>>50481682Simple really. People didn’t mind the type of pandering they were getting compared to other games. People generally look at what they’re given before deciding how they feel about it.This even applies to Kanto being referenced in and of itself despite Kanto pandering being the generally agreed upon most obnoxious form of pokemon pandering.
All Alola had was fluff text, new forms of underused kanto pokemon, some optional stuff, some postgame stuff, and having Charizard as a fly replacement. Of those, the fluff text was the worst. Mostly because it was the most obnoxious form of reference present due to being forced to interact with it.
Nobody got asshurt that exeggutor and marowak got new forms despite being Kanto. Nobody was crying over the new form of raichu or even mew getting unique z-moves. Those pokemon had gotten barely anything over the years despite being Kanto. If anything, people were only disgruntled that other gens didn’t get the same treatment. That’s less obnoxious than disliking the special treatment on top of disliking the popular pokemon that had gotten it. People didn’t really complain about the individual pokemon chosen like in other cases. They only complain while grouping them into a nebulous “Kanto” identity.
The gym and pikachu valley were booth egregious, but both were optional/ only in a second version. Less people had to interact with them, and most people were more angry about them being wasted resources.
