If you ask me, the purpose of baby pokemon is to provide accessibility to Pokemon whose strength or general weirdness would make them poor fits to be available themselves in the early areas of the game, which as
>>34732529 says, Gamefreak sometimes doesn't capitalize on properly.
Putting Magmar, for example, on the third route of the game may throw off balance, not just by being an egregiously strong Pokemon compared to most early fare, but because if the player catches one that early, its stats just put it at an advantage over the local rodents and birds and whatnot. But a weak Magby would work just swell, and will evolve into a Magmar later. Another example is for wild Snorlax stomping around to be a bizarre sight, but running into voracious Munchlax foraging on the trail is much more appropriate.
In that respect, the only Pokemon that I don't think are necessary are Pichu, Cleffa, and Igglybuff, but even then, I still like them. Azurill's the one that I find weird, especially with how it's Normal type instead of Water.
What's also weird to me is how there's all these weird Incenses or weird breeding rules to follow in order to get baby Pokemon. I feel like the system should be streamlined to just make them the standard base form of the Pokemon evolution line.
