>>46813283Seconding this. Pokemon design goes concept > appearance > name and never strays from that order. Pikachu wasn't designed to be a mascot but ended up being chosen as one due to how well its simple design worked for marketing. But it wasn't as blabd as an undetailed stick figure either. Pikachu's limbs are stylized mouse appendages and while it's not always apparent which rodent it is it's clear it's supposed to be some creature similar to one.
But you can also overdesign something too. Take this Ocelot fakemon from Deviantart and compare it to Liepard. See how much more busy the spots are and how they distract from the design? And why does the shiny look worse than Umbreon? Even Ultra Beasts with their more alien designs only look out of place at first glance. They mostly have small or distorted/incomplete faces but their patterning has consistency and near symmetry. You could make something asymmetrical but you'd have to so a lot of work to make anything look as good as Gill from Street Fighter for example.
And remember Pokemon aren't just about being cute or funny even if they are jokes. During the Mario Galaxy design process there was frustration as the new blood tried to draw Mario enemies as explicitly cute in a way that didn't fit in with the universe. And there's reasons why betamon got axed. Keep all that in consideration.
