>>42745985Trading has always been secondary, you can't just say it's Pokemon's main appeal and that the main game means nothing. When picking up Pokemon what people want (or at least wanted) was an adventure. Why do you think so many disliked gen 7, specifically Lillie? Even normalfags did. I'll give you a second to think about it. Got it? Because people want to be the protagonist of their grand heroic story. They want to embark on an adventure, catch cool monsters and battle with them, get stronger together, overcome obstacles, beat the bad guy, become the great hero and champion. Pokemon used to be about your own exploration and adventure, you were in the spotlight. You, out there in this new region ready for you to explore. That's what people who play Pokemon look forward to, trading is just a side thing for fun/convenience and most often than not relegated for postgame once you're done with everything else. People do care (or, again, cared) about a well fleshed out world, with sprawling routes, caves, Pokemon in odd or secret locations, etc. Nowadays the newest regions are nothing but a hallway and you can't just say it "doesn't matter because people prefer trading than playing the actual game". You're being disingenuous to push your narrative when you know a game such as Pokemon should have, and is very capable of having, a good and engaging main game.
