Reminder that it doesn't matter if a Pokemon is a "character with a theme", "literally my mom's whatever", or anything in between so long as the design is good.
It's petty to automatically shun any one kind of design philosophy because Pokemon designs should be judged on an individual basis and there are good and bad examples of each.
"Forced personality" is a non-issue because you're free to imagine/roleplay your Pokemon however you see fit despite Gamefreak saying it "should" be this way. Don't listen to Gamefreak; You're better than that. "It doesn't make sense as a wild creature" is the most agreeable point, but it's excusable since the entire series is built on things that aren't explainable or need to have sense be drilled into it to be enjoyed.
Again, judge a Pokemon on an individual basis, not on some nonexistent notion of what a Pokemon "should" look or be like.