>>36846701Pokemon are sentient but they aren't sapient, that's the way I've always understood it.
They are self-aware and can feel and think (look at Alakazam and its ludicrous intelligence), but require a human's advanced wisdom to excel.
Look at gorillas--incredibly intelligent animals, but they need a human to teach them to use that intelligence because the gorilla will never ask questions in a natural state.
Put another way, observe how Pokemon in the wild will just fire off moves at random in battle. For all its intelligence, a wild Pokemon will not be able to formulate a true strategy on its own--it goes off of blind instinct instead.
That is why humans and Pokemon need each other: both creatures working in tandem can rise above the natural state far greater than nature ever intended.
