What I'm more curious about is what Type:Null will say in the anime.
Gen I barely had a plot and none of these elements are anything more than background elements, many of which have tropes more in line with those found in JRPGs i.e. a character trapped in a different body being played off for comedy, an area whose design contrasts with the more lighthearted ones found elsewhere in the game, etc., that don't contribute to the plot in any meaningful manner. Heck, you could skip over the info in the Pokémon Mansion that hints at experiments both fruitful and futile that took place there.
It depends on whether you consider "plot" and the overall narrative to be the same thing, but I would say that across Gen1 and 2 (since it's all part of the same "plot") that it had a fairly great plot, and even if you don't include gen 2 it's definitely solid. I love every generation of Pokemon but plot has never been a strong point, and simply raising the metaphysical sakes in each game does not automatically equal a better plot. I would say that Gen 1 and 2 have superior plots to Gen 3, 4 and 6. Gen 5 I wouldn't say is "better" per se but it's definitely the best crafted story of the series.
Gen 1 is the story of a young kid trying to become champion, racing against his rival who is always one step ahead of him and stopping an evil crime organisation on the way. Team Rocket actually commits crimes surprisingly enough and they aren't removed from the game world in the way that later Teams would be. Sure you can skip the Pokemon Mansion but that's what's so great about Gen 1 and 2. The games let you explore and learn more about the world of your own volition. There is a huge difference in game aesthetic between discovering something and being told something.
Videos released even today support this fact in terms of game storytelling. Show, Don't Tell. You have your Mechanics antagonist aka Blue who actually defeats you at your goal of becoming champion (i.e gets their first) and you have your Narrative Antagonist aka Giovanni who is a force of evil in the world and as far as characters in older pokemon games go is somewhat well developed.
Gen 2 is a true sequel. It's 3 years later, Team Rocket is trying desperately to recover but without a leader they just aren't what they used to be. They resort to more desperate measures like forcibly evolving pokemon to make up for their lack of leadership. Think of how cruel that is, it's not much short of indoctrination, or starving dogs to make them more ferocious. Your rival is the son of Giovanni and is a true jerk. He's a bad person, he steals a pokemon and is disgusted by the idea of weakness. He's probably one of the best developed rivals in all of the games and his arc actually shows growth. Team Rocket in both games are truly integrated into the world of the games. They feel like a part of the universe. They affect it and in turn affect you, the player.
All Teams in all games are arbitrary obstacles. Hell, all obstacles in Pokemon are arbitrary or we'd just level up and go fight the E4, but Gen 1 and 2 do the best job of making them not feel arbitrary. Snorlax blocking your path? Need to wake it up. You explore and find you need a pokeflute, cool. Mr Fuji has it? Sweet. Oh no, Mr Fuji has been kidnapped, better go sort that out. Exploration is a main theme of the game and it is built right into the design of Team Rocket and how you encounter them.
Gen 3, 4 and 6 are very much "Oh no. They are about to end the world. You! Player! Go Stop Them!" It's very ham-fisted and not at all subtle. At least Gen 5 has a moral ambiguity to it and real questions it asks of the player.
We already had a generation of main games pandering towards Gen I nostalgia/design. It's called X/Y. Give it a rest for the series 20th anniversary.
What? No. Gen 5 has more in common with Gen 1 than XY do. Many Gen 5's designs are very clearly intended to be reflections of the original Kanto pokemon.
Like... What on earth? XY are very clearly their own thing.
