I only read the beginning of your post (it will take me a while to read the rest), but Pokemon declined for a big reason. It wasn't a drop in quality at all (I thought Gold and Silver was great). Rather, the games (and other merchandise) sold less because the fad died. Pokemon still has many millions of fans, but it will never be like it was in the late 90s. Gone is the day where you could make a game about taking pictures of Pokemon and have it sell gangbusters. Gone are the days where every last kid on every last country on Earth had to have a Gameboy and a copy of Pokemon. Gone are the days of Pokemon board games, trading card extravaganzas, plushies, pillows, blankets, pajamas, cups, and every last piece of merchandise available.
Pokemon is still a huge game series, but major improvements won't bring it back to its glory days.
