The core Pokemon franchise has always been a little predictable. Upon the release of Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version, many fans of Nintendo's long-running series expected a single entry along the lines of Pokemon Grey, and even hypothesized that version would arrive on the Nintendo 3DS.

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Pokemon Company and developer GameFreak opted for something of a curve ball instead, keeping the series on the DS and issuing two direct sequels instead of one. The move confused many, including the editors of IGN . Today, with the release of Black 2 and White 2 imminent in Japan, the game's creators are speaking out.GameFreak development head Junichi Masuda explained, via translation by Andriasang , that the need for two direct sequels resulted from the inclusion of a key gameplay mechanic, one that was cut from the release of the first Black and White games. Including that undefined feature required two distinct Pokemon products to work properly. The decision to once again release two versions of the game pre-dated the fact that the games would be direct sequels to Black and White, but the two ideas together meant it would be more logical to release the games on the DS versus the 3DS. The decision to stray from resorting to a 'Grey' naming convention seemed to almost happen independently, as the developers decided to consider using a numerical number in the title to surprise fans.Stay tuned to IGN for more on Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 in the coming days, as the Japanese launch approaches, and weeks, as overseas launches approach.

Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com, the leader of the Nintendo team and the master of all things Assassin's Creed, Resident Evil and WWE. Follow him on Twitter Follow him on IGN . Follow him everywhere but the SF trains. That be creepy, yo.