>>49517934in terms of challenge, if you're just in it for the battles, especially in pokemon games: pvp>pve. you can just play pokemon showdown for that.
if you want to have fun exploring a comfy world with your pokemon, going through a journey: you play singleplayer. i'd honestly prefer if gamefreak abandoned the multiplayer entirely, switched to an exciting real-time battle system where you play as the pokemon, focused on building vast, detailed open worlds and hired talented writers to create a compelling story. then if you want to play online pokemon chess you can play showdown.
