Here's my philosophy on the subject: Once you have a mechanics system that works perfectly, don't change it. Instead, with each game change the player's experience. Bring the innovation to the story, art style, characters, etc. Pokemon has failed to do this. If they want to prevent the game from feeling stale, they should not change the gameplay (I agree that it is near perfect), but they should change the plot structure. 8 gyms, rival, evil team, elite four, champion, and more have all been the core plot since generation 1. So I'm on the side to leave the mechanics as they are.
If you want to dramatically change the gameplay of a game that does not need changing, that's what a spinoff is for.
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