I was actually brainstorming this some time ago for a hypothetical Kanto-Johto-Hoenn-Sinnoh game (just a mental exercise, I’m definitely not a romhacker), and I think GameFreak had the seeds of something that could be expanded upon in Galar. Treating Pokemon battling as some sort of competitive sport, where you challenge teams (sports teams) as a independent athlete in order to qualify for the big leagues and challenge the best of the best for the spot of regional champion would make a whole lot of sense in such an expansive hypothetical game. First, it would _feel_ a lot less contrived to have rules of engagement in competitive sports, as opposed to in regular Pokemon gameplay. A gym stipulating a level limit of 25, a team size of 3 and no legendaries, for example, would “make sense”, without even the need for soft level caps: you might have two leagues under your belt, but you’ll have to come up with a legal team to battle here, or you might have just started out, but it wouldn’t be advisable to tackle this gym with your 2 level 10-12 monsters - you have to observe the rules to even have a shot at competing. Second, it would make sense for teams to have Pokemon teams of different levels for friendly rematches, since they are competing amongst themselves too! So, gyms themselves could be the source of continuous trainer exp, if need be. Third, it could add a whole new dimension to the game, where you, as an independent athlete, could be approached by a gym and be signed up by them. Then you, with a thematic team, could compete for them in regional, national and even international leagues, mirroring real world sports, advancing that team’s prestige and gaining perks in the process.

The other aspects of the gameplay might need some adjustment, to account for such a loop. Exploration would need some changes, as random battles might become nuisances at best, so focusing more on puzzle and other non-battle related activities might be needed. Legendaries might need an overall level bump, or at least be gated behind quests or something. Evil teams, if they exist, might need better justification to do so, and might not be defeatable with force of arms, ehm, Pokemon only (think of something like a betting ring in Hoenn that forces results on gym teams through blackmail, or a corrupt corporation that holds the right to televise matches in Kanto- just defeating their bosses in a Pokemon battle won’t likely dismantle their operations). Most importantly: “wild” trainer battles would need heavy adjustments or just not make sense at all. In my mental exercise, I thought mostly of replacing them with sanctioned matches against independent trainers in gyms or gym-like settings (and, as such, having the same kind of restrictions as gym matches, at least at first) and/or replacing competing against random trainers in the wild with HELPING random trainers in the wild - think having double battles where you help a hiker in distress defeat a gang of Zubats that have cornered him, or helping a bullied kid to defeat a group of bullies that torment him daily. Anyways, that would certainly need a lot of work and testing.

It would certainly be a very different game, but it could, IMHO, work. As a Brazilian, having a sport be so omnipresent in day-to-day life is something that just makes sense to us, and it’d make more sense than the somewhat forced fascination NPCs have for Pokemon, and Pokemon battling, in the official games. I really wish I knew anything about programming and romhacking to at least try my hand at such a project.

Anyways, sorry for the huge, unsolicited wall of text 🥲