Ok not to be really insufferable but I think the thing that’s often lost when people talk about the Pokédex is that it’s assumed it’s genuinely a tool for adults. Like the in game professors describe it as a “high tech encyclopaedia” and that’s taken at face value.
But in Japanese the word used is “図鑑” – “zukan”. This means “picture encyclopaedia”. But what the implication of this is is actually mostly stuff like this:
Like the type of thing you read in primary school! Those big illustrated books that give kids introduction to just simple concepts of biology, or zoology. Full of fun facts that may not be 100% accurate but sure are cool! Not necessarily a robust resource for adults.
I’m not saying “zukan” is never used to refer to something a bit more high level. A little search around and I did find zukans that seemed targeted at older people, but honestly I noticed some of these had negative reviews like “there’s no furigana in this! This is too hard for my kid!”. So that to me suggests the connotation is very much like. Kids encyclopaedia.
So my point is when the Pokédex says bonkers stuff like:
It’s more akin to children’s encyclopaedia publishing a “fun fact” that’s just like…could be theoretically true but only if you simplify a bunch of stuff.
Anyway my point is
a) the Pokédex is a resource specifically for grade-school age children
b) Professor Oak is one of those professors that at some point diverted most of his time into children’s science communication.
ifesbob 