>multiple difficultiesHonestly, I'd rather they put the resources it takes in creating two/three sets of Pokemon for almost every trainer and put it into making a more involved Battle Tower / Battle Frontier / Online Tournament experience.
>>26442644You forgot about turning Battle Style to Set instead of Shift. Significantly increases the difficulty, yet people rarely think to do it.
>>26442694A difficulty mode that you select when you start your game is self-imposed because you selected it. Don't be frustrated because it doesn't go by the name you want it to go by.
What I want is for GameFreak to make HMs not just arbitrary road blocks and actually interesting tools to use for puzzle solving. This would probably require a significant revamping of what moves are actually HMs and how they are used on the overworld.
My crazy never going to happen tier dream is that the game doesn't dictate what you do too much. You can get from town to town fairly easily- high level Pokemon and trainers don't spend much time on busy roads and popular intersections. But most routes / cities will lead to more interesting areas to explore with higher level / rarer Pokemon, tougher trainers, and rare items. You can travel wherever you want with impunity, so long as you can stand up to the Pokemon and trainers that are there. And if you can't stop the evil team that is running the city government? You are gonna have to toughen up a bit and try again. Fighting gym leaders and the Pokemon League is entirely optional with regards to completing the main quest, etc. Stuff like that.