Is it possible that Pokemon is experiencing extreme "suffering from success" syndrome whereas the constant influx of fanart and fanmade 'mons limits the direction GF can go with their Pokemon designs?
Like, nobody wants to be accused of plagiarism even if they can get away with it or sweep it under the rug. At least, for a Japanese artist, losing face like that in front of your autistic colleagues and followers can have social repercussions that'll follow you for the rest of your career much.
Almost every cool idea that immediately comes to mind has been explored to the point where fan designs have overtaken GF's own artists so there's no longer a lightning-in-the-bottle Hail Mary they can pull over our eyes like wool in case other aspects of their latest game release and region are shit.