>>41447825there are plenty of ways to accomplish that, but since each game is different, not all of them can be applied to all, or pokemon for that matter.
One of the main issues pokemon has, maybe more these days, are the ridiculous rewards you get from doing hardly anything. Tons of exp (that now go to all your pokemon), tons of money, tons of items, free healing at pokemon centers, etc. It's VERY rare that you'll find yourself actually NEEDING things in a pokemon game. For starters, there's no need to think about resource management. You have to actively intentionally fuck up very badly to ever run out of both items and money. And if you do, the punishment is not that bad. Worst case scenario, you get teleported to the last pokemon center, where you are healed for free. And, if anything, the old, "hard" games were a test of endurance rather than skill or knowledge.
So, in order to make a challenging pokemon game without cheesing it, I think the best way would be to make a "hard mode" were all those resources are more scarce. Less items on the overworld, more expensive items at stores, less money reward, make pokemon lose exp if they are defeated. That way the player would have to be more mindful of what they do instead of just smashing A. Then, of course, better AI, stronger enemy teams. Once the game is beat, everything would go back to the "normal mode", so you aren't stuck forever with expensive items and lost of exp.
