> Its got all the reads, bluffs, random chance, meta-gaming, math and strategy, and none of the gambling.

The gambling is the most important part, it's balancing between risk and concealing the signal you're sending. Bridge would be another option with a similar problem to be solved, but I don't think pokémon has any of that.

edit: also, the last thing you want to do is get your kids addicted to a pay-to-win game. It's child exploitation.