>>49386506It's a reflection of the fact the early Indigo League was a lot more amateur, slimy and rather incompetent at its job as a whole, between Gym Leaders that outright gave out badges or refused challengers completely, nullifying the point of the League Challenge. Even the roots of the system itself had its flaws, remember that despite being interrupted by an attack from the extremely notorious local mafia/yakuza gang, the league INSISTED that those affected had to proceed with their scheduled matches, KNOWING them and their Pokemon wouldn't be in the best of condition. In similar vein, they were perfectly OK with letting a referee consider a sleeping Pokemon a KO'd Pokemon despite that being absolute bullshit henceforth.
After OS, they started to get their shit together and match up to the standards of other regions, which is now finally reflected throughout the modern iterations of the anime.
