>>52411931That's how the series operates since the beginning. This is a big reason Takeshi Shudo's blog is a treasure trove when it comes to the early development of the series. Here's the section where he mentions Pokémon food which is the kible in the screencap. Notice that he never mentions it's a gag.
People fail to conceptualize what the series builds Pokémon as. Mr. Mime isn't an elf, it's a Pokémon just like Pikachu and as I've said before the series doesn't make distinctions based off apperance. Mr. Mime isn't any more of a person than Pikachu is. Indeed if you play the Mr. Mime quest in Legends of Arceus the human characters speak of it like they're talking about a dog.
