Ahhh I misunderstood. in the palworld fans' defense, I imagine gamefreak seeing a game that uses elements of their games but in an innovative way get a huge game l fanbase might convince them to change their strategy a little bit.
Fewer people buying Pokemon games would help as well, obviously, but if sales went down at the same time a game they see as a competitor gets real big, that might actually kick their butts in gear.