>>39692300Not every Pokémon. They had a technical limitation of 256 index spots, and that is a non-negotiable hardware aspect. The next step up is 65536, and every time a Pokémon got referenced, it would take two bytes instead of one, which is a huge waste of space in a text-heavy JRPG. Unown's forms are a unique case because they don't count as separate Pokémon. And of those 256 index spots, spots 0 and 255 are typically not meant to be used. 151 Pokémon were already present, so that left up to 103 Pokémon spots. Game Freak decided it would be best for there to be 100 new Pokémon. It's a marketable number and it's simple to remember 251 after 151. And since Celebi wasn't formally revealed, they could market 250 like they did with 150 and add the 1 down the line.
They removed so many baby Pokémon because there were too many goddamn baby Pokémon. Pichu, Cleffa, and Igglybuff were obvious keepers since they were a trio for a while and were always mascots. Togepi was necessary since it had appeared in the anime. Tyrogue connected Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan and reduced the need to have a choice in every game when you only needed to find Tyrogue. Smoochum, Elekid, and Magby were the final keepers because they too were from a Gen I trio. Certain baby Pokémon like Mikon and Peticorn were originally made as first stage Pokémon in Gen I but were ultimately scrapped. That's because they were seen as ultimately unnecessary, and that's still true. Later baby Pokémon have played mascot roles, with the potential exceptions of Budew, Mantyke, and Chingling. Even look at the anime. May had Munchlax. Brock had Bonsly and Happiny. James had Mime Jr., and with a Chimecho, he probably could worked Chingling in somehow with his Chinchou. Riolu evolves to Lucario. And even if Mantyke didn't get a big role in the TV anime, it was still featured in the Manaphy movie as one of the early Gen IV reveals.
