Altered Nova said:
The Pokedex is also full of ludicrously implausible and straight up impossible entries. Pidgeot can fly at mach 2 (but only has a base speed of 91), Tyranitar and Machamp can both crush mountains with a single arm, all Alakazam have an IQ of 5000 (IQ does not work like that), a boy with extrasensory powers transformed into Kadabra, Spoink and Slugma don't die if they get paralyzed or put to sleep even though the dex says that would kill them, Braviary can carry a car while flying (but weighs 90 lbs), Grimer was created by sludge being exposed to X-rays from the moon (wtf?), Gardevoir can create black holes (but never learns a move or ability based on that informed power), Parasect's spores are used as herbal medicine in China (China exists in the pokemon universe?!), etc.
It's pretty clear that the pokedex entries are not reliable sources of information. At best they include a lot of folklore and legends, and at worst they are filled with bullshit written by overly imaginative 10 year trainers. Personally, I have a very hard time believing that any ghost pokemon were born from the souls of dead humans because holy shit why would anybody catch them and make them cock fight? What a way to treat the spirits of dead! Seriously, I would think that people would treat pokemon very differently if they knew they might become one themselves after they die.
Video game lore doesn't have to make sense to be canon.
Plus, lore entries tend to be pretty consistent across multiple sequels as well. When they change they don't contradict previous entries, but rather add to them.
Gameplay mechanics trump sticking to lore even if it is considered accurate in the context of worldbuilding.
Spider-man being bitten by a radioactive spider and getting super powers doesn't make sense either. Nor does the Hulk getting smacked around by characters that shouldn't be able to hurt him any more than a baby's slap would any normal adult in his various video game appearances.
Plus this dark streak is pretty consistent across the entire franchise. There are a lot of rather bleak and disturbing Pokedex entries in pretty much every game in the series.
It seems implied that wild pokemon are in fact exceedingly dangerous and aggressive to humans, and that pokeballs do something to pacify and control them once they are captured. Pokemon also don't get captured willingly, they fight and will break out of and destroy balls if not weakened enough or captured by balls strong enough to hold them. Pokeballs also work on literal gods, so the technology is no small matter.
That goes a long way to explaining why everyone has pokemon, even non-trainers. It's not just a matter of utility, but a matter of security.
It also provides context about why trainers are so valued and numerous, why they start so young, and why study of these things is considered so important.
It also explains the "cock fight" element. Pokemon get stronger as you battle them, and it seems to be the only way to make them more powerful. Training them to be stronger so they can deal with more dangerous wild pokemon makes sense.
Before Pokeballs and the technology to control Pokemon, the world the games take place in was likely pretty hellish for humans. They definitely weren't anywhere near the top of the food chain.
Let's not forget, Pokemon is short for Pocket Monsters, and the latter part of that implies something a bit less than friendly if you live anywhere not named Sesame Street.