>>46984345Taking "x region" pokemon as meaning pokemon native to that region, whether or not this is true basically comes down to if the safari zone is more like a nature preserve where the pokemon that can't be found in the rest of the region are still indigenous to there or if pokemon that can't be found in the rest of the region but are in the safari zone are imported and not native.
I went to Fire Red and talked to just about everyone in Fuchsia and read all the signs, and found no one mentioning the pokemon there as exotic, just rare. I also went to Emerald and found the same at Hoenn's safari zone, except the npc at the counter said
"Here, you may witness many kinds of POKèMON rarely seen in HOENN. And, you'll see them in their wild, untamed state in natural habitats."
For clarity, "many kinds of pokemon rarely seen in Hoenn" must refer to the rare pokemon in the zone, and not something like the Oddish and Magikarps. It could be taken as the pokemon being able to be seen elsewhere in Hoenn since they're just "rare", but because of game mechanics you just see them in the safari zone. It could also be taken as trainers from other regions like the one in Lilycove bringing their non-native pokemon or something similar. The second part of the quote seems like it blatantly refutes much of the notion of pokemon introduced in a gen not being native to the region though, at least in Hoenn, but I guess it could also be taken as meaning no more than the pokemon being in a wild environment. It's actually weird that the npc would mention them being in natural habitats, would seem to imply that those rare pokemon can't be seen in the wild anywhere else in Hoenn, making them likely imported. Before I hit character limit I want to sneak in that the anime portrays starters being caught in the wild.
