They make ass loads of money off of plushies regardless. Surely merch is not that dependent on the new gen. Surely 1000 Pokémon is enough that they can slow down making new ones to put on backpacks a LITTLE BIT. Surely a Dialga backpack near BDSP's release doesn't sell that much slower than a back with what the more popular motorcycle mon is called on it. Surely a huge percentage of the merch is Pikachu based which is not dependent on generation at all,