>>51089340Yes, young man, but can happen at the same time. It's why I make the emphasize on Pokémon being fantastical and fictional, they're not meant to mirror the real thing but they still exist within the concept of what a critter is. Even so talking Pokémon are very rare in the series to the point that in the games Meowth simply doesn't talk even when that's central to his character in the anime which is very telling on how the series sits on talking Pokémon. And the product approval guide spells it out, Pokémon don't usually talk except under special circumstances which usually manifest in special storylines. This means that the viewer very rarely sees Pokémon communicate and express themselves as people outside of Meowth in the anime, and again this is gone in the games. It contributes to the dehumanization of Pokémon and the people who run this series are aware of it as it's very much written so in the product guide.
That aside Pokémon can do all those things and still be fantastical critters verily so because the series still invokes behaviors and imagery associated with real critters in our world thus tying both concepts and anchoring them down.
It's like the example of what a person is as a concept, people in media can come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with fantastical abilities or not because the context they're from presents them as such. In Pokémon the Pokémon very much exist within the boundaries of what a critter is, the natural fauna of their universe and the series makers go an extra step to portray them doing actions and things with them that people are familiar with in the real world, this being domesticated and wild animals in our world, the so-called "real animals" Mr. Shudo and the guide often use to contrast with Pokémon.
It must be repeated that people are very much aware of this context even if they can't explain it. The series does portray Pokémon as fantastical but it also cleverly arranges them into the familiar.
