>>46819094ADDENDUM: It's officially coined in Romaji first, then turned into a Katakana form. Why? For their Japanese audience who can read Katakana far more than they could Romaji.
Of course as for WHY they make a Romaji name first to then convert into Katakana, I imagine it's a subtle way to get Japanese kids to get used to the very idea of Romaji. Like, so much about Japanese society has Romaji all over the place, so the idea that Romaji is spelled one way but Japanese sounds somewhat different is one I feel like they want Japanese kids to get used to.
It could also just be that Game Freak's designers realize that writing names in Romaji allows for greater creativity than the pallet of sounds that Japanese provides. Or at least being able to mix the two for greater stealth puns.
