this is reaching levels of copium I didn't think was possible. this just isn't a reasonable assumption anymore with how much they're pushing lumiose as the setting of the game, it just doesn't make any sense for them to make such a big deal out of it if we are going to be able to go elsewhere, the idea of catching pokemon to bring to lumiose doesn't line up with how catching pokemon was presented in the trailer either
you need to stop clinging onto baseless presumptions and accept what you have been presented with
Okay, I will try to lay out the argument a bit better. Because I think it is reasonable to expect the game to be more than Lumiose.
First, the space. Does the city, as shown, have enough room to include a natural habitat for all the Pokémon in the game? For instance, we've seen a sand pit where Sandile roam, but there are dozens of Pokémon that thrive in desert habitats, and there isn't room for them all in that sand pit. Nor is the park large enough to house a sand pit for each of them. There's a reason why previous deserts in Pokémon games have been quite a bit bigger than a city park. What we have space for here is essentially an enclosure for a couple of specimens for each Pokémon native to a habitat, but not a range where they can plausibly roam freely. Not to mention that the city also contains streetscapes outside of the Wild Zones, containing locals wandering around, cafés, shops, battle arenas, what have you. The buildings themselves take up a lot of space too. That leaves very little space for the Wild Zones and all the Pokémon in them.
And the Wild Zones appear to be
tiny too. In the "extended look" trailer, we get to see Wild Zones 1 and 2 almost in their entirety. Wild Zone 1 appears to comprise a section of the outer ring road, maybe a hundred meters long - you see the gates on both ends, and the fence on the hubward side. It is approximately the size of a football field, and contains Bunnelby, Fletchling, and Scatterbug. Wild Zone 2 seems to comprise only the circular Vert Plaza, likewise, Wild Zone 8 is Jaune Plaza. Looking at the map, we can reasonably expect another Wild Zone in the green district of the city, but it can't be substantially bigger than the others. That is very little space to explore, even if there are 15-20 such Wild Zones in total. The Obsidian Fieldlands, the starter map for Legends Arceus, is larger than all of Lumiose City put together, and it is devoted entirely to nature.
Secondly, the lack of distinctive habitats. The cityscape is nice, but it lacks variety. You have parks, boulevards, streets, and rooftops, all in the same climate. It is repetitive, even if the architecture and the colours of the roofs varies slightly from district to district. Will the entire game be about going from park to samey park and catch Pokémon in football-field-sized areas? Will Pokémon that naturally belong in volcanoes, deserts, and icy caves all just be found among the bushes and street furniture, and that's it? Even the Legendary Pokémon?
Third, in combination of the above, it doesn't seem reasonable that they would willingly throw away the grand vistas and diverse environments that have defined previous Pokémon games, just for the sake of making a game in a rather monotonous urban setting. Lumiose City is not that big or that exciting on its own. It is also worth noting that both the development team and the console have proven themselves capable of handling games and map areas that were much larger in scope than this. Again, Legends Arceus had five huge maps, each with distinct and varied environments, each easily bigger than Lumiose City, plus the central hub area of Jubilife Village. So why skimp on the game features this time? Why make a game that's all about one city, instead of a game that plays to all the strengths of the Pokémon brand?
Fourth, the existence of a rather prominent gateway to the city. The ticket booths is the first thing we see in the trailer as the camera pans out of the train station (a shot that was omitted from the trailer on YouTube, for some reason - it's there in the Pokémon Presents stream, but the separate trailer upload begins with the next shot). The building is clearly a landmark too, as it is one of very few buildings in the city with a spire. That means you are meant to find it again. It doubt it is just meant to be the game's starting point, equivalent to that beach where you wake up in Legends Arceus, which you visit once and then forget. This is a place you revisit, and the only reason to do so is to leave the city. The official site even includes
a shot of the main character at a train station, indicating an element of travel - granted, this could just be from the intro cutscene. It is also worth noting that Hotel Z, your base of operations while staying in Lumiose, is located only a block away from this train station. It is behind the Fletchinder and Fletchling on
the map.
All in all, the game needs more than streets and parks to captivate players. There isn't quite enough room in the city to provide content for an entire game, and there seems to be incidations about going elsewhere.
That being said, I do see the counter-argument to all of this. Kanto as seen in the Let's Go games was also very small by modern game standards, populated entirely by the original 151 Pokémon, and very monotonous as far as environmental diversity goes. Its scope was very limited. But that was also a recreation of a game designed for the Game Boy, and heavily marketed as a throwback to that simpler time.
So yeah, I think Lumiose City will be the primary focus of the game, probably very important to the gameplay, but that there are other locations, which mostly consist of natural environments in the same vein as Legends Arceus. Like Jubilife Village of that game, Lumiose City will contain most of the story beats, the Pokémon storage, and also the catching tutorial (Wild Zone 1), but I'm fairly certain we will see the world outside as well. Probably not other cities, though.
And (I took some copium don't mind me,) hopefully it'll be a spread move that has increased bp under sun for doubles but is still good without it in singles normal play (I.E maybe 100 -> 200 BP under sun).
