>>52345027You could argue that 3/4 of these could've already been Pokémon but the dex entry for the snail specifically mentions "the king" as if it could be the only one we know about. Not making it far fetched that they all became Pokémon after being "normal" gifts first and foremost.
Also, as far as i remember, history class taught they were normal gifts and then the teacher sends you on the quest when it turns out those are actually Pokémon now.