>>38069283I think compared to breath of the wild, you would have less monster camps, so those could be replaced with small NPC villages or homesteads, similar to the horse stables in regards to finding people there to talk to, possibly trade with, etc. Breath of the Wild mostly lacks caves, so you could replace a lot of shrines with those to have places to store rare items, TMs, and pokemon.
I think the game would need a much more episodic approach to the typical pokemon journey though. A lot more interacting with your own pokemon and other travellers compared to just battling your way through a mess of people. Ranging further from towns also means you won't be able to access a pokemon center as easily, and so you don't need as many battles to wear the player's party down if they're relying on berries and scavenged potions.