>>545898461. It's the feeling of adventure and being able to make your own team
2. the last games were not bad, SV are one of the best in the series, they just look like shit, but the gameplay and the rest itself is fun
saying this as a fan of other series like SMT and Dragon Quest Monsters, my favorite aspect of both those games is how I can make my OWN decisions, I can be my faggot self and go full Chaos in SMT, I can make a mechanical monster team on DQM, and in pokemon, I have 6 whole slots to make my own personal experience, nickname them all, have my own journey, that's the most fun
oh, the hot lolis and shotas also carry it for me, also I guess since I played HGSS as a kid the nostalgia may or may not have some influence, but at least im not a senile pokemaniafag