lol, without the Nintendo games, the Pokemon brand would've fizzled a long time ago. Nintendo keeps IP relevant better than anyone. They make hundreds of millions from the games, if they don't want the money from that, they can gladly just pass it all along to Nintendo, I'm sure they'd be happy to take it all. 

I don't think toy licensing is as massive as a business as it used to be either, kids don't buy toys and merchandise in the same way they did say circa 2000. If anything that is a declining business. Not to say they aren't successful, but I think they are more depedent on the games and Nintendo keeping the brand fresh and continually bringing in new fans with their games (the same way they keep Mario, Zelda, etc. etc. humming along decade after decade). 

This information is regarding 2019, and has likely increased a lot since.

The Pokémon Company revenue is $92 billion
Merchandise - $61.1 billion
Games - $17.14 billion
Trading Cards - $10.25 billion
Comics and Manga - $1.46 billion
Box Office - $1.31 billion
Books - $860 million

As of 2022, the Pokémon Company earned $11.6 billion profit from licensing and merchandise.
The Pokémon Company's licensing program involves gaming, toys, apparel and accessories, designer collaborations, home decor, and publishing.

As of 2023 Pokémon is the highest grossing entertainment media franchise of all time, having grossed an estimated $150 billion in lifetime revenue as of 2023. This includes an estimated $30 billion grossed from video games and $100 billion from licensed merchandise sales.
For more info view VGSales Pokémon Franchise

So yes The Pokémon Company is pushed by the merchandise, not the games.
The games came first in early 1996
Then the trading cards in late 1996
Then the manga a month after the cards
Then the anime in early 1997.
This is all in Japan at least. The anime came to America first.

Yes, the games were first and we love that they continue to make more.
Just because the games came first does not mean that they put the most importance to the games.

The reason a generation is 3 years long is because thats how long a Pokémon anime is. So as long as the anime is 3 years long, the next generation will arrive in 3 years.

Anyone who thinks Nintendo doesn’t want a GTA level of sales for Pokemon are crazy. They could literally have that if they would deliver with an incredible mainline entry. And like I just said, you’ve got easy remakes to churn out in the meantime and still sell a cool 10m+ and not risk any real damage to the franchise’s rep either

3-4 Swiitch obviously ;)

I would love a new 3D Mario at launch, even better if it can be co-op.

Technically, they’re already at GTA sales. San Andreas sold around 27 million and Sw/Sh isn’t too far behind it. GTA IV sold around 25 million. S/V will likely reach that mark. It’s just GTA V that just went bonkers at over 100+ million. The problem with that is that it took many years until we even got an announcement of GTA VI. Can Pokémon afford that long of a gap between mainline games while maintaining the same (if not higher) revenue and profits with their merch, anime, films, cards, and spin off games in between mainline releases of 10+ years? That kind of Pokémon game would have to stay relevant for 10+ years with micro transactions for online that I’m not sure if Nintendo nor Game Freak are prepared for. That also means likely no new species of Pokémon for a long time.

Pokémon is #1 selling grossing media franchise.
According to Wikipedia (reliable-ish).
Pokémon at $88 billion.
Mickey Mouse is #2 at $52.2 billion.

GTA is #36 at $9.88 billion.


So Pokémon does amazing, they wont have to worry about failing, even if the games are bad, they will always sell because the franchise has a positive influence.

Now let us compare GTA main series sales to Pokémon main series sale
GTA                   ~3.5 million
GTA 2                   1 million
GTA III                 17.5 million
GTA: Vice City       20 million
GTA: San Andreas  27.5 million
GTA IV                ~25 million
GTA V                    190 million
Total                      284.5 million copies.

Pokémon Red and Blue                                31.7 million
Pokémon Yellow                                          14.64 million
Pokémon Gold and Silver                             23.73 million
Pokémon Crystal                                         6.39 million
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire                       16.22 million
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen                  12 million
Pokémon Emerald                                       6.32 million
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl                        17.67 million
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver               12.72 million
Pokémon Black and White                            15.64 million
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2                       7.63 million
Pokémon X and Y                                        16.45 million
Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire    14.27 million
Pokémon Sun and Moon                               16.18 million
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon                8.77 million
Pokémon Let's GO Pikachu! and Eevee!          15.07 million
Pokémon Sword and Shield                           26.02 million
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl 14.92 million
Pokémon Legends: Arceus                            14.83 million
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet                           23.23 million
Total                                                           314.4 million copies

GTA pulls some big numbers in its later games *cough GTA V cough*, and GTA VI will be the same.
Pokémon usually pulls around +20 million on new generation games, and should be the case with gen 10.

What does The Pokémon Company need in a game to appeal to all +130 million Switch owners?
.

Seeing how it's Nintendo, who knows what we'll get. It could be something we all expect, or it could be a complete knuckle ball and leave us all scratching our heads lol.

You have no idea what you're talking about. The Pokemon Company is among the biggest global lincesors every year since 2005 and has reportedly cumulative revenues of over 80 billions across all its history. You can check 2023 ranking here: https://www.licenseglobal.com/rankings-lists/top-150-leading-licensors

For the record, yes this includes gaming however this is 11 billion revenue for Pokemon Company. To give context Nintendo revenue for 2022 was 15 billion.

Gamers always think gaming is the biggest shit on the planet. Most people who consume Pokemon never even touched a Nintendo Switch in their lives 

Long story short: Pokemon don't depend on Nintendo to keep their brand relevant, or anything for that matter. They indeed always looked as a very outsider IP inside Nintendo's host. Their games barely made into nintendo directs and in Japan they are not even published by Nintendo. Pokemon is treated as media franchise and have several animations, movies, cards, mangas, games released on mobile and shit tons of merchandise you can find in any store. Look at it and compare to how Nintendo treat their other IPs and the difference become just plain obvious. 

They don't want GTA level of sales. If they wanted they would be multiplat and sell at least 50 million units every entry 

And also sell for 20 USD

And get game as service treatment will new Pokemons and maps added to thr base game, we would still be on Pokemon XY era 

Mario kart because everyone knows that is all that nintendo sells is mario kart and mario kart.