Just discovered the Pokemon USUM sidequest of Kagetora and The Eeveelution Users and it reminded me of how the game -while not perfect- did give us pretty cool side storylines/small scenes.
There's that quest but also that scene with the old woman and her dead husband's machamp, the weird alien guy, the ghost taken away by a Drifloon etc.
It's like how there's that one random trans trainer in XY, the old legends in DP, and so on. These things might not be the main focus and they can be missed by players who focus on the catching/battling aspect; but are still welcomed nonetheless.
While they understandably can't make the game fully centered on these kind of things, I feel like it's a good proof of them taking into account the older fanbase while also not treating kids like idiots.
Though it does make it a bit sad that people only associate "making adult version of Pokémon" with "making it as edgy as possible" or "oh, there's that trainer duo with Onix and Cloyster" when the games already have a decent amount of materials that show how it can be done.
Being all public doesn't mean you can't imply or tackle some themes better understood by the older part of your audience. It always has been the strength of a lot of animated movies or accessible video games, and I wish more people could understand that.