Pokémon has always been weirdly behind the curve in terms of presentation. People were frustrated by how late they went full 3D and how long they were reusing sprites and sounds, and rightfully so.

I think some of why the GBA games are more fondly remembered is because the one time their visual ambitions and their underlying hardware lined up at all, short of the original games.

I’ve never heard a reasonable explanation for this, honestly. I’m hesitant to say it’s just greed or laziness. I bet the answers are way more interesting.