it's been a common sentiment in my local group too, but amidst these fears i feel it's important to remember that pokemon co is still going to maintain ultimate control over the game.

From my point of view it already damaged it. Every time i mention pokemon to anyone they think i mean pogo instead of the literal 20 or 30 or how many there are now games. Also if you live next to a larger metro area counter to what a lot of people say, it is kinda fun to log on for a few mins each day and a catch a few mons. Also, as a pretty serious pokemon collector, its much easier to get rare mons in pogo compared to mainline games.