To be fair the ‘dogs’ in question here are closer to being intelligent beings rather than just living xboxes like actual pets. You’re not supposed to just entertain yourself with it until it dies and then dispose of it for a new one like an actual pet, you’re supposed to treat it like a friend in a world akin to a fantasy setting where people team up to go dungeon delving. You get gold and equipment and the pokemon gets power and a way out of the ‘dog eat dog’ natural world. The pokemon that just get stuffed into pokeballs to never see the light of day except when they’re needed are just indentured servants though.
Ash was 10 years-old when his mother sent him off into the wilderness to gamble on dog fighting.
Telling kids to wander off outside for the day used to be the norm, but that was largely ended by car traffic deaths and televised moral panics.
To be fair the ‘dogs’ in question here are closer to being intelligent beings rather than just living xboxes like actual pets. You’re not supposed to just entertain yourself with it until it dies and then dispose of it for a new one like an actual pet, you’re supposed to treat it like a friend in a world akin to a fantasy setting where people team up to go dungeon delving. You get gold and equipment and the pokemon gets power and a way out of the ‘dog eat dog’ natural world. The pokemon that just get stuffed into pokeballs to never see the light of day except when they’re needed are just indentured servants though.