that's how I'm reading it basically
you accept a quest that's "go to X area" so you go to that area
and that area is open
but the areas aren't connected
I'm totally fine with that, open worlds often end up being empty and lifeless anyways
Frankly I'm totally fine if it's not open world
An open-world Pokemon game done well would be mindblowingly good but I've seen enough open-world games fall completely flat that making open areas is a much safer bet and for the Pokemon Company I would honestly rather see them take the safer bet...