>>58223402Not to mention Pokémon the characters would obtain like May's Skitty. There's a reason why some Pokémon just wouldn't evolve. They existed to be perpetually marketed as a cute Pokémon. Look at Pokémon Center artwork from throughout the years, or artwork for receiving events at theaters. The Pokémon present have a lot of overlap with the Pokémon used by the main characters. Piplup remained Piplup not for any real story reason, but because it was more marketable as Piplup. Axew wasn't allowed to evolve throughout the entirety of BW despite the fact that its dream was to become a Haxorus, because its marketability as a mascot was more important.
Dawn had a Pachirisu.
Iris had an Emolga.
Bonnie had a Dedenne.
Sophocles had a Togedemaru.
Team Rocket had a Morpeko.
Not to mention that everyone's parties tended to be based around the current games. May gets her Torchic, Wurmple, and Skitty because they're early Ruby and Sapphire Pokémon, and then she gets a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Eevee because they're big Kanto Pokémon right in time for FRLG. Then she gets a Munchlax because the anime was promoting Diamond and Pearl for over 2 years, almost as long as it was promoting Gold and Silver. And of course Eevee ended up being more DP promotion in the long run when she returned with a Glaceon, just like how the Aipom that followed Ash was building up to Ambipom. Ash didn't simply catch a Gliscor randomly. It was a Gen II Pokémon that evolved into a Gen IV Pokémon. Just like how Dawn's Togekiss covered Gen II and IV, or how she got a Cyndaquil and Ash's Cyndaquil randomly evolved into Quilava hundreds of episodes later, because HGSS.
