>>12803178It's more stockholm syndrome (inherent of all captured pokemon) and ruthless training. He has no intention to help, bond with, or make a good life for his pokemon as others do. Yes, they respect him, but they'd be better off with, and would still respect, a trainer who's just as skilled who treats pokemon right.
Remember, stats and calculations don't really exist in the anime, where all pokemon are pretty much equal in power
