Pokemon kept out of Olympic closing ceremony due to not being as widely recognized as Mario

Mario showed up in the Rio 2016 Oympic closing ceremony to get the excitement going for the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020. Other notable Japanese characters like Hello Kitty and Doraemon were also included, but why wasn't the Pokemon franchise represented? According to an unidentified Tokyo Olympic/Paralympic Committee member, the ceremony show began preparations in January, which was quite awhile before Pokémon GO. Another reason sighted was that the Mario franchise has sold more games worldwide when compared to Pokémon, making the franchise not as well known comparatively worldwide.