I would love for the difficulty to be increased, but realistically? That probably won't happen.
I remember someone saying in one of these threads before (I think I made a similar thread before) that well...Pokemon isn't difficult anymore for the simple fact that we're not really kids anymore; we can outsmart the AI, we can plan strategies that the AI doesn't, things like that. Has Pokemon actually changed at all as far as difficulty itself is concerned? Probably not, it's just most people have gotten better at Pokemon battling to the point where they feel the games no longer present any more a challenge than they used to.
That being said, the point if Pokemon is more than just battling, there's more than just catching Pokemon out there. The point is to, as silly as this sounds, have fun with your pocket monsters, go on an adventure and explore! Battling is one aspect of Pokemon that will probably be touched on a bit more this generation now that we have a professor that studies Pokemon moves, but that doesn't mean that the battles themselves would be inherently harder or easier. They've just...been as they've always been, really, for the most part.
I remember back when I really thought Platinum was the hardest, but that was because at that point in time, my Pokemon were roughly around the same level as Cynthia's, bar a few levels less, so of course it was a challenge. I think it had more to do with the type of Pokemon Cynthia was using rather than any actual battle strategies she had or lack thereof.
Tbh though, even ranting through all of this, I still wouldn't be against a set difficulty option. Give Gym Leaders more useful held items, give the Elite Four the same, and raise their levels by either 10-15 to give players an actual serious challenge. I mean, you're going to most likely out-level them anyway, but it'd be a fun experience actually batting with a high-leveled opponent instead of someone weaker, if that makes sense.
