>>23382938A single example does not "set a precedent". If anything it simply shows a deviation from a pattern. It doesn't mean that all of them will be that way going forward. Also, they've never had anything to "backtrack" to. It's literally been two games and a third version, rinse repeat.
What Iwata himself said in a pokemon themed Direct was that they wanted to continue surprising fans, so they probably won't do the same thing again because so many people are expecting it now. If they really want to surprise us and not give us just a third version, or a second set of sequels, then I still think they may throw us a curve ball and release Delta Emerald and Z alongside each other with some form of connectivity to each other to unlock things in each version. X/Y and the hypothetical Z would share a lot of story parallels to RSE, not to mention Emerald having a very distinct story in comparison to RS, which gives them more reason to remake it as well. Toss in some event pokemon/key items only available in one version or the other that have to be traded back and forth to unlock special events in the other version, and you'd have a pretty sweet pair of games that both take place in different regions and deal with attempting to stop powerful pokemon from tearing the place apart. I don't think it's all as unlikely as some people seem to think.
