The whole "it's about trading with your friends!" argument is the most brilliant part of the scam. People believe it, people parrot it, and people criticize those who don't "get" that perspective. They can keep releasing multiple versions of the game and re-releases with slight changes and diehards will form a phalanx around Game Freak any time somebody says "hey, this isn't right".
If it's not about trading, if it's truly just about scamming people out if as much money as possible or whatever, then not only is one calling Game Freak extremely greedy, but one is also implicitly calling them one if the most idiotic, incompetent developers of all time:
Because, let me explain. If that's indeed the case, if it's indeed the case that it's all about greed, then why include trading at all? Why waste very valuable development resources on trading in every single game since the very beginning? Especially not just trading, but, since Pokémon Diamond and Pearl on the Nintendo DS, have trading with people all over the world through the Internet?
And I don't ask that for no reason, of course. It's really pretty straightforward:
Let's say, hypothetically, everything is all just about greed, greed, greed. The whole idea is to get everyone to buy as many versions as possible, that that's the true start and end of it. Let's just go with that for a moment.
In that case, wouldn't it make more sense to, I don't know, NOT INCLUDE TRADING TO BEGIN WITH if that were, at all, true (especially not global online tradong with random)?
Considering that would kinda, y'know, UNDERMINE THEIR ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL in that case?
'Cause it's basically: "yeah, you COULD buy both versions, you could do that... Or you could just be s normal versiy and save yourself some money and give us less by just trading instead, which we let you do because honestly, we have no idea since it indeed being about encouraging players to be social and interact I'd off the table, and apparently the only thing that matters is money and this doesn't help us make money, so why is it here again?"
Wouldn't it make much more sense in that case to cut trading out entirely so as to actually force people to buy the other version if they want to see the other Pokémon?
Especially since that not only means more money coming in, but that also means one less thing to use very valuable development resources on, and both developers and publishers alike hate haviy those kinda resources wasted for no reason. So like two birds one stone by getting rid of trading: more money coming in by actually forcing people to buy more versions, and freeing up development resources on something they shouldn't have ever wasted then on to begy with (since again it's apparently not what they say it's sbout, encouraging people to be social, so can't suddenly fall back on that now). Win-win, right?
But yet! But yet! Trading endures all the same! Why could that be exactly?
Option A: Game Freak is indeed a horrible greedy developer, but they've included a feature that let's people directly indrrmo their entire business model and avoid buying second versions at no cost to them if they so desire, and, not only undermining the amount of $$$ they could really rake in if they were to truly force players to buy both versions if they want to see everything, while wasting valuable development resources on a completely unnecessary feature that doesn't actually do anything and is only costing them money in the process.
OR
And stick with me here, because I know this might sound crazy.
Are you ready for this?
Have you prepared yourself?
Option B:
It actually has been, and still is, just about encouraging kids to be social and interact with each other other and all that stuff after all.
Like, in all seriousness, Occam's razor people. Occam's razor.
But of course, this is a case where theres a minority of players (in this case, that minority being those who actually buy both versions just so they can get everything themselves without trading with another human being), who, despite being a minority (because, indeed, who would do that when you just have the option of, well, not, especially when you can't even fallback in some stupid imaginary rule if trafing-being-cheating or something, especially since even if you're trading just with yourself you're still trading all the same, it's, unavoidable, not just for exclusives but also trading-locked evolutions, the point being, you're trading regardless, so why's it matter if it's with yourself or someone else, but I digress), it's a minority of players who, despite being a minority, make a disproportionate amount of noise online to convince both everyone else and themselves that they're not a minority, but that's all it is in the end, noise.
But in any case, that's my spicy hot take on this whole two versions being a scam thing: fueled by a noisy minority who come dangerously close to realizing they're operating under a self-imposed challenge forabsoouabsolutely o reason at all and instead of either a.) Just making their peace with that because, indeed, theirs nothing actually wrong with playing the games that way and it's all cool and no big deal, nor should it be or b.) Realizing that yeah, this is all self-imposed and I'm not actually having fun with this/don't want to do it this way anymore, and so, just stopping doing that in that case they somehow end up at c.) Blane the developers for something they in no way make you do and call them scam-artists and the like for something you could easily be avoiding at any time by using an option they've built in to the games since the very beginning (and indeed, if you're going for everything or whatever, a tool you're going to be making use of in some form or another regardless), but nonetheless both stubbornly refusing while simultaneously blaming the developers, because reasons.
Goddamn is this topic exhausting....
