The game is not vanishing completely. A library feature lets players keep their records, Holowear, and achievements visible even after the servers go dark. But viewing your trophy case is not the same as playing the match that earned it. That is the actual gap people feel with live-service games. The memory can be preserved, the relationship cannot. You can still see the rank you climbed to, you just cannot climb it with the same people again. Five years is long enough to build real friendships inside a game. The Pokemon survive the shutdown. The team you played with might not find each other again.