>>44418302>>44418287Here's the thing, and it doesn't matter regardless of sequel or generation
From a purely gameplay and balance perspective, the new Johto Pokemon are far too underpowered to warrant being as rare as they are in the games. Pokemon like Snubbull, Sneasel, Heracross, and Murkrow were marketed as the flagship Johto Pokemon and yet they are way too rare to warrant actual usage in game; and that's completely disregarding how little they're used throughout the region. It would make much more sense for the weaker and diverse Johto Pokemon to be at the forefront of the beginning of the games rather than near the end or missable without any of the trainers using them either. Murkrow, Houndour, and Slugma aren't even found in Johto at all and every remake of Kanto has since proven they don't care to add them in as natives either. Even at a marketing standpoint it doesn't make sense to have Johto be comprised of more of the same. If Kanto Pokemon were less prevalent it would only have made seeing Lance's Dragonite/Aerodactyl/Charizard infinitely more interesting as the climax and Kanto would be the opportunity to reminisce on that. Gold and Silver were sequels and new games that marketed themselves on having over 100 new Pokemon. That fact is undeniable, so why shouldn't they have put them in the forefront?
Gold and Silver suffer from the same problem Sword and Shield has in that it feels like they tried to stuff in way too many Pokemon and it overshadows what's actually new. Similarly, it doesn't help that every relevant character uses Pokemon from Kanto when there are better equivalent options like Clobbopus for Bea or Heracross for Bugsy
