I don't think it was needed at all. Gen 1 and 2 needed the remakes in order to interact with the newer consoles. But gen 3 was already on the GameBoy Advance and therefore can and has interacted with the new games with things like Pal Park. I really don't get why everyone is so happy to play through a ridiculous story and having to sit through another 2-3 years before we see any new content.