Pokemon is truly a Nietschean series. In the TV series, Ash is a character with a single character trait - his Will ot Power (what Nietsche called "der Wille zur Macht"). His friendship with his Pokemon are purely utilitarians - they are natural slaves in his quest for glory. It's not that he sees them as less than he - it's that his very conception of friendship is based on mutual assistance toward glory. His friends with humans are the same - all his human friends are people who help him become stronger one way or another. Ash does not have a concept of friendship outside of this frame. These themes are omnipresent in the show's iconic theme song. "I want to be the very best like no one ever was" might as well be an Übermensch anthem.
The games exemplify this concept. The mute protagonists have no distinct personality, meant to let the player insert their own personality - but the only ways the player can interact with the game is with battling and getting stronger, thus the player has no choice but to chase this glory. Along the series the games have introduced more and more mechanics, but all of them draw back to the main purposes of battling and getting stronger. Even a mechanic like "friendship" is just another way of getting stronger.