>>35273242Have multiple separate intricate stories that the player has to thoroughly explore the world in order to find, and have them not suck. Making the stories happen parallel to each other with different battles and outcomes can allow for better replayability.
If the player is the type who gets butthurt about there being story in a Pokémon game and likes to play only for the battles, have there be a bunch of arenas scattered across the region that hold big competitions to judge who the most powerful trainer is, rather than a group of five nobodies at the top of a mountain somewhere. Doing this will allow the player to go through strings of battles, and having the arenas spread out across the region will still allow the player to explore to their heart's content until they find the next competition.
Have Pokémon be more involved in the world itself, not just appearing in battles or photo areas. Have as many in the wild as you possibly can that can reasonably exist within the region's locales. In fact, you could have an entire separate revolving around the Pokémon themselves with no intervention from some "evil team".
The biggest focus from all those things above is EXPLORATION. Make a big world with lots to do and see in it, and make it believable. Let the player choose what they want to become on their journey. A Pokémon champion, a symbol of heroism who protects the weak and helpless, an evil monster bent on destroying the world and everyone in it, or just another trainer that's traveling around the region for their own reasons.
