During the most recent Pokemon-only Nintendo Direct presentation, many gamers the world over were disappointed to learn that the next core installments in the series would be locked to the 3DS/2DS systems in lieu of the Nintendo Switch. As it turns out, the arrival of those titles, Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon, will also mark the last time a mainline Pocket Monster title will appear on the less-powerful Nintendo handheld.

This much was confirmed in an interview between IGN and Game Freak director Shigeru Ohmori, where the developer emphasized just how hard the team had pushed the limits of the Nintendo 3DS system. As a result, the team is treating Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon as the "culmination of our work with the 3DS system."

"When we were making Pokemon X and Y, we really were trying to push the 3DS system to its absolute limits – which is what we thought we’d done. But when Sun and Moon came around, we completely redesigned the system, and actually ended up pushing the 3DS even further to what we thought was the most we could draw out of it.

With Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, we’ve tried to eke that out more and really, really push the system to its absolute limits, and we’re now feeling that perhaps this is the maximum of what we can get out. So we’re really treating Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon as the culmination of our work with the 3DS system."

Since The Pokemon Company has confirmed that work on a new, core Pokemon game for Nintendo Switch is already underway, it seemed inevitable that the firm would move away from developing titles on the 3DS. While it sounds as if development on the Switch game may not even be wrapping up until 2018 or even 2019, at least fans can look forward to next month with the arrival of what may be the last pair of main Pokemon games for the next few years.

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokemon Ultra Moon arrive exclusively for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 2DS platforms on November 17, 2017.

Source: IGN