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The series was still figuring itself out for lack of an established formula (in itself and the whole IP) and sufficient source material to adapt more straightforwardly, so it got to fill in the gaps in and characterize the Pokemon in its own way, just as all of the earliest Pokemon media did. That came with its own pitfalls, I don't think a lot of people deliberately going through the show will rank the early stuff best for those reasons and it is certainly just as stupid as it's follow-ups, but it is something Kanto and Orange League have that say, Advance Generation onward never could.