>>28878753>Also the anime is always an after thought. It doesn't affect the games.Do you think it's a coincidence that Chespin, Braixen and Greninja were the three most positively received forms in the fandom out of all nine G6 starter forms early on, and then the same specific Pokémon went on to become major stars of the anime with more screen time than Frogadier, Chesnaught and the rest of the less popular bunch? They were designed with extra appeal for anime in the first place.
If GameFreak were designing purely for the games they'd apply max appeal to the final evolution forms, the ones players will be using the longest. But producers clearly wanted diverse starter cast for the anime (not just the final forms), so GF were told to refine the designs of those particular NFEs that were supposed to have major anime roles. The anime has been affecting the games heavily for many generations, but its influence is especially obvious now.
