No, don't give up. Maybe you should let every member choose a pokémon to be their partner and then steer their own team? Because often, it seems like PMD RPs die because rescue teams are tired of waiting for their members to progress. So maybe each player could control 2 pokémon each, either with both being just as important or with one being the main and the other being the partner, and then players could interact by competing for success and taking the best missions, rather than trying to keep a team of more or less active people together?