>>54803835I think it's perfectly reasonable to say Hoenn or Unova take the crown just as much. Gens 3-5 are that sweet spot of Pokemon as a titanic brand that needs to heavily regulate itself while also being interested in expansion. There is just an unusual irony in Hoenn and Unova's attempts to soft reboot, in that they work to reestablish the same foundational identity of Pokemon. Thus the assertion that they are Kantonian in spirit without necessarily being Kanto pandering. Sinnoh is just interesting in that it greatly expands the depth of Pokemon's world in a weird new way while also clearly feeling like a sequel to the previous generations. That's just the benefit of Sinnoh's historic vibe.
Actually, if Hoenn is Kanto 2 and Unova is Kanto 3, then Sinnoh is kind of Johto 2 in how it feels like a real sequel to the previous games that preserves their information while adding its own. Only now it's a sequel to three games instead of one, and is also trying to be its own thing (as gen 3 had previously established a more longevity-friendly structure for each generation that is less weighed down by continuity). After that, each generation feels like its own island. The ways they try to tie into each other feel both overly aggrandizing and fully disposable, pretty much by design. Something like the Jasmine cameo in DPPt feels so matter-of-fact compared to even other small cameos like Grimsley in SM.
