I think it would have been more of a thing if RSE had online support. If you were just playing through by yourself then it was just kind of meaningless, but the main point was when you linked with someone, their secret base was brought into your game, along with their current team. They would occupy that base, and you could battle them. Imagine if the game brought a smattering of bases from the internet? Even a gen later.

I know that GF built pokemon around the link cable, but I feel like they overestimated how many of my friends would be playing.