B/W was the best Pokemon games and the fact so many people got pissy at new material with a solid story and some of the best music to this day, tells me Pokemon fans don’t know what a good game is.
Same for Sword/Shield being one of the top sellers.
Pokemon Black/White 1 & 2 are as close to that as you want. Great story, amazing songs that i still hum to this day, and the designs are as solid as Gen 1 and 2.