I mean, I think it's less that Nintendo doesnt want to do it and more that they don't fit with how Pokemon is run. Animal Crossing is one of Nintendo's 5 great pillars now and I'm sure all of that (except perhaps survival elements) would fit in fine. All that in a pokemon game sounds like the gimmick of the generation that pokemon's had since gen 3 (contests, Pokestar studio, pokemon amie, etc.).

>the models are nicer with more unique animations than anything GameFreak has put out yet, too.

ehh, I'm not sure I agree. this is a huge asethetic vs. fidelity argument. And honestly the pokemon models aren't even that bad when you look through the files.

I looked through the pals and they just feel so generic, like most other monster raising compettiors.