>>56485987The B2W2 model and Expansion Pass model are ideal. There are things I like in third versions to the point I would call them the definitive versions, but I think that for Gen I and II specifically, RG and GS are definitive enough. Blue was made to give Shogakukan something to sell more magazines, Yellow was made because GS' development time was taking too long and they needed something to keep the brand relevant (Yellow was also considered a tie-in to the movie according to Ishihara). Crystal was made because Nintendo needed something big to sell its new toy. But when you play RG, you can complete the Pokédex with just those games. The same is true of GS with any one copy of a Gen I game. Yellow and Crystal just have some bells and whistles and I never got definitive version feelings from them. I doubt many people expected Suicune as following up Ho-Oh and Lugia, its only notoriety was that it had the Ho-Oh moment of the first Johto episode. And it was only chosen because of the wordplay. The game was named Crystal because of the technology used in the Mobile Adapter GB, and Suicune was chosen from there because crystal is 水晶 (suishou) and it has a crystalline design.
But everyone expected Emerald to follow Ruby and Sapphire, the existence of Rayquaza demanded it. Even though I consider Emerald more of a definitive experience, I don't think it fixes all of Ruby and Sapphire's problems since they're so intrinsic.
I remember the speculation for what they would call the third Sinnoh game, with stuff like Opal being used. It's actually some wordplay because Platinum connects Diamond and Pearl to Gold and Silver.
Diamond = 金剛 (kongou), literally metal/gold + hardness
Pearl = 白玉 (shiratama), literally white orb
Platinum = 白金 (read as either shirogane or hakkin), literally white metal/gold
Shirogane is the Japanese name of Mt. Silver. The Japanese name of Platinum the game is プラチナ (Purachina; Platina), Spanish for "little silver".
