>>59006665You can teach a parrot to differentiate between items, colors, material. You can teach dogs how to go through hoops and obstacles. You can teach a rat to identify unexploded mines. You can even teach some pets how to use those button soundboards that they press to say they want to play, or a treat, or quiet time to sleep.
Despite all of that, the are all unable to consent, and pokemon are literally just fantasy animals and act as their stand-ins. Your headcanon is irrelevant.