It's actually kinda fun to run aimlessly around in the dark, so I'll pass on Flash, thanks. I don't give a darn about Defog, because I like fog. It's pretty. Whirlpool and Cut serve no purpose other than an easy (albeit illogical) way to block players from going certain places.
"Hey, Misty. I want to go to Saffron City and do some shopping, but there's a three-foot tree in the way. What should I do?"
"I guess we're stuck here, huh? Maybe we should just wait until some ten-year-old comes along and whups me, then we can follow him."
"Hey, Misty?"
"Yeah?"
"How do we get any goods into the city if we can't get around that tree? And on the other side, there's those weird ledges that are low enough to jump off but far too high to climb. How the hell has our economy managed to survive for this long?"
". . . I really don't know. I think we're self-sufficient."
"But we have the only bike shop in the whole region!"
"Sucks to be all those bikeless folks down south, then, doesn't it?"
". . . Yup."