Acetic

These changes fix my biggest issues with the game. I've been wanting to do repeat playthroughs while I wait for the next episode, but every time I do I remember how tedious it was to grind up those lategame teams and get discouraged... I really do appreciate that you're making this distinction between difficulty and grinding time investment. This should be a massive improvement, and will encourage a lot more experimentation since you aren't as "locked in" to a set of lategame Pokemon.

I love the color palette of the town. It's super cozy

neato, looks good

These optimization posts are always super interesting to me as an aspiring computer scientist. Love it! Is it possible to (somewhat easily) apply some of these Essentials engine changes to other fangames? Pokemon Insurgence, for example, would likely benefit greatly from the work you've done here.