Planning Ahead...

[Kenshin5]

How far do you think Game Freak plans ahead on before they release their main series games? For instance they had Ho-oh debut in Episode 1 of the anime series and Togepi half way through the Kanto series. That's about 2 years ahead of the release in Japan of Gold and Silver. Then they debut Kecleon a year and a half before the release of Ruby and Sapphire in the Episode: Kecleon Caper EP 205. So I'd think they plan ahead at least two years in advance of producing a new Generation. Then that leaves me with the question how long does it take them to produce a game that already has the pokemon and the general story i.e. the Third Installment and Remake. Those two have a be a bit easier or at least go along faster so I would say they probably start with the Third version right after the first two are released, maybe add what they left out, build upon the story a bit more, add a couple more things and what not. Then with the Remakes they revamp a good deal of stuff keep the story to it's roots, add some more stuff like they did with Sevii Islands FRLG and Battle Frontier & Pokeathlon HGSS. I am mainly curious with the transition between one generation to the next though, like when do they start, do they start right after or start when they have ideas pop into their heads. I would think Gamefreak would at least encourage them to submit new ideas to them when they have an idea come to them on a whim be it a pokemon, character, plot, or whatever I think they plan quite a bit a head when something comes to mind. I know if I have a good idea I like to write it down so I keep it fresh in my mind, so I assume they already have concept art out for 6th Gen stuff. Sorry tl;dr xD.