In a recent interview with Video Games Chronicle, Game Freak programmer Masayuki Onoue stated that the studio is more committed to focus on its new original efforts more than Pokémon.
Pokémon developer Game Freak is increasingly prioritising original game creation, in order to grow the experience of its staff. That’s according to programmer and director Masayuki Onoue, who told VGC that by taking breaks from its flagship Pokémon series, Game Freak’s creators can return to the franchise “refreshed” and improve the series with experience gained. “There are two different production teams here, simply named Production Team 1 and Production Team 2,” Onoue explained. “Team 1 is fully dedicated to Gear Project, while Team 2 is for the Pokémon operation.”
“What that means is that Game Freak as a company is prioritising Gear Project, which is production team number one, more than Pokémon in general. We are always trying to create something that is equally exciting, or more exciting than Pokémon. “There is a lot of back-and-forth between Team 1 and Team 2,” he added. “One of the interesting things is that Team 2, which is dedicated to Pokémon, only knows about specific platforms. “So with Team 2, engineers can learn about other platforms that they might not have touched before. By mixing up the teams we are able to create this interesting synergy.” He also goes into the reason why Game Freak is able to put out Pokémon, Town and Giga Wrecker in a single year.
One reason the previously handheld-only developer is suddenly able to output three console-quality releases in a year is down to its newly formed R&D division, Onoue explained. “R&D is a newly founded division which is creating the basic library, which used to be created every single time we made a project. That helps the efficiency of our production for sure. “Also, we are looking at what’s going on in the future, from a technical perspective, and that’s something else that we’ve never had before. I think that R&D division will certainly contribute to the future of Game Freak.”
Source: ResetEra.com
Pokémon Blog 
This might sound sad, but hear me out.
I think the reason to why there putting less work into the game is because the numbers (sales) have been stagnate since diamond and Pearl (2006).
The numbers of sales are big, but there is no reason to waste money on a project that is almost always guaranteed to bring in 16 million (you might as well just try to maximise your profits).
In sort, the games will only get worse as long as they hit that 16 million sales mark.
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sorry 2002
ruby and sapphire
That’s when the numbers stagnated .
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