Yes! YES! THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! Pokemon using their front-facing sprites, with one flipped horizontally so they stare each other down like fighting game characters, both with angles cheated towards the camera just enough to enhance their appeal. Beams and fireballs that zoom across the screen, physical attacks that rocket your foe towards the enemy, that's how it's done! Hand-drawing standing animations, one physical and one special attack animation, and one fainting animation for 800ish-900ish Pokemon would still be a colossal undertaking. But not as colossal as it would be if each Pokemon needed a unique set of animations for being on the player's side facing away from the camera. If I had the infinite budget of a billion dollar company and all the time in the world to make Pokemon the best it can be, I'd have Pokemon animated better than the GBA Fire Emblem games. High-bit 2D sprites in a 3D world, like Dragon Quest 9 for the DS but better.