>>45935774I used to complain about Kanto pandering but I stopped after having a bit of an epiphany. Each series is always going to give preferential treatment to its roots. I've not going to argue for it stupidly like yawnfag who says nonsense like "durr Sonic games having Green Hill Zone is the same thing" but there's clear examples of other series doing this. Digimon cares a lot about its first season. The Mandalorian has some weird CGI Luke Skywalker. Pokemon struck gold with the original 151 and naturally since it has so many marketable designs it's going to be pushed a lot. Look at Charizard, one of the most popular starters and might be Ash's most popular pokemon, that's why it's shilled so hard these days. It's an inevitability I've accepted and the series can't risk to stop it, part of being the number one franchise is staying the number one franchise.
Now the gameplay problems you bring up are true. Johto is on the weaker side when it comes to trainer battles, things could have better. I don't really think it's as gamebreaking as people like to exaggerate. All regions could have better battles.
