Quoted By:
I gave up on Pokemon's """story""" ever being good a long time ago. I mostly just battle now, so my three points of what I look for are
>a diverse, balanced regional dex
This gives playthroughs variety. It's also good when they let you use Pokemon at different points than previous games have - B2W2 and XY do this really well
>enough new toys to play with
New Pokemon, and new buffs to old Pokemon. Gen V can't be beaten in this respect - heaps of Pokemon and nearly every old Pokemon getting at least one new ability is great. I like that the last two gens have been buffing base stats for Pokemon - stuff like Dugtrio's attack boost, Raichu's speed boost and Masquerain's +40 BST have helped them stand out from the crowd
>good online play
XY/ORAS is the gold standard for this: the PSS was nearly perfect. Festival Plaza was a massive step backwards and a big part of why I don't like Gen VII