Slaking was a good choice OP because a lot of the other earlier primates in the franchise are either Primeape or on fire for some reason. I suppose I was thinking of that one picture of Infernape as a macaque when I put them there.
Grabbed the sprite sheet from:
https://www.deviantart.com/enigmafable/art/All-the-Sprites-in-Pokemon-Black-2-and-White-310031395
>>58161614
You'd have some "logistics" to consider to, that perhaps maybe the later franchise does not want to think about. Breeding to maintain a low population sounds on label, what with Lapras being rare in older games but then reported to have been turned around.