I mean…

I’m glad there are so many Pokemon, and that Pokemon were not unique enough for the most part to be trademarked, but if you think they didn’t lift very heavily from a single source you’re fooling yourself and making flippant accusations of your straw-manned opposition.

Also I’m questioning if it was actually “way better” or just edgier for the memes that games would latch onto and vehemently defend. It seems to have been very successful in the latter even if it wasn’t their intent.