>>34171744Yes. Your point?
When have you ever heard anyone claim Pidgey had an exciting design? It's memorable because it has been very present in the series for over 20 years now, but that's it.
Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against designs that are more down to earth. But when they are stuck between dragons, giant insects and weird psychic creatures they don't exactly stand out. Every gen has those but Johto has a larger proportion than other gens if only because it's a small and early generation.
Donphan is a clear example of not settling for just "It's a cartoony X", where they didn't just make an elephant but were also inspired by a tire. There's a world between something like it and Ledyba or Ursaring, and Johto mostly have the latter types.
And it doesn't help that the Kanto Pokemon were overwhelmingly present in Johto too; during the Elite 4 you face 26 Pokemon, and only 9 of those are new.