Indeed. The Pokemon franchise is aimed at children. Besides whatever probable laziness there is in adding some story depth or whatever, it's kept simple for the kids an. Which kind of sucks for those of us who have grown up in the 10 years since the game started and come to expect more. Unlike some of Nintendo's other franchises which are 'kid-friendly' but palatable for more mature folks, the Pokemon folks don't seem to be concerned with broadening their target age. Some of us have just outgrown Pokemon.

My Pearl gamesave is still stuck on the doorstep of the Elite 4, because I really don't feel like going back and grinding to an appropriate level to take them on. I did enjoy it up until that point though, so I can't say I've completely graduated from Pokemon myself.

As for 'making something different', they do have some spin-off games. The downside to that is that they are still aimed at kids and probably won't attract any Pokemon Graduates.