>>55310468It allows for greater ease of access into competitive. Having to account for literally 1000 Pokemon and all of their hundreds of variations makes for a steep learning curve. Limiting the dex to a fraction of that significantly reduces that mental burden and makes it much easier for the scene to grow as a result.
Furthermore, it allows the development of the games some breathing room when it comes to updating assets and behaviors for the game theyre in. Granted, this is something they've only barely started to take advantage of with SV (updating models, textures, subsurface scattering, overworld behaviors, additional animations, etc...), but it remains a theoretical benefit.
Ideally, they pair this with each generation slowly reintroducing the remaining Pokemon until the entire dex is in a game. This here is their greatest blunder.
