First of all, huzzah for E16! It made my week, I love how much content we got, it was so worth the wait.
But, I was very surprised to see trading implemented with no requirements in a game that has thus far been meticulously balanced as to its difficulty, going as far as axing previously available Pokemon that were deemed too powerful. And now, within five minutes of starting the game, anyone can acquire a Torchic, Ralts or Eevee? Don't tell me that it's hard; I got all of them in like 15 wondertrades.
I understand that it's the player's own potential choice to ruin their fun, but still, thus far Reborn has not allowed players to do that. Some people (such as myself hahaha..aahha...ha...) have little willpower to spare when it comes to resisting gambling like Wondertrade and I know that if I had started the game now, I'd spend a good while (hours) until I got what I wanted, rendering the limited choice of Pokemon in-game irrelevant. Hell, I did exactly that when playing Pokemon Uranium. I couldn't resist. Others might be driven to trade for "better" Pokemon when frustrated by a particularly tough battle, instead of trying different strategies with what they already have available. Or to just trade for that elusive event 'mon instead of hunting it down.
I knew online was coming, but earlier I had expected that it would be accessible only past a certain amount of badges, or even in post-game -- it wouldn't surprise me. So if I may ask, why was this choice made? And what do y'all fellow players think about this?