Been looking into the old field test combat system that used to exist and it's kind of crazy how much better it sounds than what we got
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/4ep85j/report_gyms_are_now_enabled_in_the_pokemon_go/
So, here's some highlights:
* you used to have a stamina bar that would be depleted by attacking or dodging, restored over time (20% per second) and by getting hit. Charged attacks cost 50% of your bar.
* enemy attacks were telegraphed by a crosshair locking onto your pokemon so you could tell fairly accurately when it was about to strike and decide whether to dodge or attack
* Certain attacks were 'Area of Effect' and couldn't be dodged, but there's hints that a jump option was going to be included specifically to avoid them instead.
Looking at these, the lengthy hold and startup animations on the charged attacks in the current system make more sense as they would've been less of a handicap in ye olde system.
Stamina (the combat stamina mentioned above, not to be confused with the stamina stat on pokemon that determines their maximum health... though it used to effect this stuff
) looks like it was changed into the energy system we have now which is exclusively used for special attacks.(hence why you can dodge and spam quick attacks infinitely now)
edit: oh wow... this game has changed a lot. Apparently it used to have status effects and the berries to cure them, plus it even had evolution stones that you collected shards of by battling wild pokemon. And this was seperate from candies
http://nintendowire.com/blog/2016/03/29/pokemon-go-details-revealed-field-tests/