>>35769179>>35769338It can be explained as both tradition and utility. Magnemite and Magneton in particular have been used as a Pokemon of war for over three thousand years and probably jumpstarted some trends in fighting itself, and it isn't hard to see why: they're easy to procure if you know where to find something, easy to evolve in a pinch (just stick three together), virtually immune to most man-portable weaponry barring weirdo enchanted weapons that might as well be myths until the invention of the anti-materiel rifle, obedient, able to counter things that would potentially be one-mon armies otherwise like Skarmory and Gyarados, and able to zap a man something nasty - even if not enough to kill them, enough to let their trainer or a more lethal Pokemon to finish the job. They're the Pokemon equivalent of a gun.
Modern tanks in the Pokemon world are probably insulated just to prevent the occupants from being fried by electric attacks that would be as or more common than bullets themselves, and figuring out how not to be electrocuted being a major driver of how battles are fought.
