>>44216057One thing GF devs have lamented is that Japanese players don't get that the games are about the connection between Humans and Pokémon. If anything is subverted it would be battling itself: in which players discard hundreds of Pokémon to get one with 'perfect' stats or shininess, pump them full of items to shortcut leveling/EV training/Friendship, or solely focus on certain Pokémon because they are 'strong' or 'optimal'.
Having a game with the focus of building relationships with your Pokémon and caring for them like actual, living creatures would actually not only bring the series back to its roots but provide a new game experience that makes the player understand what the franchise has always been about.
Also doing something crazy like having all Pokémon be viable (think Limit Break) would help in this regard. I mean look at Ash's Pikachu: his stats suck on paper but he still became Alolan champion through years of bonding with his Pokémon. This allowed Pikachu to do surpass what was capable through stats alone.
