LogFAQs > #971306535

The problem with that it's that Tajiri never mentions any of that in his biography. My image comes from a translation of his manga biography Satoshi Tajiri, The Man Who Made Pokmon which makes it pretty clear his inspiration for the way Pokmon fights are presented are from him imagining Pokmon battles as pet fights, it comes right after Tajiri tells Sugimori that Pokmon are pets like cats and dogs
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/6/6/AARO5TAAEJiy.jpg
Bug catching was one of the inspirations, yes, but Tajiri also makes it clear in his biography, as well as earlier works from 1995 and 1996, that he also sees Pokmon as creatures that align with cats and dogs from the real world. The fact is that he himself reinforces the dog fighting angle on his own biography. And as I mentioned even the man who wrote the original anime, a Japanese man, also saw it as a form of animal abuse.