We're now in a post Gen 7 world, and the fanbase has changed. We're now all very apprihensive at any potential Kanto pandering, and sometimes find it when it isn't really there in this game. For example, most of the cut Pokémon on release are from Kanto, with even some fan favorites like Starmie, Jigglypuff, and Poliwhirl getting booted for now (RIP Magnezone, I hope that you're in the expansion). Galarian Forms are now from many generarions, and the same goes for G-Max forms. There's still some Kanto pandering, of course. A lot of G-Max forms are admittedly from Kanto, and they marketed the Kanto Galarian forms the most out of all the Galarian forms in the buildup to release, and then there's Leon's famous G-Max Charizard. Indeed, Charizard is the only traditional starter from past games to return here, and it has a brand spankin' new G-Max form, and is Leon's unbeatable ace. Some people cry foul, but the way I see it, it's just that Charizard was the most popular Pokémon for a loooong time, so of course GF is gonna pay attention to it. Same reason why they made Eevee the second mascot. Honestly, expect Greninja pandering in the upcoming years. All in all, SwSh has the third least amout of Gen 1 pandering overall, beat by Gen 4 and Gen 5. At least you can't fight Red or go to Kanto. Weirdly, Unova gets pandered to the most this gen, with a large chunk of Pokémon returning, having the largest amount of Galarian forms, and being the only gen aside from Gen 1 and Gen 8 to have a G-Max form.