>>40544529The NATIONAL dex was cut, not the regional one.
The Rayquaza from your example IS the one caught in the previous game, there's still only one
until you factor in trading with other players, I suppose, but canonwise there's only one MC, so eh.Cutting the national dex would be more like if all Canadian geese suddenly disappeared outside of Canada, and all attempts at getting them to leave Canada fails in one way or another.
>>40544542I hate to be that guy, but yeah, the anime isn't canon to the games and the games aren't canon to the anime, outside of the two or three times they were.
Heck, it took them a couple seasons of the anime to figure out what Heracross looks like, and they still haven't figured out that the black markings around Lopunny eyes aren't actually part of them.