>>55097360Nothing can compare to the respect and prestige of getting a megas, it was essentially being elevated to the level of a super-saiyan. Paradoxes are literally just the "My Ancestor" meme, but at least Paradoxes as a group are so strong any Pokemon who go one was at least tangentially related to the level of power despite not being able to reach it themselves. .Meanwhile Regionals are just the originals Pokemon with a differnt backstory and a new coat of paint, conceptually intended as a lateral offshoot with no promise of extra power and and just as easily end up being worse weaker than the orignal, and even if they are stronger that just makes the originals look lamer in comparison.
Of course, there's the option of getting an regular evo, but some Pokémon just don't lend themselves to evolving further
Then there's the far less flashy option but most sensible option of just buffing the original shitmon, but Game Freak is weirdly reluctant to do that