Dual Wingbeat, don't let Dragonite and Salamence down.
While it's nice we got another Physical Flying-type move, it STILL has the problem other Flying-type moves have with it requiring the Pokemon needing bird parts (in this case, wings) to use. Great for Dragonite and Salamence, but Gyarados is still waiting for a better Flying-type move.
Stall & Normalize Discussion:
No matter how you slice it, these Abilities aren't good and both have other Abilities they rather use (Sableye has Prankster and Delcatty has Wonder Skin). We could also think of other better Abilities they can have in place of Stall & Normalize (Sableye I can see getting Intimidate & Delcatty would probably like Fur Coat (and becoming part Fairy-type)).
And of course there's the option to improve the Abilities. Normalize I can see also increasing Normal-type moves by 50% and making it so that all Delcatty's Normal-type moves ignore Resistances & Immunities. For Stall, that's tough, maybe have it so in a Double Battle (Tag Battle, Triple Battle, etc.) that if Sableye targets a Pokemon that Pokemon now targets Sableye even if it was targeting another Pokemon (pretty much make it into an Ability version of Rage Powder)?
I'd honestly like a stronger grip on story first before GF make another game
Now you guys might say "Gen 5" immediately for good story, but:
Bull Of Heaven already responded so some of these but I also want to quickly comment on the ones which weren't:
1. Also it kinda just seemed like a justification for cock fighting in Main series, but eh :V
2. And finally, the Main character is simply an observer, outside fighting bosses
3. It does not excuse being gatekeeped annoyingly in the game. You'll still mostly linearly beat the Gyms and the E4
4. And they aren't helping out until REALLY late in BW. Jerks
5. Ultimately to remedy this and still have the player be "unique" you can do what, say Sonic Chronicles, did for choosing what to say, indicating whether you're snarky, annoyed, jolly, etc. You can also have NPCs have different reactions to this to further note it, and have the Player have expressions outside :| , :) , and :D. To "excuse" gatekeeping, have the story interactive
1. That is always going to be a problem with Pokemon. They're magical animals fighting each other, that's the core mechanic and thus they need to write around justification why it isn't cockfighting. And you know what, I think they've done enough to justify it:
- Pokemon are as sentient as humans & definitely more powerful. If they didn't want to fight they wouldn't fight.
- Pokemon are magical creatures who suffer very little injury from fighting and any injury sustained can be cured via a super healing machine or a nice nap.
- Pokemon literally become stronger from battling, and while recent gens have introduced other ways for Pokemon to get stronger battling is still the fastest and the Pokemon species themselves were made with an instinct of wanting to fight.
- Battles are clearly sanctioned like in real life we have boxing & MMA matches.
At this point the only people who are saying Pokemon is cockfighting are those who don't even play the games or are willingly ignoring all the above justifications because they just want to say Pokemon is cockfighting, lulz.
2. For BW? BW does involve the player in the main story by making them essentially the opposite of N. There are points where the story comes to a halt because Team Plasma or the Pokemon League are waiting on the player to arrive or do something. This is contrast to previous games and even games after where the player was indeed more of an observer, the player was just so happened to be in time to witness the story event unfold. Instead of being a "wrench in the works" the player in BW succeeds in beating the villain team by having the villain team underestimating them being a strong trainer that can defeat N (and then Ghetsis).
Though this is just for BW. BW2 goes back to the player being mostly an observer to unfolding events. You are eventually roped into the story but even then it's still more as a responsive force than actually having a presence which affects the progression of plans.
3. For the Gen V games I felt it worked as it was GF's first attempt to tell a more complex story and having a linear series of events let them setup more memorable set pieces. And unlike say Final Fantasy 13 where the stages were hallways, while the map may deceive you the cities and routes were decent side maps that let you explore and had optional areas scattered around. Sure after exploring the location once you have little reason to return, but for telling a story that's fine as it keeps you interested long enough before then wanting to move on to the next segment.
Would I love a free roam game with a complex story? Of course, and I have thought of ways that could be done (though would require quite a bit of event flags and creating multiple teams many which won't get used, which is probably why GF doesn't want to do it as they don't like making extra teams they may not get used). But in my opinion there was nothing wrong with BW's method.
4. The Gym Leaders being late to join in (though a batch have been helping out throughout the story, moreso than any other gen) is because Team Plasma is actively working to keep them out of the know. The only reason the player is involved so much is because they need the player to fulfill being the opposite of N so he could defeat them and prove he's the true hero of Unova, however anyone else they don't need has no clue what Plasma's next plan is. And even the player is kept mostly in the dark, really being guided to where and what Plasma needs them to do. Team Plasma is pretty much holding all the cards and allowing who knows and doesn't know things. The Gym Leaders rushing in to battle the Sages last minute was thanks to outside factor they overlooked: Bianca, the "lesser" rival and meek friend of the player, being able to fly to the other Gym Leaders and telling them what's happening.
As for where the Elite 4 (and the Champion and Cheren) was, to give them benefit of the doubt they were probably maintaining order inside and outside the Pokemon League from all the Plasma grunts now invading.
5. Actual dialogue options that affect how other characters interact with the player would also be nice to have, though I doubt we'll ever have the option for the player to be an outright jerk or malicious (or make major choices like agreeing with the villain team). They've thankfully improved on the player's expressions in Gen 8 at least.