First off, this is my first post. Been lurking this site ever since I was a youngin' in grade school (probably about 7 or so years) so I figured I'd air out my thoughts on a topic that's been rattling in my head since I heard the news of a true-to-handheld version coming to the Switch!
Anyways, I know I'm a little late to this thread but I'm going to throw out a bunch of my hopes for Pokemon on the Switch!
First off, I don't see battling mechanics going anywhere. The special/physical split was a huge investment on GF's part and already with Z-moves, Mega-evos and items, players are likely still being side-swiped by competitive builds. On the other hand, I hope battle scenes are a little more open. IE; when Ash and Co. are battling it's always in an open field or designated battle area. I hope this is something they could introduce with the Switch capabilities. This could lend itself to nice gathering areas for trainers and such in whatever online capacity this game holds. Players could ban together online, interact with eachother in real time and go head-to-head just like in the series. Bring our pokemon and our adventures to life, GF!
In addition, real-time movement could be a fun gimmick in-game even if it had no affect on combat. You could move your pokemon anywhere you would like at whatever time in battle but either way, Pikachu will still hit you with a TB or charge at you across the battlefield with a quick attack, or whatever 4-moves the trainer has determined.
More open-worlded-ness. This goes hand-in-hand with open field combat. GF has already created fairly expansive games on a glorified SD card, I have no fear they will short us out on expanding areas or seemingly never-ending routes between towns. We know they will try to hold our hands up to the E4 or whatever this game possesses (please bring back gyms or trial/gym/contest combination) - but this could vastly improve post-game content if they just opened barricades or constructed various towns by the end of the heroes journey, expanding casual, young, and veteran poke-gamer's adventure without connection to WiFi.
Considering WiFi, I wish for something open-ended. I don't want to go online to only be able to trade randomly or lock myself into a battle arcade. In (hopefully!) 2019, we should be able to walk around and interact with whoever we please, sporting our poke-outfits, and talk amongst eachother as well as a more formal-feeling way to getting eachother's FC. WE should be able to decide who we want to trade with, battle with, exchange items with, INTERACT with. Of course, I love Wonder-Trade and maybe they could implement a station or building just for that, in addition to other current Online functions. For instance, a bunch of trainers walk into an expansive room and auction off their unwanted poke's for something different, like the current system, but just a little more interactive and alive, and you get the same exact gambles.
In all reality, post-game content could all be tied with Wifi, and that would be cool with me. Maybe a main gathering town that everyone transports to when entering Online Connection, surrounded with open-areas to hunt pokemon with revolving area types and species to catch..? Also, I truly hope there is some co-op service for community-minded gamers. Find a few trainers who shares your battling values or poke-contestant grit? Ask them to become a Team! from there, you and up to whatever-amount of players GF allows, can train together, pull double battles together (like in a double, you and your friend/rival send out one poke each to control against 2 other pokemon from 1 trainer, 2, or hyuck, even 6 trainers/wild pokemon).
As much as I love training a pokemon to lvl 100, I equally hate Base Stat Values. Sure, it's good to have a meta, but I should be able to feel like Ash with my super-trained Pikachu taking down seemingly mighty foes. Maybe make the lvl100 a soft-cap. Afterwards, exp is capped at lvl100 exp value, but trainers can still earn experience to boost a pokemon's stat afterwards similar to the current EV method. Youngster Joey could throw out a lvl.119 Rattata, and could have been specifically training it in ATK to really make it's Quick Attack hurt. This could make EV-training fun, or totally reinvent the mechanic with the idea of further increasing any pokemon's value to truly make it competitive (looking at you BUG/FLYING "losers"). If I want a Butterfree to have a fighting chance against a Giratina, I should be able to if I put the time and effort into it. THIS would be truly revolutionary for Pokemon.
Basically, I want Pokemon Switch to feel more alive. I've been playing Pokemon since Red on original Gameboy, so I guess you could say it's in my blood. I could care-less if they introduce new species, especially if I can make my JPN Stantler a force to be reckoned with for once. Also, GameFreak, please hire me!
Thoughts?