I'm one of those people who likes Pokemon for its setting, flavor, and species diversity rather than the games. Seriously, not many game worlds exist with over 10 species, let alone 600, and yet the series has done a good job at managing to mix them all together.
I thus like the games moreso as ideas that seem perfect for role playing rather than something that should actually be played zel. (I mean zel I was a Buizel/Floatzel for a very long time and I still take the form of other pokemon every now and then)
I'm quoting somebody else but it's been said that pokemon is an ideal "moral paradise", as in although there are questionable things in the game (i.e. making pokemon fight) it's always to make the pokemon happier, the bad guys are always defeated completely, the main character through hard work and motivation is able to accomplish their goal (championship).
That's prolly the main reason it appeals to me lol. Pokemon is a pretty perfect world where you're the hero & nothing goes wrong. I like it a lot for that