>>725728090
>anime
Not canon, your pic is just that particular episode's decision that Pokemon are less sapient today. On other days, Ash can literally understand full complex sentences from Pikachu in order to understand what other Pokemon are saying, and he has no "I can hear Pokemon" magic bullshit like N going on. It's inconsistent because the Pokemon are exactly as sapient and nuanced as the writer needs them to be in that exact moment, zero consistency.
>Masters EX
Also not canon, it's pure fanservice wank focused on the human characters, so of course they downplay the Pokemon themselves since they're literal accessories to the humans. No one cheers because a Legendary was chosen to be with a character on a new gacha banner, they cheer because their favorite human is getting featured or a new variant.
The most recent game in the franchise, Legends: Z-A, has multiple sidequests that emphasize Pokemon can't be blanket categorized like spinoff media wants you to think, and each mon is its own challenge to figure out. Not just on a per-species basis, but a per-individual basis too, because another core theme of Pokemon is that no two members of a species are alike, even if they have identical stats, natures, moves, sizes and descriptions.
