>>39651626And it's worth adding to this that the Pokemon machine doesn't necessarily have to have the same single "end goal" for each individual consumer. It is tempting to think that everything else funnels neatly back into the Game Freak games, and thus if the Game Freak games become noticeably worse nothing else in the franchise has a point any more. But that's simply not true, even more so with mobile games providing more, if far simpler, ways to play with Pokemon in an interactive way. If someone buys plushies and plays phone games, they are contributing to the bottom line just the same as someone who only plays the Game Freak games (and has long fallen out of any other part of the franchise) does.
That's not to say the ire with the most recent games isn't valid, quite the opposite, but you have to reach a specific point in your Pokemon consumption to really care.
