How do you feel about starters being stand-ins for “easy, normal and hard mode” in the early game?

For example, both Charmander and Chikorita are weak to the first two gyms in their games, so picking them is sort of like choosing hard mode. Bulbasaur meanwhile is strong against both of his gen’s first two gyms and Squirtle is good against one. Anyone who picks Bulbasaur will be able to steamroll Brock and Misty with him alone quite easily. After the early game you generally have more options with the different Pokemon you catch so it becomes less important what your initial choice was.