Pokémon fans had to set the bar waaaay below the minimum to justify Game Freak rushing kusoge every other day, so the only thing that matters for them at the end of the day is the game being "fun", my dopamine receptors got higher, therefore it's good. Literal rats pushing the red button to get cheese. It's no surprise that with such superfluous merits Palworld would succeed, who cares it's an asset flip, who cares if the owner supports AI or something, who cares! It's fun, and it actually beats recent Pokémon games in that regard by milestone, therefore it's meaningful! You all bashed other attempts with actual creative merit and artistic prowess in its gameplay, like Yokai Watch and Dragon Quest Monsters, as mere "clones trying to pile in the money", so now you're getting beaten by your own terms, literally copying Pokémon this time, cause there is no reality where Game Freak would be left undisputed when the demand for something with at least a little bit of polish is so high, regardless of what it actually entails to. Enjoy what you turned the game industry to, you asked for it!