evkl said:1 and 3 are so wrong, it's ridiculous.
1: The point of the game is to battle. That's what you do. The reason it isn't stated as such is because the market can't afford to hear "DO BATTLE" from a game targeted at young kids, or there'll be a huge societal backlash. Nonetheless, that's what you do the entire game. Competitive battling is playing against someone with some modium of talent--something the computer AI cannot have in PKMN.
3: The game is not a challenge. Period. The AI is awful; the opposing trainers, a joke.
As for contests, that's not what the game is truly about, just like breeding isn't what the game is truly about. The game is about battling.
A-ha...the Smogon comment got to you, ja?
Well, at any rate...the crux of the Pokemon experience is undeniably battling...very true. However, one thing remains unchanged: it's a game. It's meant to entertain, and believe it or not, that doesn't always mean using the cheapest or most powerful Pokemon, guy. It doesn't even mean that you have to use the mediocre Pokemon. I have the most fun using my favorites, despite their use in battle on the whole, and I'm sure many people would agree with me.
I know people like you probably view Pokemon as drones, with each drone having a specialty; you don't like to focus on a Pokemon's originality or uniqueness. There's the Blissey drone, specializing in HP and Special Defense, and the Metagross drone, specializing in Attack and Defense. You don't use a Pokemon because you think it looks interesting, like its character specifics or otherwise...you use it because you like its stats, and its stats alone. You want it for its ability to battle, and solely for that reason. Personally, I use Pokemon I think look cool, would be fun to raise due to moveset/etc or otherwise generally like. Sure, some have good stats, some have bad, but it's a fun experience. Too many people try to turn something as simple as Pokemon into some extreme form of competition, wasting their lives to find that perfect combination of whatever, just so that little win/loss total tilts for the gain. Whatever.
As for the game's AI...people have ways of making the climb to success in battle more difficult. Personally, I've made it a tougher experience by teaching my Pokemon weaker moves and not going with the best Nature I can find. Take a Brave Pelipper into the E4 sometime...it's a fun experience.