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It's a shift in design philosophy. Older Pokémon, like Typhlosion here, were designed to be seen as sprites, since it looks good in a static pose. Some newer Pokémon, like Toucannon, Pyukumuku, and Passimian were designed to be animated models, since making them sprites would deprive them of some design details, like Toucannon's beak and Pyukumuku's guts.
