>>49947931No, I don't think that's the case. Even as far back as Gen I Oak said Pokémon are kept as pets, and the term is present in the Japanese version as well. The 1996 guide even straight up says Pokémon are kept as pets that replace cats and dogs, there is no subtlety there it straight up says it. And while it is an early document, somethings mentioned there no longer apply, that statement still rings true even to this day.
Pokémon doesn't need to use the P word because it conveys that message in other less direct, but *not* subtle ways, such as this scene right here.
>>49941488What *exactly* is it meant to evoke? I'm 99.9% it's trying to evoke the image of pets eating food. It doesn't need to tell us directly that these are pets like cats and dogs because they do so via visuals. Like, for example, a well dressed man eating caviar. Most people get the memo that he represents a rich person because caviar is rich people food and he's dressed well, no need to tell us he is a rich man. Visuals are also an important aspect in getting points across in media.
I'm also aware of the line change in LGPE but at the same time the following gen gave us camp which has Pokémon toys being straight up replicas of real toys for cats and dogs as well as literally playing fetch with your Pokémon. I don't need to repost a video showing Pokémon playing fetch with their owners and a video of real dogs doing the same, their behaviors mirror one another, it's not a coincidence. You get the feeling that you're interacting with a pet in arceus especially given the way Pokémon are portrayed even if the interactions are simple. Verily some of the earliest Pokémon-player interactions had Pokémon chewing on the player's shoes, eating grass, barking and some other things in HGSS, that's how a dog behaves, or more broadly a *pet* behaves. I have no doubt gen 9 is going to continue building up on that. It's not a coincidence Pokémon are portrayed as being dog like.
