>nintendo basically never does direct sequels for main zelda games
>botw is so successful that they had to make botw 2 even after dlc
>swsh is this but for game freak
gen 9 will be in an expanded galar region.
new pokemon, new characters, new battle gimmick, new moves, etc but 80% of the region is just the galar we've already been to in gen 8 + the dlc
game freak loves to do as little work as possible, and they know how they can do that and make even more money.
the anime isnt following the games anymore, so they don't need entirely new regions as frequently.
they just need to make new pokemon and characters for merch and anime, new customization and a couple new flashy gimmicks to put in trailers.
also joe will call it gen 8.5 until masuda tweets at him directly to shut the fuck up.