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I work helping with the international releases. That's all I'm willing to say, as there's a microscope over every department right now making sure nothing leaks before the big reveal.
* We don't know the titles yet and wont until just before the reveal. There's mock-up art with placeholders, but no version names yet. Everything's ready to be typed in and published. Given the theme of the game, King/Queen & Crown/Scepter are appropriate.
* The game takes place in a "near-future" western medieval country. UK was an influence, but there are prominent Italian/Roman elements. They want to avoid it being too similar to Kalos. Most major game changes are explained away by technology/human influence on Pokemon over time.
* The secret Team/Gang this time is a conservative/traditionalist faction, feeling the world and Pokemon are becoming too numerous and out of control. Men wear goofy powdered wigs and suits, women in Victorian gowns with fancy hair. Leader is referred to as royalty.
* Massive overhaul and rebalance of the Pokemon. A lot of the Gen 1-2 mons have been retyped, and there are now only 16 types. Some weakness/resists have been changed. Bank still works but is like a reverse time capsule. Mons downloaded to Gen 8 are converted, given a special marker, and are unable to be sent back to previous games.
* Related to above, there was a strong push with the new Switch engine to redo how pokemon data is stored, including data encryption. Team is very aware of programs like PKHex. Strong culture shift to make the game viable for "professional" competitions.
* Lowest number of mons added, around 40, but regional variants from Gens 2-3. A lot of Steel types. Theme is "mutation" or "enhancement" so there are several new weird type combinations. Many ideas have been scrapped for being "too similar" to other mons.
* Longest part of development has been rebuilding the engine. Let's Go was a test, which is why stuff was cut and recycled.
