I feel like there would be game updates that would release more and more Pokémon, I was planning on only going up to gen 3 but new relases would be a serious plot point because that means there are new species for our heroes and possibly villains to deal with.
Japan is actually incredibly addicted to these things, I've been there, I know that it would at least be extremely popular among high school and college aged people. The work force has a lot less time on their hands so I can't really speak for them, they work almost nonstop.