My take as a scientist who works with wild fish? Catching multiple Pokémon of the same species to complete the Pokédex is not only not problematic, it’s necessary. You don’t want a sample size that’s too small! That’s how you end up with misinformation. Imagine writing a whole-ass assessment of a species based on a single Alpha captured in the field… you’d get people INSISTING that Pikachu is six feet tall, and the smaller, more normal-sized ones are anomalies, haha.
This is just… how we do the research in my field; use the proper gear to capture a creature (a trawl net, seine net, or fish trap at my job, a Pokéball in the game,) take data, then release it… which the game encourages you to do by rewarding you with EV-boosting items when you return the Pokémon you don’t want to bond with to the wild!
And the fact that each Pokémon has a unique height and weight when you catch it, and that you’re encouraged to find out what foods it likes, what moves it likes to use, etc., feels a LOT more like science than the previous Pokédex-Completion aspects of the game had.
tl;dr, you don’t have to feel like an exploitative shitheel for capturing 25 Bidoof for the Pokédex and then releasing them… that’s just fieldwork, babey! You’re ensuring a proper sample size, which means good data, which increases understanding. You are a good scientist!
teamgayotix