>>45103071>Are they canonically able to reach human intelligence?We don't know exactly, as we've never had a Gardevoir speak in the anime. We have had a small (possibly even a baby/child) Ralts speak using telepathy in the anime before which implies that they could at some level have something like a human intelligence. Unfortunately we don't have specifics beyond that with this. Kirlia's dex entry states it has a "Highly Developed Brain" but as to exactly what that's being compared to, I couldn't tell you. Its possible its highly developed in terms of Pokemon or it just might be highly developed in terms of Humans, we don't really know.
The Ralts lines intelligence is hard to pin down due to it not really showing that much in the show or games.
>Can they speak? Yes, telepathically (confirmed) and if you believe that Meowth learning how to talk means others could as well, they could also learn how to talk just as he did.
>Or does GF/the anime shy away from that because of the implications that come with that regarding they are still "owned" and "trained" by their masters?This, imo is the reason why we don't have a lot of talking Pokemon in the first place, they probably have some rules they gotta follow when it comes to this anyways. But we've seen it a few times, but they are usually wild or legendary Pokemon.
