If I may share my opinion, I don't think Pokemon is going downhill, but more or less, giving us something new to fiddle with. Indeed, as the series continue, pokemon are becoming more and more obnoxious, but at the same time, you have to appreciate the beauty in it. Like, yeah... Trubbish is a really stupid Pokemon (in my opinion), but at the same time, I can appreciate the fact that they made something really stupid (a bag of garbage) into a pretty decent Pokemon.
For me, Pokemon has always been both really stupid and yet unbelievably addicting. Like yeah, there will always be obnoxious flaws and Pokemon made from the most generic of ideas (example: Gen 1 GeoDude... a rock with arms, like... really bro?), but at the same time, this is a franchise which refuses to die and somehow keeps people playing one way... or another.
As I said above, it's really stupid, but you can't help but appreciate how it has brought a community together. Of course, there is no community that doesn't have chaos and insanity from people saying "my gen is better" or "that pokemon is crap, you're dumb", but in the end, we are all connected as one... with a goal in mind... to become the best. Sure, not all of us will become the best and not all of us are trying to become the best, but all of us want to play and that's what counts. We want to play and as the years continue to pass, we keep getting more to play.
We have vast communities of people able to hack these games and expand on the idea, people able to create their own pokemon and their own stories, people able to make the world of Pokemon less about becoming a Pokemon Master and more about "becoming a Pokemon Trainer". Sure, there will always be hacks and edits that keep to the same old storyline, but in the end of it all, there will always be a new story, another NPC getting the chance to be more than a nobody.
Not to mention, Pokemon has done the one thing that every other video game hasn't yet... brought people outside to actually meet each other. (Yes, I'm talking about Pokemon Go) Sure, it is dangerous because there are people out there who use this as a way to creep on others or even cause more problems, but then again, there is no such thing as a completely safe world.
I'll be honest, if it wasn't for pokemon, I wouldn't have met my wife. Both of us became absolutely infatuated and then finally in love with each other after realizing how quickly we bonded over the idea of Pokemon itself, how we realized that both of us just simply wanted to have an adventure, tell a story of our own, find out that this world is more than what the eye can see.
Pokemon is just one of those game series(es?) that makes people understand themselves, makes people go "hey, who do I want to be? Do I really want to be a Champion? Do I really want to be a Pokemon Master? Do I want to explore untold worlds and vast wastelands?"
Don't get me wrong, Pokemon is unbelievably flawed and full of obnoxious and irritating people, but that is just how things are. There is no such thing as a completely "friendly" and "open-minded" society and community. This is just life and Pokemon has somehow found a way to make it's world... part of our world.
Sure, the trailer lied to us in some way and blew the idea out of proportion and as always, many pokemon games are turning into nothing more than a money snag, but at the same time, you can't say that Pokemon hasn't done anything good. I mean, let's face it... not many of us want to be outdoors, and with Pokemon Go, many of us are now. Heck, I have friends that are so obnoxiously lazy, it pains me to see them wither away like that, but when Pokemon Go came out, they spent a large portion of their free time walking around and even running around.
THINK ABOUT IT... what happens once they implement all 720+ pokemon into that game? This means Pokemon Go (if improved) might just end up replacing all other Pokemon games and become the OFFICIAL "go-to" pokemon game. Heck, if Pokemon Go becomes playable OFFLINE (or without a server) and you can do things like LAN-battles (no idea if you can or not, I haven't actually played Pokemon Go yet) then think of the possibilities. There will be hundreds (if not thousands) of people walking around day and night, searching for all 700+ pokemon, getting enough exercise to power up a generator. Heck, most of my neighbors spend less time indoors and more time outdoors now, and even, I've seen that game bring families together as a team, pursuing pokemon all at the same time, going on legitimate adventures up mountainsides and across rivers, it is amazing. Think about it... what if Pokemon Go expands even further, what if you have to actually go outside of your hometown? What if you need to actually visit locations or go to specific areas or wait for the weather to change to make special pokemon appear?
With enough time and effort, this game can really be something truly special.
And once again, don't get me wrong, Pokemon is obnoxiously broken and full of flaws and errors that make the communities as well as the games themselves into nothing more than a chaotic formation of some sort, but in the end, it's just nice to see more people actually outside and not so many people sitting down all the time. Like come on, it's nice knowing that not so many people are sitting indoors, snacking on junk food, and playing the same old pokemon games (which I still play from time to time).
