In regards to #1, absolutetely, what with Pokemon fangames being shutdown by Nintendo (As well as Pokemon Essentials too) making it not a "Pokemon" game but a monster-catching game is perfectly fine in my opinion. The most important thing would be the new name.
Real Monster Network
Radical Monster Nabbers
Ramshackle Mob Nexus

Renaming types would be fairly simple if such a thing is necessary: Fire-->Flame Water-->Aqua etc. and calling it attributes instead of types works.

For #2 the first thing I wanna know is what was said about which monsters?
Otherwise, keeping at least the concept of the Monsters in tact is the bare minimum that should be kept when making changes.

Glad to hear the shift from the Pokemon brand seems well received. With so many fangames being shut down these days, I think it's the safest bet for the project. Currently working on getting some new tilesets ready. I'll be sure to post from screenshots once I get everything squared away.

As for the changes, I kinda agree with the sentiment of keeping the original design intact. For the most part, the three suggestions that came up were either:

-A few name changes, for some that weren't easy to figure out by reading it.
-Stat/move changes, probably the thing I'm least worried about making changes with.
-Design changes. The main thing I'm hesitant to make changes to.

I have them as handwritten notes at the moment. I'll get them typed up into a document, and release it here later.

Alrighty, here's the document so far: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IPO9vzUWwO2aYXiBB-0f5w1v6t2skmtZ0WJ-3xy-aaI/edit?usp=sharing

Just to note, I've only put things brought up by multiple people so far. I might add a few more when I get the chance, if there's interest, but these make up the main points brought up. Looking back, I probably made it sound like there was more things brought up than there really are.

Let me know your thoughts. :)

I really don't like the idea of changing the name if the original names aren't garbage or don't make sense. (which at this point, they all aren't bad and make sense)

(Mine)Giving Caltrap/Tricalp a secondary ability of Arena Trap is cool with me.

For Chi-Yim, such a change would alter its concept; it being able to use its extreme control over its power to always hit with low-accuracy moves like Focus Blast or Thunder, and is a neat way to make a Special Attacking fighting type a thing.

(Mine) I'll admit panix is cute and clever, but omen doesn't really fit the concept. It is a tormented soul trapped in an urn for all eternity; Irritus(Void) + Torment= Irritormen.

Shredax: In this case, such a stat change wouldn't go against the concept as it was simply: Rock & Roll/Metal Pokemon (it in fact was considered to be a rock electric type or Steel/electric type, but the x4 weakness to ground made him not want to do so.) Either way, a bulky electric type with a lot of power would still fit the concept, I think.

We've had the debate over afropup before. It takes inspiration like Ludicolo or Hawlucha do. This time, as a groovy disco star.

Plugla: Oh brother, vanilite and trubbish... yeah yeah, unoriginal, it's just icecream blah blah just trash blah blah. Either way I think Plugla is clever, the only thing I don't like is the feet. They should be thin metal prongs to fit the concept more. And the evolution is brilliant, actually; a Totempole where the faces are Plugs; I mean we've all seen faces in sockets before, yeah? It's really nifty and quite hilarious, which a Pokemon can very well be and still be liked.

Changing a name just because you couldn't pronounce it... that is far from a compelling argument. Besides, you can pronounce it however the hell you want so long as the other party knows what you're talking about. In regards to Bologoo, good! A funny name can be a good name! Same with Littlefoot and Bigfoot, but I too find them to be a little on-the-nose. (Mine)Reneglade name change rejected(glade? as in an open field/meadow?); alternate proposal: Reneglaicier.

Also in regards to Gnomkin and Dwarkin... *those* are high stats? Yeah, they're pretty solid all around, but 4 base 80 stats just isn't that good, those are considered average at best. Now, if you're doing a sweeping stat change to lower the general threshold for the entire game to avoid huge power discrepancies within the available mons, that's another matter altogether.

I'll let the creator defend Heaven if they wish(If they're even still around?), and I don't care about the religious connotations, but the name doesn't make much sense at all.

Oh, so they like 5 different colored goofy blobs as a design but not a silly-faced totem pole socket. Either way, having the option to be more than a ditto clone is something I like the idea of, and the Skill Link thing is definitely a good one.

Yeah, the whole megaman resemblance with bitron was intentional, I believe.
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Of course Toribush is the fan favorite, he's the grass type starter. (biased)

Fair enough points.

Having not been around during the original submission phase, I wasn't actually sure how names were decided, although from the sounds of it, they were decided by the original creators. In that case, I suppose I'll leave the final say with names to the creators, assuming they're still around.

Reneglaicer sounds pretty good, if you're alright with it.

I kinda figured balance changes wouldn't be of much issue, but thought I'd ask either way. I didn't include small suggestions such as new moves. I've been keeping a changelog though, so that I can get the wiki up to date prior to the next release.

With us stepping away from Pokemon, it does open some interesting new opportunities too, such as adding/changing new moves into the game. Same could be said for abilities, but those are quite a bit more difficult to get working. I'll probably start by introducing some signature moves, the starters will get them for sure, but I'm open to suggestions.

Hmm...perhaps Shredax could be statistically slow, but have a signature move with priority? Or an ability that gives priority to electric or sound moves? Just some ideas.

It's a balance thing, though. If it's going to be bulky and fast, then its attacks will have to be relatively weak to compensate. You can't have everything, or that makes it broken. Besides, doesn't fast shredding have more to do with arm speed than foot movement? Having an ability that gives priority to electric would be unique and make it less of 'just another electric type'.

Just my take on it, though. Your say is what goes with your creation.