Like most of us, when I first saw the Pokemon Presents video a couple days ago, I assumed a Let's Go Johto game was happening when Ishihara mentioned a big project to be announced. After all, the evidence was compelling -- lots of Johto Pokemon in the background and even Espeon and Umbreon in front of a Let's Go Switch bundle. Makes sense.
However, that black Pikachu sitting on the opposite side of the regular Pikachu had me confused. Why that Pikachu? So the more I thought about the big picture, the more I realized that the announcements could very well be a Let's Go version of Colosseum/XD. Here's why:
Most of the Pokemon shown in the background are in Colosseum/XD as Shadow Pokemon. The Johto starters and the legendary beasts all play significant roles in the games, as does Lugia. Why are Mewtwo and Ho-Oh there? Well, Mewtwo now has a shadow form thanks to Pokken Tournament. And because there are two versions of the games, perhaps Lugia's counterpart will be in the other game as the main Pokemon -- AKA Shadow Ho-Oh (XD002?). While Johto Pokemon are most associated with Gold/Silver for obvious reasons, they were reintroduced in Colosseum/XD as a way for players to fill up their Pokedexs in Ruby/Sapphire due to lack of compatibility between GBC and GBA.
The black Pikachu (left) can be thought of as the shadow version of the main Pikachu (right). They are on opposite sides, the shadows for both plushes are pretty prominent, and they look like near-identical plushes aside from their colorings. It's also curious that a lot of these plushes in the background have prominent shadows, though I admit this could be a stretch.
Umbreon, Eevee, and Espeon all have significant roles in the games. Umbreon and Espeon are your starters in Colosseum, while Eevee is in XD. What better way to have sequels to the original Let's Go games than to have a continuation of Eevee since it has become a mascot for the franchise. And because of their roles, I think the games will be called Let's Go, Umbreon! and Let's Go, Espeon!. Perhaps Shadow Ho-Oh will be in LG:U and Shadow Lugia in LG:E.
Game Freak is looking to the past for future games. Pokemon Snap is finally seeing a sequel, so it wouldn't be unheard of for other games like Colosseum/XD to get the same treatment. Adding to this, Genius Sonority, the developer of Colosseum/XD, has relations with Game Freak again, as they are the ones making the Pokemon Cafe Mix game. Between Bandai Namco working on the Snap sequel and Genius Sonority doing the Let's Go Colosseum/XD games, this would leave Game Freak available to be working on the traditional mainline games, whether that be the 9th-generation games or Diamond/Pearl remakes that are imminent at this point. Nintendo has done this with Grezzo on multiple occasions with Zelda remakes as they have focused on Breath of the Wild and its upcoming sequel.
Pokemon GO is a part of the franchise now. The Pokemon Company recognizes this and wants to continue to leverage its success through the Let's Go games, which act as a bridge between the casual and core audiences. GO reintroduced the Shadow Pokemon and purification mechanics in 2019, which were staples of Colosseum/XD. Ash's counterpart in the new Pokemon Journeys anime is Goh, who is basically the personification of the GO games; his goal is merely to catch all Pokemon, not battle with them like Ash. It's also oddly coincidental that they throw in the phrase "Let's go" in Journeys quite frequently. Lastly, the Let's Go engine is complete and ready to use for other games; LG:PE have sold 12 million copies as of March, so clearly they have been a success and paved the way for a market for those wanting a more casual Pokemon experience.
Conclusion: I think there's a lot of points here that makes the case of the upcoming Let's Go games to be based on Colosseum/XD. I always thought the games were highly underappreciated titles, so it would be great for newer players to get to experience them in a new way.
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