>>58268724They had their own flavors of the same idea. Pic related. And even if the instruction manuals didn't exist at all, everything in the games themselves is about mystery and wonder and exploring a frontier. The original guy (his name escapes me) flat out said Pokemon was based on his memories of bug collecting as a kid. The first things they think about are ecological niche; every Pokemon 'eats' something. They even give you their footprints/tracks in their Pokedex entries, and you can replay their vocal calls.
