Why do Vanillite and Swirlix get bashed and raged at for being based off of food, but Exeggcute is given a free pass? Is it just because Exeggcute is from first gen?
Well, I think if you spend more than about two seconds considering it, you can come up with more convincing reasons. Like, I suspect people who dislike Swirlix and Vanillite are likely to be more turned off by them on the grounds that eggs are things that exist in nature, while ice cream and candyfloss are not. A sunny-side up Pokémon would probably suffer similar bad press (we’ll also gloss over the fact that in-universe sources actually describe Exeggcute clusters as being more like seeds than eggs anyway). Then there’s the fact that Exeggcute is actually interesting and quirky – they have the thing where they’re multiple bodies in a psychic link, and they evolve in a really weird direction, becoming a goddamn walking coconut tree. Vanillite… is an ice cream, has ice powers, and becomes a bigger ice cream. Personally I have no problem with Vanillite being a food Pokémon; I have a problem with the fact that Vanillite is just bloody dull. Swirlix less so; I’m okay with Swirlix, although I kinda think more could have been done with that idea. Exeggcute and Exeggutor are just a lot more interesting than both, I think (also, you have to admit, their English names are badass).
Pokémaniacal 