They could easily stuff in tons of Pokemon by putting them as options for the Pokeball, rather than make them full-fledged characters. Beyond Pikachu and Pokemon Trainer, there aren't any necessary ones, though one more to make the roster more unique and varied is always a good idea, hence one of the reasons for Lucario's inclusion.

If they'd cut the clones they'd already be rid of 20-25% of the characters (Luigi, Falco, Wolf, Ganondorf, etc), though some would be better to stay in, but made more unique or stay in as a skin (Luigi and Ganondorf especially, though I could see them ditching Ganondorf).


To be honest, this talk of huge amounts of characters make me think "Super Smash Bros. MMO" and I'm not sure whether I should be cheerful or horrified.