>>37072862>that aren't always mash A wild battlesWould you care to give an example?
>trainers don't train or bond with their pokémon by having 100 mindless wild battlesUnless stated, we don't see every moment of the characters life, so we don't know how they train. Also, even if the anime/manga portrays them differently, that doesn't mean we should try to make the games feel the same.
>its virtually the only thing your pokémon is useful for in the gamesI do agree (to a certain extent) on this. Stuff like contests made it feel like you could do more than just battle, even if that's what the franchise is known for. Having more options on what to do with them would certainly make them feel less like puppets.
I also don't see how having less battles and having over-world sprites would actually make you feel better about what you already think are husks. If anything, there's even less to do. Forgoing random battles also means you can't try making your own objectives, like making your pokémon battle every single possible Pokémon the game gives you access to, for example.
I guess in the end, the best compromise would be to let you choose what to do, over-world or random encounters. Wild battle or just catching.
Realistically, they are never going to give the options and are going to decide for everyone, though. 
