reach 60m or higher. Certainly if they bundle the Switch with these games more, the sales would go higher as well.

Yeah, BOTW & SSBU should reach 30m within the next 2 years or so. A complete edition of Smash containing all the DLC would propel sales even further. I actually wonder if those games could reach 40m. Hoping that SMO can reach 30m and surpass NSMB & NSMB Wii. Needs about 10m. Really depends on how long until the Switch successor releases. I'm hopeful that Nintendo can hold off on releasing a successor until Holiday 2025, in which case maybe these sales goals can be achieved (though it wouldn't surprise me to see one as early as Holiday 2024).

Again it's not me putting words in your mouth it's what you're implying your Pikachu argument to try and push your notion is weak as you're trying to say that because people recognize the series mascot over new characters it's not as popular you basically said a whole load of nothing in regards to Pokemon's popularity that doesn't back your stance in anyway it's basically "I just don't think it's popular anymore" yet PGO has raked in 4b alone and brought in 1bn just in last year (2020) by itself which is an increase over the 832m it made in its launch year, this coupled with S/S' performance that objectively says the popularity is still just as big if not bigger than before.

You've still not explained anything all you've said is well the pandemic happened even your links don't back you, those games were hyped long before the pandemic and being the fastest selling is something that was bound to happen either way their sales didn't explode pass what the series achieves like AC has so all you've posted is something that suggests the games sell their usual faster than normal not that it increases sales which is what you're arguing for AC. For example FFVIIR is the fastest selling yet the last sales update at the end of September was 5m which is 3m less than XV's total the latter sold 6m in same time period so having a bigger first week in the opening week doesn't back your argument in anyway. 3DS was a declining platform yet S/M still outsold ORAS.

So again you've not proven the sales increases is due to covid if anything all you've done is show it helped it get there faster, we'll agree to disagree.

Well, it already has six 20 million plus sellers less than 4 years into its life, and both BOTW2 and any future mainline Pokemon games are pretty likely to join the club, as would an original 2D Mario, or the next new 3D Mario.

Yeah. You, me, curl-6 and the other know: a AAA 2D new Mario Bros. maybe sells 30M+.

Only Nintendo knows nothing. 

I guess a lot depends on how many more years of sales these games get before Switch 2 cuts their legs.

A Switch Sports that expands on Wii Sports/Resort the way Ring Fit Adventure expanded upon Wii Fit could also be a possible 20 million plus candidate.