Why didn't they go the whole nine with day/night? Why did they limit themselves to just modified encounter tables / some time-of-day events?
>Day time benefits could have built Grass-types more of an identity
>Night time could have given ghost/dark (and later, fairy) types some unique interactions and benefits
It seems like the main complication is dealing with indoor battles (are they light/dark, day/night?), and honestly I don't know how I'd solve it either. I get locking ToD out of impacting battles just simplifies things, but it is interesting they never really explored it. Even now, the deepest it goes is evolution requirements and the aforementioned encounter tables / time-based events.