>>50349231They're only canonically "10" years old because that's who the show is allegedly marketed towards, well, OS was for 10 year olds, yeah.
But even the first episode was shounen as hell with the whole Ash vs Sparrows scene. Or should I say, "soft shounen" since this IS a kodomomuke after all.
Can confirm, as a kid you get way more turned on by the more mature girls so that's one of the secrets of the Pokegirl sex appeal.
10 year old boys watching Pokemon see a "10 year old" Pokegirl in the anime that looks, talks and acts like a 16 year old, that's a super effective sexual turn on and you know it.
Otherwise you never had a childhood)
Stuff like DP and XY can be appreciated by teenage audiences, what makes Pokemon anime peaks feel fulfilling is the super slow buildup and the scarcity of Pokemon League battles so the powerlevel creep feels natural.