>>57526037You can’t be serious?
>>what is meowthA main character on the anime for decades. No comp value
>>what is ninetalesAll gen 1 are beloved. Ninetales was less popular than Arcanine (who also has a regional) but still had fans. Drought also made it a comp mainstay for a while.
>>what is wooperMaybe less popular than Quagsire but still had fans. Also being a water/ground line gave a lot of comp play especially early
>what is zoroarkDef not as successful as say Lucario. But its event made unique and memorable. Got some comp play with illusion shenanigans and pretty hard hitting dark attacks when it released.
So whether your metric is needing to be comp viable or of interest to the fandom, all of these are great examples of mons that didn’t need replacing.
GameFreak obviously selects from a wide pool of Pokemon to give regionals, they don’t bound themselves autisticly like you do. Sure some mons might get a regional and the advertising boost plays a part. But it is not the only consideration, probably not even the main one.