A video released yesterday in which Junichi Masuda from Game Freak, director of the upcoming Pokémon X and Y games, explains the inspiration for Kalos, the new world where the games take place.
Kalos means beauty in ancient Greek, and that was the theme for X and Y. And the best place to represent beauty as a background was France. Nintendo and Pokémon are currently featured at the Japan Expo taking place in Paris, and this video is part of the presentation there.
By the end of the video, you can see the new Steel/Ghost Pokémon, Honedge (Hitotsuki in Japan). A sword with an ancient sould residing in it, as Masuda puts it. More info here: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Honedge (Pokémon)