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I don't think the quantity of Pokémon really matters beyond a certain number, new or otherwise. The quality comes from how the game utilizes them in interesting ways, particularly in how you're able to interact with them through mechanics.
A Pokédex of 151 doesn't really bother me, nor does the Kalos Pokédex having 457 Pokémon. What does bother me is that the Kalos Pokédex bloats the game by barely doing anything interesting. It's not engaging catching
>Weedle/Caterpie
>Pidgey
>Zigzagoon
>Fletchling
>Bunnelby
>Scatterbug
on Kalos Route 2, they're all found the same way as Rattata and Pidgey on Kanto Route 1 and feel interchangeable as a result.
But for Sinnoh Route 201 in DP
>Starly (grass encounter)
>Bidoof (grass encounter)
>Doduo (post-game swarm)
>Nidoran-F (Poké Radar)
>Nidoran-M (Poké Radar)
>Growlithe (Dual-Slot mode)
with Platinum adding your starter as a story thing (this doesn't matter too much since it takes from Verity Lakefront) and Kricketot as a morning/night encounter which is a good way of introducing time of day as a mechanic.
If your argument is "I have more variety for my team and that's a good thing", I really don't care. Pokémon is more interesting when you're limited and you have to recognize the design decisions. Giving the player access to five different ways to counter the next Gym Leader is boring, and I don't care about how you're doing three or four runs of the same games every year.
I would argue that the way you obtain Mega Stones should also be interesting since Mega Evolutions are their own designs. Ideally the method in which you obtain them should involve doing something with that Pokémon and/or its line. SM making Mega Stones either Battle Tree exchanges or event distributions is such a letdown after Gen VI at least gave them all something.
