I've been replaying the Pokemon series for the first time in 8 years. After seeing the credits of Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, I've come to a deep realization that these games are not very good.
Early games were rife with terrible Pokemon distribution and item placement. Later games started to bring in cliche'd anime stories and small amount content (Especially the Post Game after Black and White 2), along with a bizarre reliant on nostalgia. The entire series in general is plagued with terrible balancing issues and a nonexistant difficulty. It's mind-numbingly dull and babby-tier, or suddenly brutally difficult unless you have the exact correct setup. Outside of the video games, it's not that much better either. The anime, manga, movies, etc all have dropped in quality substantially (As if there was any quality to these in the first place).
So now I've just been thinking: what is it about this series that managed to capture the hearts of millions worldwide, and still has a massive following to this day (Even becoming the highest-grossing media franchise of all time). Why do people love Pokemon? Why do you love Pokemon?